"[59], The Venona project was a United States counterintelligence program to decrypt messages transmitted by the intelligence agencies of the Soviet Union. [73][24], After Morton Sobell's 2008 confession, they acknowledged their father had been involved in espionage, but said that whatever atomic bomb information he passed to the Russians was, at best, superfluous, that the case was riddled with prosecutorial and judicial misconduct, that their mother was convicted on flimsy evidence to place leverage on her husband, and that neither deserved the death penalty. [75], Their sons' current position is that Julius was legally guilty of the conspiracy charge, though not of atomic spying, while Ethel was only generally aware of his activities. This new testimony, now against Julius and Ethel, was part of a deal granted to the Greenglasses. Files Show About Ethel Rosenberg", "The New York Times Gets Greenglass Wrong", "Greenglass, in Prison, Vows to Kin He Told Truth about Rosenbergs", "National Archives of the United States of America", "Rosenberg Atomic Espionage Spy Case Chronology", "The Rosenbergs were executed for spying in 1953. Documents cover, among many other topics, US intelligence activities, including FBI-CIA cooperation; USSR intelligence activities; the Rosenberg espionage network's collection against the US atomic energy program; their attempts to protect the network as US . I think she was clearly innocent of the charges but, on the other hand, I think she was supportive of Julius. Will there ever be a pardon for Ethel Rosenberg? David originally had said that he had passed the atomic data he had collected to Julius on a New York street corner. Many of these decoded messages identified Soviet spies within the Manhattan Project. [7], Julius Rosenberg was born on May 12, 1918, in New York City to a family of Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire. They were orphaned by the executions and were not adopted by their many aunts or uncles, although they initially spent time under the care of their grandmothers and in a children's home. Greenglass, who himself had confessed to providing nuclear secrets to the Soviets through an intermediary, testified against his sister and brother-in-law in court. [49], The funeral services were held in Brooklyn on June 21. [62] Ethel did not have a codename,[24] however, KGB messages which were contained in the Venona project's Vassiliev files, and which were not made public until 2009,[63][64] revealed that both Ethel and Julius had regular contact with at least two KGB agents and were active in recruiting not only Ethel's brother David Greenglass, but also another Manhattan Project spy named Russell McNutt. The engineers worked at top electronic firms, and they passed on confidential and useful information to the Soviet Union. I think he believed there was no evidence against him, which was not the case.. David Greenglass received a 15 year prison sentence and was released in 1960. "My wife is more important to me than my sister. Ethel Rosenberg was 37 and the mother of two small sons when she was executed in New York in 1953. They were convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Espionage in one of the most hotly-debated trials in U.S. history. John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr, and Alexander Vassiliev. "[51], The Rosenbergs were the only American civilians executed for espionage during the Cold War. In this testimony he named Julius and claimed he was recruited to join the Soviet spy ring by him. Conspiracy to commit espionage (50 U.S.C. Another conspirator, Morton Sobell, a college classmate of Julius Rosenberg, fled to Mexico but was extradited. Ethel Greenglass, (respectively, born Sept. 28, 1915, New York, N.Y., U.S.died June 19, 1953, Ossining, N.Y.; born May 12, 1918, New York, N.Y., U.S.died June 19, 1953, Ossining, N.Y.), U.S. spies. He also explains that Rosenberg was fired from the Army Corps of Engineers in January of 1945, and that KGB files state his espionage activities ended by 1945, so the meeting David Greenglass mentioned could neverhave occurred. J. A country prepared to flout the law, to instil fear, and to also arrest his girlfriend: does that not strike you as terrifying?, She was removed from the electric chair after three charges, only for it to be discovered her heart was still beating. 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[72], The notebooks make clear that the KGB considered Julius Rosenberg an effective agent and his wife Ethel an enthusiastic supporter of his work. forces. They were persuaded to change their original stories. The trial and execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg was certainly dramatic. He stated, "I would not sacrifice my wife and my children for my sister. Initiated when the Soviet Union was an ally of the U.S., the program continued during the Cold War when it was considered an enemy. Now, however, Greenglass claimed that this exchange occurred in the living room of the Rosenbergs New York apartment, and that Ethel was present. Magic, witch-hunts, autos-da-f, sacrifices we are here getting to the point: your country is sick with fear you are afraid of the shadow of your own bomb. They were both found guilty. Browse pg9767.kgb resources on Teachers Pay Teachers, a marketplace trusted by millions of teachers for original educational resources. The Rosenbergs were small fry, but the government or the FBI or both were absolutely determined to make an example of them. Timeline of Events Relating to the Rosenberg Trial. He worked for a time at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, where research was going on into radar, missile controls and electronics. The second son of read more. The Rosenbergs vigorously protested their innocence, but after a brief trial that began on March 6, 1951, and attracted much media attention, the couple was convicted. [17], On June 15, 1950, David Greenglass was arrested by the FBI for espionage and soon confessed to having passed secret information on to the USSR through Gold. In 1940, Julius joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a civilian engineer. Both Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were indicted, as were David Greenglass and Anatoli Yakovlev. Neither President Truman nor President Eisenhower granted requests to remove the death sentence. ", Deborah Friedell, "How Utterly Depreaved!" It was known that some communists, such as Fuchs, had spied for the Soviets. She had a brother, David Greenglass. Others argue that Julius and Ethel were guilty, with Ethel playing a minor role, but that their trial and sentence were unjust due to the lack of evidence. Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg were American citizens executed for conspiracy to commit espionage, relating to passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. Few trials in American history can match that of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg for its sensationalism. Julius Rosenberg was arrested on suspicion of espionage on June 17, 1950, and accused of heading a spy ring that passed top-secret information concerning the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. read more, When the clock struck midnight on June 19, 2014, King Juan Carlos I of Spains nearly 40-year reign came to an end. John Charles Fremont of California, the famous explorer of the West, was nominated for the presidency, and William Lewis Dayton of New read more, On June 19, 1944, in what would become known as the Marianas Turkey Shoot, U.S. carrier-based fighters decimate the Japanese Fleet with only a minimum of losses in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Photograph: Kypros/ Getty. For two years the Rosenberg case was appealed through the courts and before world opinion. Gold paidGreenglass $500 in exchange for information about the implosion lens in the atomic bomb. READ MORE: Why Were the Rosenbergs Executed? A mix of June and 19th, Juneteenth has become a day to commemorate the end of slavery in America. [19], Another conspirator, Morton Sobell, fled with his family to Mexico City after Greenglass was arrested. Their legal team worked to have the verdict overturned, but their efforts failed. In 2021 Ethel's sons restarted the campaign to pardon Ethel, as they were more optimistic that President Biden will consider this favorably. Ethels execution was botched. Do not let this crime against humanity take place. And she was the mother of my children. Seven different appeals reached the Supreme Court of the United States and were denied, and pleas for executive clemency were dismissed by Pres. "Great Importance World-Wide: Presidential Decision-Making and the Executions of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Greenglass served in the ArmysSpecial Engineer Detachment (SED), and was a machinist at Los Alamos. Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg (1915-1953) and Julius Rosenberg (1918-1953) were American Communists who were thrust into the world spotlight when they were tried, convicted, and executed for spying for the Soviet Union.The accuracy of these charges remains controversial, though decades later, Soviet communications decrypted by the VENONA project became publicly available and appeared to indicate . I think there could be some kind of exoneration, in that she was convicted on the basis of perjury, and for someone convicted on the basis of perjury, there should be a form of pardon. The extent of the Rosenbergs' activities came to light, however, when the U.S. government declassified information about them after the fall of the Soviet Union. They hoped merely by arresting her on these trumped-up charges, surely Julius would talk, because thats what everyone else had done.. John Philip Jenkins; 3 1952, -, , ) , The Rosenbergs turned over this information to Harry Gold, a Swiss-born courier for the espionage ring, who then passed it to Anatoly A. Yakovlev, the Soviet Unions vice-consul in New York City. [80][81] A member of the Young Communist League in the early 1930s, it was through her activism with the Communist Party that she met Julius Rosenberg in 1936. [30], On March 29, 1951, the Rosenbergs were convicted of espionage. Schneir argues that Ruth worked alone and met with a Soviet agent to deliver a sketch of a bomb, which was placed in a KGB file center on December 27, 1945. Due to Red Scare trials and newspaper headlines, Americans in the 1940s, and 1950s knew that Soviet espionage was serious. He later served 10 years in prison. Decrypted cables revealed this information through theVenona project. She originally was an aspiring actress and singer, but eventually took a secretarial job at a shipping company. In 2014, five historians concluded thatSoviet documents show Ethel was actively involved and attended meetings with Julius and his sources, but that there is no evidence to suggest she typed specific notes. Later, Ethels brother, Sgt. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, American communists, executed after having been found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage. [36], Jean-Paul Sartre, a Marxist existentialist philosopher and writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature, described the trial as, a legal lynching which smears with blood a whole nation. Some scholars believe thatRuth may have been the individual to type notes, due to her past involvement with the Communist Party, and conflicting statements made by David. Both were members of the Communist Party, with Julius being the far more active member. When questioned, Greenglass admitted to spying. Copyright 2022 by the Atomic Heritage Foundation. He was 51. [22], Twenty senior government officials met secretly on February 8, 1950, to discuss the Rosenberg case. The son of working-class read more. The case against Ethel in particular was rather . I think it is the most horrific story, Sebba says. Neither offered any further information. Soviet cables were deciphered, revealing Julius codename to be LIBERAL. LIBERAL was mentioned in numerous documents. Julius became a leader in the Young Communist League USA while at City College of New York during the Great Depression. In the United States of the late 1940s and 1950s, Fear was the overriding motif of the age, and fear breeds hysteria, Sebba says. In his viewpoint, Ethel was only minimally involved and therefore her execution was unjust. [48], On June 19, 1953, Julius died after the first electric shock. By killing the Rosenbergs, you have quite simply tried to halt the progress of science by human sacrifice. John Seven Sep 19, 2018 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who. [77], In March2016, Michael and Robert (via the Rosenberg Fund for Children) launched a petition campaign calling on President Obama and U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to formally exonerate Ethel Rosenberg. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, orig. Or was he more likely to get off by pleading innocence for both of them? In 1990, he founded the Rosenberg Fund for Children, a nonprofit foundation that provides support for children of targeted liberal activists, and youth who are targeted as activists. [58] According to Alexander Feklisov, the former Soviet agent who was Julius's contact, the Rosenbergs did not provide the Soviet Union with any useful material about the atomic bomb: "He [Julius] didn't understand anything about the atomic bomb and he couldn't help us. Whether it was fair or not, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were the only two American civilians who were executed for espionage-related crimes during the entire Cold War. [11], Rosenberg provided thousands of classified reports from Emerson Radio, including a complete proximity fuse. All other appeals were also unsuccessful. Fuchs identified his courier as American Harry Gold, who was arrested on May 23, 1950. They agreed with President Dwight D. Eisenhower when he issued a statement declining to invoke executive clemency for the pair. [52][53][54], Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, vice-chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, investigated how much the Soviet spy ring helped the USSR to build their bomb. At a time when American fears about communism were high, the Rosenbergs did not receive support from mainstream Jewish organizations. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). How much does Sebba think that Ethel knew? In 2008, the transcripts of 43 out of 46 witness testimonies before the grand jury were released, including Ruths testimony. 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