Today in 1951, during the hysteria of McCarthysim, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of espionage and passing atomic secrets to the Soviets during and after World War II.
The Rosenbergs were identified after Ethel’s brother, David Greenglass, who worked in a laboratory where the atomic bomb was developed, was arrested. He quickly confessed to espionage and then implicated his brother-in-law as one of his contacts, as well as the involvement of his own wife, Ruth Greenglass. The Rosenbergs’ background, including membership in the Young Communist League as well as involvement in national labor and political issues during the 1930’s and 1940’s was used against them.
Julius Rosenberg refused to implicate anyone after he was arrested in July 1950. J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI, viewed Rosenberg’s arrest as a possible publicity opportunity for the FBI. Hoover stated that if Ethel Rosenberg was arrested for espionage as well, that it might coerce her husband into implicating others for the FBI to pursue. Ethel was arrested in August 1950. Although both were pressured to provide names of others involved, neither offered any further information.
A couple weeks before the trial started, David Greenglass was re-interviewed by the FBI. He was offered a deal. In exchange for his wife being released and not charged, Greenglass now implicated his sister in the spy ring.
In the end, the jury believed the testimony given by David and Ruth Greenglass. Both Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death. The severity of the sentence shocked many as neither had been convicted of treason. Afterwards, even Hoover made it clear that he did not believe that the Rosenbergs should be executed as it would tarnish the reputation of the government if it allowed the Rosenbergs’ two young sons to be orphaned. It was believed that if the Rosenbergs confessed and gave evidence that their lives would be spared.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg remained on death row for 26 months. Neither one ever confessed nor provided evidence against any others. They were executed on June 19, 1953.
In December 2001, David and Ruth Greenglass, now living under assumed names, confessed that both their court statement during the trial had been lies. He stated that Julius had some involvement in espionage, but that he had no knowledge of his sister’s involvement.
To this day, the Rosenbergs execution remains controversial. Others arrested by the FBI for espionage offered confessions and thereby were not executed.
If you would like to learn more about the Rosenbergs, J. Edgar Hoover, or McCarthyism, please visit the library.
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