Julius Rosenberg (May 12, 1918 – June 19, 1953) and
Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg (September 28, 1915 – June 19, 1953) were
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
communistsThe Communist Party of the United States of America is a Marxist-Leninist political party in the United States.During the first half of the 20th century it was the largest and most widely influential communist party in the country, and played a prominent role in the U.S...
who were executed in 1953 after having been found guilty of conspiracy to commit
espionageEspionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, as the legitimate holder of the information may change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
. The charges were in relation to the passing of information about the atomic bomb to the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
. Theirs was the first execution of civilians for espionage in United States history.
Since the execution, decoded Soviet cables have confirmed courtroom testimony that Julius acted as a courier and recruiter for the Soviets, but doubts remain about the level of Ethel's active involvement. The decision to execute the Rosenbergs was, and still is, controversial. The other atomic spies that were caught by the FBI offered confessions and were not executed. Ethel's brother,
David GreenglassDavid Greenglass was an atomic spy for the Soviet Union.-Biography:David Greenglass was recruited into Soviet espionage by his wife, Ruth Greenglass, at the behest of his sister Ethel Rosenberg, and brother-in-law, Julius Rosenberg...
, who supplied documents to Julius from
Los AlamosLos Alamos usually refers to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, United States.It may also refer to:*Los Alamos, California*Los Alamos, New Mexico — the city where the laboratory is located...
, served 10 years of his 15 year sentence.
Harry GoldHarry Gold was a laboratory chemist who was convicted of being the “courier” for a number of Soviet spy rings during the Manhattan Project.-Early life:Gold was born in Switzerland to poor Russian Jewish immigrants...
, who identified Greenglass, served 15 years in Federal prison as the courier for him and the British scientist,
Klaus FuchsKlaus Emil Julius Fuchs , was a German-born British theoretical physicist and atomic spy who in 1950 was convicted of supplying information from the British and American atomic bomb research to the USSR during and shortly after World War II. Fuchs was an extremely competent scientist...
.
Morton SobellMorton Sobell is a former spy for the Soviet Union. Sobell was an American engineer working for General Electric and Reeves Electronics on military and government contracts. He was found guilty of spying for the Soviets , and sentenced to 30 years in prison...
, who was tried with the Rosenbergs, served 17 years and 9 months. In 2008, Sobell admitted he was a spy and confirmed Julius Rosenberg was "in a conspiracy that delivered to the Soviets classified military and industrial information and what the American government described as the secret to the atomic bomb."
Background
Julius Rosenberg was born to a family of
JewishJudaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts...
immigrants in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
on May 12, 1918. 1920 census records show that his family lived at 205 East 113th Street when Julius was about 2 years old, but moved to the Lower East Side by the time he was 11 years old.
His parents worked in the shops of the Lower East Side, as Julius attended Seward Park High School. Julius eventually became a leader in the
Young Communist LeagueThe Young Communist League, USA is the fraternal youth organization of the Communist Party, USA. Although the name of the group has changed a number of times over the years, it dates its lineage back to 1920, shortly after the establishment of the first communist parties in America.-Early...
where, in 1936, he met Ethel Greenglass, whom he married three years later. He graduated from the
City College of New YorkThe City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
with a degree in
electrical engineeringElectrical engineering, sometimes referred to as electrical and electronic engineering, is a field of engineering that deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after...
in 1939 and joined the
Army Signal CorpsThe United States Army Signal Corps develops, tests, provides, and manages communications and information systems support for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was founded in 1860 by United States Army Major Albert J. Myer, a physician by training, and has had an important role...
in 1940, where he worked on
radarRadar is an object detection system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The term RADAR was coined in 1941 as an acronym for RAdio Detection And...
equipment.
Ethel Greenglass was born on September 28, 1915, in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, also to a Jewish family. She was an aspiring actress and singer, but eventually took a secretarial job at a shipping company. She became involved in labor disputes and joined the
Young Communist League, USAThe Young Communist League, USA is the fraternal youth organization of the Communist Party, USA. Although the name of the group has changed a number of times over the years, it dates its lineage back to 1920, shortly after the establishment of the first communist parties in America.-Early...
, where she met Julius. The Rosenbergs had two sons,
RobertRobert Meeropol is the younger son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Meeropol was born in New York City. His father Julius, an electrical engineer, was a member of the Communist Party. His mother Ethel , a union organizer, was also active in the Communist Party...
and
MichaelMichael Meeropol is a retired professor of economics. He is the older son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Born in New York City, as Michael Rosenberg, Meeropol spent his early childhood living in New York and attending local school there. His father Julius, an electrical engineer, was a member of...
, who were adopted by teacher and songwriter
Abel MeeropolAbel Meeropol was an American writer and inadvertent song-writer, best known under his pseudonym Lewis Allan and as the adoptive father of the young sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.-Biography:...
(and took the Meeropol surname) after their parents' execution.
According to his former
NKVDThe People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including...
handler,
Alexandre FeklisovAleksandr Semyonovich Feklisov was the NKGB Case Officer who received information from Julius Rosenberg and Klaus Fuchs, among others.-Biography:...
, Julius Rosenberg was originally recruited by the
KGBThe KGB was the national security agency of the USSR. From 1954 until 1991, the Committee for State Security was the Communist state's premier secret police, internal security, and espionage organization, whose coat of arms—the Shield and the Sword—illustrate a national military hierarchy...
on Labor Day 1942, by former NKVD
spymasterA Spymaster is a ring leader of a spy ring, run by a secret service.Historical examples include Michael Collins, Sir Francis Walsingham, R. N...
Semyon Semenov. Julius had been introduced to Semenov by Bernard Schuster, a high-ranking member of the
Communist Party USAThe Communist Party of the United States of America is a Marxist-Leninist political party in the United States.During the first half of the 20th century it was the largest and most widely influential communist party in the country, and played a prominent role in the U.S...
as well as
Earl BrowderEarl Russell Browder was an American communist and General Secretary of the Communist Party USA from 1934 to 1945. He was expelled from the party in 1946.- Early years :...
's personal NKVD liaison, and after Semenov was recalled to
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
in 1944, his duties were taken over by his apprentice, Feklisov.
According to Feklisov, Julius provided thousands of classified (top secret) reports from
Emerson RadioEmerson Electric Company is a major multinational corporation headquartered in Ferguson, Missouri, United States. This Fortune 500 company provides engineering services for a wide range of industrial, commercial, and consumer markets....
, including a complete
proximity fuzeA proximity fuze is a fuze that is designed to detonate an explosive device automatically when the distance to target becomes smaller than a predetermined value or when the target passes through a given plane....
, the same design that was used to shoot down
Gary PowersFrancis Gary Powers was an American pilot whose CIA U-2 spy plane was shot down while over the Soviet Union, causing the 1960 U-2 incident.-Early life:...
's
U-2The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a single-engine, very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency. It provides day and night, very high-altitude , all-weather surveillance...
in 1960. Under Feklisov's administration, Julius Rosenberg is said to have recruited sympathetic individuals to the KGB’s service, including
Joel BarrJoel Barr , also Iozef Veniaminovich Berg and Joseph Berg, was part of the Soviet Atomic Spy Ring...
,
Alfred SarantAlfred Epaminondas Sarant, also known as Filipp Georgievich Staros and Philip Georgievich Staros , was an engineer and a member of the Communist party in New York City in 1944. He was part of the Rosenberg spy ring that reported to Soviet intelligence...
,
William PerlWilliam Perl, whose real name was William Mutterperl, was a student at the City College of New York. As a member of the Steinmetz Club, the campus branch of the Young Communist League, he met and befriended Julius Rosenberg, Morton Sobell and Joel Barr...
and
Morton SobellMorton Sobell is a former spy for the Soviet Union. Sobell was an American engineer working for General Electric and Reeves Electronics on military and government contracts. He was found guilty of spying for the Soviets , and sentenced to 30 years in prison...
.
According to Feklisov's account, he was supplied by Perl, under Julius Rosenberg’s direction, with thousands of documents from the
National Advisory Committee for AeronauticsThe National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was a U.S. federal agency founded on March 3, 1915 to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958 the agency was dissolved, and its assets and personnel transferred to the newly created National Aeronautics and...
including a complete set of design and production drawings for the
Lockheed's P-80 Shooting StarThe Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces, and saw extensive combat in Korea with the United States Air Force as the F-80. As one of the world's first successful turbojet-powered combat aircraft, it helped usher in the "jet...
. Feklisov says he learned through Julius that his brother-in-law
David GreenglassDavid Greenglass was an atomic spy for the Soviet Union.-Biography:David Greenglass was recruited into Soviet espionage by his wife, Ruth Greenglass, at the behest of his sister Ethel Rosenberg, and brother-in-law, Julius Rosenberg...
was working on the top-secret
Manhattan ProjectThe Manhattan Project was the codename for a project conducted during World War II to develop the first atomic bomb. The project was led by the United States, and included scientists from Denmark, The United Kingdom and Canada...
at the
Los Alamos National LaboratoryLos Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
and used Julius to recruit him.
The USSR and the U.S. became allies during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
after Nazi Germany's surprise attack on the USSR in 1941, but the
U.S. governmentThe federal government of the United States is the central government entity established by the United States Constitution, which shares sovereignty over the United States with the governments of the individual U.S. states. The federal government has three branches: the legislative, executive, and...
was highly suspicious of
Joseph StalinJoseph Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee from 1922 until his death in 1953...
's long-term intentions. Therefore the Americans did not share information or seek assistance from the Soviet Union for the
Manhattan ProjectThe Manhattan Project was the codename for a project conducted during World War II to develop the first atomic bomb. The project was led by the United States, and included scientists from Denmark, The United Kingdom and Canada...
. However, the Soviets were aware of the project as a result of espionage penetration of the U.S. government and made a number of attempts to infiltrate its operations at the
University of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States. The oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley offers some 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines...
. A number of project members—some high-profile, others lower in rank—did voluntarily give secret information to Soviet agents, many because they were sympathetic to
CommunismCommunism is a socioeconomic structure and political ideology that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless society based on common ownership and control of the means of production and property in general. Karl Marx posited that communism would be the final stage in human...
(or the Soviet Union's role in the war) and did not feel the U.S. should have a
monopolyIn economics, a monopoly exists when a specific individual or an enterprise has sufficient control over a particular product or service to determine significantly the terms on which other individuals shall have access to it...
on atomic weapons.
After the war, the U.S. continued to protect its nuclear secrets, but the Soviet Union was able to produce its own atomic weapons by 1949. The
WestThe Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term that can have multiple meanings depending on its context...
was shocked by the speed with which the Soviets were able to stage their first
nuclear testNuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the effectiveness, yield and explosive capability of nuclear weapons. Throughout the twentieth century, most nations that have developed nuclear weapons have tested them...
, "
Joe 1The RDS-1 was the Soviet Union's first nuclear weapon test. It is also known as Joe-1, in reference to Joseph Stalin. It was test-exploded on 29 August 1949, at Semipalatinsk, Kazakh SSR, after a top-secret R&D project...
." It was then discovered in January 1950 that a German
refugeeUnder the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted on account of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality,...
theoretical physicist working for the
BritishGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
mission in the Manhattan Project,
Klaus FuchsKlaus Emil Julius Fuchs , was a German-born British theoretical physicist and atomic spy who in 1950 was convicted of supplying information from the British and American atomic bomb research to the USSR during and shortly after World War II. Fuchs was an extremely competent scientist...
, had given key documents to the Russians throughout the war. Fuchs' identified his
courierA courier is a person or company employed to deliver messages, packages and mail. Couriers are distinguished from ordinary mail services by features such as speed, security, tracking, signature, specialization and individualization of services, and committed delivery times, which are optional for...
as
Harry GoldHarry Gold was a laboratory chemist who was convicted of being the “courier” for a number of Soviet spy rings during the Manhattan Project.-Early life:Gold was born in Switzerland to poor Russian Jewish immigrants...
, who was arrested on May 23, 1950.
Harry GoldHarry Gold was a laboratory chemist who was convicted of being the “courier” for a number of Soviet spy rings during the Manhattan Project.-Early life:Gold was born in Switzerland to poor Russian Jewish immigrants...
also confessed and identified Sergeant
David GreenglassDavid Greenglass was an atomic spy for the Soviet Union.-Biography:David Greenglass was recruited into Soviet espionage by his wife, Ruth Greenglass, at the behest of his sister Ethel Rosenberg, and brother-in-law, Julius Rosenberg...
, a former
machinistA machinist is a person who uses machine tools to make or modify parts, primarily metal parts, a process known as machining. This is accomplished by using machine tools to cut away excess material much as a woodcarver cuts away excess wood to produce his work. In addition to metal, the parts may...
at Los Alamos, and the Rosenbergs as additional sources. Greenglass confessed to having passed secret information on to the USSR through Gold as well. Though he initially denied any involvement by his sister, Ethel Rosenberg, he claimed that her husband, Julius, had convinced his wife to recruit him while on a visit to him in
Albuquerque, New MexicoAlbuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 521,999 as of July 1, 2008, according to U.S. census estimates, and ranks as...
in 1944 and that Julius had also passed secrets. Another accused conspirator,
Morton SobellMorton Sobell is a former spy for the Soviet Union. Sobell was an American engineer working for General Electric and Reeves Electronics on military and government contracts. He was found guilty of spying for the Soviets , and sentenced to 30 years in prison...
, was on vacation in
Mexico CityMexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city, with about 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008...
when both Rosenbergs were arrested. According to his story published in
On Doing Time, he tried to figure out a way to reach Europe without a
passportA passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth...
but ultimately abandoned that effort and was back in Mexico City when he was kidnapped by members of the
MexicanThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
secret policeSecret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy to maintain national security against internal threats to the state....
and driven to the U.S. border where he was arrested. The government claimed he had been deported, but in 1956 the
Mexican governmentThe politics of Mexico take place in a framework of a federal presidential representative democratic republic whose government is based on a congressional system, whereby the president of Mexico is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party electoral system...
officially declared that he had never been
deportedDeportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The expulsion of natives is also called banishment, exile, or penal transportation. Deportation is an ancient practice: Khosrau I, Sassanid King of Persia, deported 292,000 citizens, slaves, and conquered people...
. Regardless of how he was returned to the U.S., he was arrested and stood trial with the Rosenbergs on one count of conspiracy to commit
espionageEspionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, as the legitimate holder of the information may change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
.
Trial and conviction
The trial of the Rosenbergs and Sobell began on March 6, 1951. The judge was
Irving KaufmanIrving Robert Kaufman was a federal judge in the United States.-Biography:Born in Brooklyn, New York, Kaufman graduated from Fordham Law School at the age of 21 and worked for two decades as a lawyer in New York City, mostly in private practice but also as an Assistant United States Attorney...
and the attorney for the Rosenbergs was
Emanuel Hirsch BlochEmanuel Hirsch Bloch was an American attorney known for defending clients associated with left-wing and Communist causes. He and Marshall Perlin defended Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.-Biography:...
. The prosecution's primary witness,
David GreenglassDavid Greenglass was an atomic spy for the Soviet Union.-Biography:David Greenglass was recruited into Soviet espionage by his wife, Ruth Greenglass, at the behest of his sister Ethel Rosenberg, and brother-in-law, Julius Rosenberg...
, stated that his sister Ethel typed notes containing U.S. nuclear secrets in the Rosenberg apartment in September 1945. He also testified that he turned over to Julius Rosenberg a sketch of the cross-section of an implosion-type atom bomb (the "
Fat ManFat Man is the codename for the atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States on August 9, 1945, at 11:02 . It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons to be used in warfare and was the third man-made nuclear explosion. The name also refers more generically to the...
" bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, as opposed to a bomb with the "gun method" triggering device as used in the "
Little BoyLittle Boy was the codename of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 by the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets of the 393d Bombardment Squadron, Heavy, of the United States Army Air Forces. It was the first atomic bomb to be used as a weapon...
" bomb dropped on
Hiroshimais the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It became the first city in history assaulted by nuclear armament when the United States of America dropped an atomic bomb on it on August 6, 1945, near the culmination...
). The notes allegedly typed by Ethel apparently contained little that was relevant to the Soviet atomic bomb project and some suggest Ethel was indicted along with Julius so that the prosecution could use her to pressure Julius into giving up the names of others who were involved. However, neither Julius nor Ethel Rosenberg named anyone else and during testimony each asserted their right under the
U.S. Constitution'sThe Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America and the federal government of the United States...
Fifth AmendmentThe Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. Its guarantees stem from English common law which traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215...
to not incriminate themselves whenever asked about involvement in the
Communist PartyThe Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the ruling and only legal political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the...
or with its members. Then-U.S. Deputy Attorney General
William P. RogersWilliam Pierce Rogers was an American politician, who served as a Cabinet officer in the administrations of two U.S. Presidents in the third quarter of the 20th century.-Biography:...
, when later asked about the failure of the indictment of Ethel to leverage a full confession by Julius, reportedly said, "She called our bluff."
The Rosenbergs were convicted on March 29, 1951, and on April 5 were sentenced to death by Judge
Irving KaufmanIrving Robert Kaufman was a federal judge in the United States.-Biography:Born in Brooklyn, New York, Kaufman graduated from Fordham Law School at the age of 21 and worked for two decades as a lawyer in New York City, mostly in private practice but also as an Assistant United States Attorney...
under Section 2 of the
Espionage Act of 1917The Espionage Act of 1917 was a United States federal law passed shortly after entering World War I, on June 15, 1917, which made it a crime for a person:...
, 50
U.S. CodeThe United States Code is a compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal law of the United States. It contains 50 titles and is published every six years by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the US House of Representatives.- Codification process :The official text of...
32 (now 18
U.S. Code 794), which prohibits transmitting or attempting to transmit to a foreign government information "relating to the national defense." The conviction helped to fuel
SenatorThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
Joseph McCarthyJoseph Raymond McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
's investigations into
anti-AmericanAnti-Americanism, often anti-American sentiment, is opposition or hostility to the people or the government policies of the United States. In practice, a broad range of attitudes and actions critical of or opposed to the United States have been labeled anti-Americanism...
activities by U.S. citizens. While their devotion to the Communist cause was well-documented, the Rosenbergs denied the espionage charges even as they faced the
electric chairExecution by electrocution is an execution method originating in the United States in which the person being put to death is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
.
The Rosenbergs were the only two American civilians to be executed for espionage-related activity during the
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition existing after World War II , primarily between the USSR and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, including the United States...
. In imposing the death penalty, Kaufman noted that he held them responsible not only for espionage but also for the deaths of the
Korean WarThe Korean War is a war that started between North Korea and South Korea on 25 June 1950 and paused with an armistice signed 27 July, 1953...
:
After the publication of an investigative series in
The National GuardianThe Guardian was a radical leftist independent weekly newspaper published between 1948 and 1992 in New York City. The paper was founded by James Aronson, Cedric Belfrage and John T. McManus.-Formation:...
and the formation of the National Committee to Secure Justice in the Rosenberg Case, some Americans came to believe both Rosenbergs were innocent or received too harsh a punishment, and a
grassrootsA grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it is natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
campaign was started to try to stop the couple's execution. Between the trial and the executions there were widespread protests and claims of
anti-SemitismAntisemitism is prejudice against or hostility towards Jews, often rooted in hatred of their ethnic background, culture, or religion....
.
Nobel PrizeThe Nobel Prize is a Sweden-based international monetary prize. The award was established by the 1895 will and estate of Swedish chemist and inventor Alfred Nobel. It was first awarded in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace in 1901...
winner
Jean-Paul SartreJean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy and Existentialism, and his work continues to influence further...
called the case "a legal
lynchingLynching is an extrajudicial punishment meted by a mob, usually by hanging. It is an enumerated felony in all states of the United States, defined by some codes of law as "Any act of violence inflicted by a mob upon the body of another person which results in the death of the person," with a 'mob'...
which smears with blood a whole nation. By killing the Rosenbergs, you have quite simply tried to halt the progress of science by
human sacrificeHuman sacrifice is the act of killing human beings as part of a religious ritual . Its typology closely parallels the various practices of ritual slaughter of animals and of religious sacrifice in general. Human sacrifice has been practiced in various cultures throughout history...
. Magic,
witch-huntA witch hunt is a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft, often involving moral panic, mass hysteria and lynching, but in historical instances also legally sanctioned and involving official witchcraft trials....
s,
auto-da-fésAn auto de fé was the ritual of public penance of condemned heretics and apostates that took place when the Spanish Inquisition or the Portuguese Inquisition had decided their punishment . Auto de fé in medieval Spanish means "act of faith"...
, sacrifices — we are here getting to the point: your country is sick with fear... you are afraid of the shadow of your own bomb." Others, including non-Communists such as
Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a theoretical physicist. His many contributions to physics include the special and general theories of relativity, the founding of relativistic cosmology, the first post-Newtonian expansion, explaining the perihelion advance of Mercury, prediction of the deflection of...
and Nobel-Prize-winning physical chemist
Harold UreyHarold Clayton Urey was an American physical chemist whose pioneering work on isotopes earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1934 and later led him to theories of planetary evolution.-Biography:...
, as well as Communists or left-leaning artists such as
Nelson AlgrenNelson Algren was an American writer.-Early life:Born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of three he moved with his parents to Chicago, Illinois where they lived in a working-class, immigrant neighborhood on the South Side...
,
Dashiell HammettSamuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade , Nick and Nora Charles , the newspaper comic strip Secret Agent X-9 and the Continental Op...
,
Jean CocteauJean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, boxing manager, playwright, artist and filmmaker...
,
Diego RiveraDiego Rivera was born Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez in Guanajuato, Gto. He was a world-famous Mexican painter, an active Communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo, 1929–1939 and 1940–1954...
and
Frida KahloFrida Kahlo was a Mexican painter. She painted using vibrant colors in a style that was influenced by indigenous cultures of Mexico and European influences including Realism, Symbolism, and Surrealism. Many of her works are self-portraits that symbolically articulate her own pain and sexuality...
, protested the position of the American government in what some termed America's
Dreyfus AffairThe Dreyfus Affair was a political scandal that divided France in the 1890s and the early 1900s. It involved the conviction for treason in November, 1894 of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent...
. In May 1951,
Pablo PicassoPablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso was a Spanish painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. Commonly known simply as Picasso, he is one of the most recognized figures in 20th-century art...
wrote for French newspaper
L’Humanité, "The hours count. The minutes count. Do not let this crime against humanity take place."
Pope Pius XIIPope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as the 260th Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
also condemned the execution. The all-black International Longshoremen’s Association Local 968 stopped working for a day in protest. Cinema artists such as
Fritz LangFriedrich "Fritz" Christian Anton Lang was an Austrian-German-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
and
Bertolt Brecht' was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director. An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the Berliner...
registered their protest.
PopeThe pope is the Bishop of Rome and, as such, is leader of the worldwide Catholic Church...
Pius XIIPope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as the 260th Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
appealed to
PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was a five-star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the...
to spare the couple, but Eisenhower refused on February 11, 1953, and all other appeals were also unsuccessful.
Their case has been at the center of the controversy over Communism in the United States ever since, with supporters steadfastly maintaining that their conviction was an egregious example of political persecution (see
McCarthyismMcCarthyism is the politically motivated practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence...
) and likening it to the witch hunts that marred
SalemThe Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before local magistrates followed by county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in Essex, Suffolk and Middlesex counties of colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...
and medieval Europe (a comparison that provided the inspiration for
Arthur MillerArthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include awards-winning plays such as All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, and The Crucible.Miller was often in the public eye, particularly during the late 1940s, 1950s and...
's critically acclaimed play,
The CrucibleThe Crucible is a 1953 play by Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witchcraft trials that took place in Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as a response to McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists...
).
On September 12, 2008, co-defendant
Morton SobellMorton Sobell is a former spy for the Soviet Union. Sobell was an American engineer working for General Electric and Reeves Electronics on military and government contracts. He was found guilty of spying for the Soviets , and sentenced to 30 years in prison...
admitted that he and Julius Rosenberg were guilty of spying for the Soviet Union. He believed Ethel was aware of the espionage, but did not actively participate.
Execution
Because the United States
Federal Bureau of PrisonsThe Federal Bureau of Prisons is a federal law enforcement agency subdivision of the United States Department of Justice and is responsible for the administration of the federal prison system....
did not operate an
electric chairExecution by electrocution is an execution method originating in the United States in which the person being put to death is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
at the time, the Rosenbergs were transferred to the New York State-run
Sing Sing Correctional FacilitySing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison in the Village of Ossining, Town of Ossining, New York, United States. It is located approximately 30 miles north of New York City on the banks of the Hudson River...
in
OssiningOssining is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 36,534 at the 2000 census. It contains two villages, the Village of Ossining and part of Briarcliff Manor, the rest of which is located in the Town of Mount Pleasant....
for execution. The couple were executed at sundown in the electric chair on June 19, 1953. This was delayed from the originally scheduled date of June 18 because, on June 17,
Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal judiciary. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed with the "advice and consent" of the Senate...
Associate JusticeAssociate Justice or Associate Judge is the title for a member of a judicial panel who is not the Chief Justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the United States Supreme Court and some state supreme courts, and for some other courts in Commonwealth...
William O. DouglasWilliam Orville Douglas was a United States Supreme Court Associate Justice. With a term lasting 36 years and 209 days, he is the longest-serving justice in the history of the Supreme Court...
had granted a
stay of executionA stay of execution is a court order to temporarily suspend the execution of a court judgment or other court order. The word "execution" does not mean the death penalty in this context; it refers to the imposition of whatever judgment is being stayed....
. That stay resulted from the intervention in the case of
Fyke FarmerFyke Farmer , was a Tennessee lawyer who worked on the behalf of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.-Biography:He was born on November 25, 1901 in Tennessee. He married Fanny Richards Leake, daughter of Charles Richards Leake...
, a
TennesseeTennessee is a state located in the Southeastern United States. According to the 2008 census, it has a population of 6,214,888, an increase of nearly 9.5% since 2000. Tennessee is the 14th fastest growing state in the US and is ranked 17th by population. It is ranked 36th by total land area. In...
lawyer whose efforts had previously met with scorn from the Rosenbergs' attorney.
On June 18, the Court was called back into special session to dispose of Douglas' stay rather than let the execution be delayed for months while the appeal that was the basis of the stay wended its way through the lower courts. The Court did not vacate Douglas' stay until noon on June 19. Thus, the execution then was scheduled for later in the evening after the start of the
Jewish SabbathShabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from sundown Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night...
. Desperately playing for more time, their lawyer,
Emanuel Hirsch BlochEmanuel Hirsch Bloch was an American attorney known for defending clients associated with left-wing and Communist causes. He and Marshall Perlin defended Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.-Biography:...
, filed a complaint that this offended their Jewish heritage, so the execution was scheduled before sunset.
EyewitnessA witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about a crime or dramatic event through their senses , and can help certify important considerations to the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event firsthand is known as an "eye-witness"...
testimony (as given by a
newsreelA newsreel was a form of short documentary film prevalent in the first half of the 20th century, regularly released in a public presentation place and containing filmed news stories and items of topical interest. It was a source of news, current affairs and entertainment for millions of moviegoers...
report featured in the 1982
documentary filmDocumentary film is a broad category of visual expressions that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to "document" reality. Although "documentary film" originally referred to movies shot on film stock, it has subsequently expanded to include video and digital productions that can...
The Atomic CafeThe Atomic Cafe is an acclaimed documentary film about the beginnings of the era of nuclear warfare, created from a broad range of archival film from the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s - including newsreel clips, television news footage, U.S. government-produced films , advertisements, television and...
) describes the circumstances of the Rosenbergs' death, noting that while Julius Rosenberg died after the first series of electrocutions, his wife did not. After the normal course of electrocutions, attendants removed the strapping and other equipment only to have doctors determine that Mrs. Rosenberg had not yet died (her heart was still beating). Three courses of electrocution were ultimately applied, and at conclusion eyewitnesses reported a grisly scene with smoke rising from her head in the chamber.
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were
buriedBurial, also called interment and inhumation, is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...
at
Wellwood CemeteryWellwood Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery in Pinelawn, New York. The cemetery comprises many sections, each under the auspices of a synagogue, landsmanschaft, or group such as the Brooklyn Jewish Postal Workers Union. Each of these is marked, most commonly by a stone arch or a pair of stone columns...
in Pinelawn, New York.
Alexandre Feklisov
According to
Alexandre FeklisovAleksandr Semyonovich Feklisov was the NKGB Case Officer who received information from Julius Rosenberg and Klaus Fuchs, among others.-Biography:...
, the former Soviet agent who was Julius' contact, he had not provided Russia with any useful material about the atomic bomb, "He didn't understand anything about the atomic bomb and he couldn't help us."
David Greenglass
David Greenglass, Ethel Rosenberg's brother and key prosecution witness, recanted his testimony about his sister's typed notes. He stated in an interview in 2001: "I don't know who typed it, frankly, and to this day I can't remember that the typing took place. I had no memory of that at all—none whatsoever." He said he gave false testimony to protect himself and his wife, Ruth, and that he was encouraged by the prosecution to do so; "I would not sacrifice my wife and my children for my sister." He refused to express any remorse for his decision to sacrifice his sister, saying only that he did not realize that the death penalty would be invoked.
The Rosenbergs' children
The Rosenbergs' two sons,
RobertRobert Meeropol is the younger son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Meeropol was born in New York City. His father Julius, an electrical engineer, was a member of the Communist Party. His mother Ethel , a union organizer, was also active in the Communist Party...
and
MichaelMichael Meeropol is a retired professor of economics. He is the older son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Born in New York City, as Michael Rosenberg, Meeropol spent his early childhood living in New York and attending local school there. His father Julius, an electrical engineer, was a member of...
, spent years trying to prove the innocence of their parents, until 2008 when they admitted that their father had likely been involved after
SobellMorton Sobell is a former spy for the Soviet Union. Sobell was an American engineer working for General Electric and Reeves Electronics on military and government contracts. He was found guilty of spying for the Soviets , and sentenced to 30 years in prison...
, at age 91, confessed. The Rosenberg children were orphaned by the executions and no relatives adopted them. They were finally adopted by the songwriter
Abel MeeropolAbel Meeropol was an American writer and inadvertent song-writer, best known under his pseudonym Lewis Allan and as the adoptive father of the young sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.-Biography:...
and his wife Anne, and they assumed the Meeropol surname. Abel Meeropol (under the pen name of Lewis Allan) wrote the classic anti-lynching anthem "
Strange Fruit"Strange Fruit" is a song performed most famously by Billie Holiday. It condemned American racism, particularly the lynching of African Americans that had occurred chiefly in the South but also in all regions of the United States. Holiday's version of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of...
", made famous by singer
Billie Holiday Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed Lady Day by her loyal friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday was a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing...
. Robert and Michael co-wrote a book about the experience,
We Are Your Sons: The Legacy of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg (1975), and Robert wrote another book in 2003,
An Execution in the Family: One Son's Journey. In 1990, Robert founded the
Rosenberg Fund for ChildrenThe Rosenberg Fund for Children is a public foundation started in 1990 by Robert Meeropol and named in honor of his parents Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, the only two United States civilians to be executed for conspiracy to commit espionage during the Cold War.Orphaned at age 6, Meeropol was adopted...
, a non-profit foundation that provides support for children of targeted progressive activists, and youth who are targeted activists themselves. Michael is recently retired as the Chair and Professor of Economics, School of Arts and Sciences, Economics at Western New England College in
Springfield, MassachusettsSpringfield is the largest city on the Connecticut River and the county seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States.In the 2000 census, the city population was 154,082. It is the third largest city in Massachusetts and fourth largest in New England...
. Michael's daughter,
Ivy MeeropolIvy Meeropol is the director and producer of the 2004 documentary Heir to an Execution. She is the daughter of Michael Meeropol and Ann Karus Meeropol and granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and adoptive granddaughter of Abel Meeropol author of "Strange Fruit" and "The House I Live In"...
, directed a 2003 documentary about her grandparents,
Heir to an Execution, which was featured at the
Sundance Film FestivalThe Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in the state of Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the U.S. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as the Sundance Resort, the festival is the premier...
.
Michael MeeropolMichael Meeropol is a retired professor of economics. He is the older son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Born in New York City, as Michael Rosenberg, Meeropol spent his early childhood living in New York and attending local school there. His father Julius, an electrical engineer, was a member of...
and
Robert MeeropolRobert Meeropol is the younger son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Meeropol was born in New York City. His father Julius, an electrical engineer, was a member of the Communist Party. His mother Ethel , a union organizer, was also active in the Communist Party...
believe that "whatever atomic bomb information their father passed to the Russians was, at best, superfluous; the case was riddled with prosecutorial and judicial misconduct; their mother was convicted on flimsy evidence to place leverage on her husband; and neither deserved the death penalty."
2008 document release
In a hearing, U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein decided to make public the grand jury testimony of 36 of the 46 witnesses but not that of Greenglass. Citing the objections of Greenglass and two other living witnesses, the judge claimed that their privacy rights "overrides the public’s need to know."
Georgetown UniversityGeorgetown University is a Jesuit private university located in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Father John Carroll founded the school in 1789, though its roots extend back to 1634. While the school struggled financially in its early years, Georgetown expanded into a branched university after the...
law professor David Vladeck argued on behalf of historical groups that because of recent interviews, Greenglass forfeited the privacy he now claims and that the testimony should be released. Hellerstein was not moved. The testimony of the other seven witnesses will be released upon their consent, or confirmation that they are dead or impossible to find.
In September 2008, hundreds of pages of grand jury transcripts were released. With this release, it was revealed that Ruth Greenglass had irreconcilable differences in her grand jury testimony in August 1950 and the testimony she gave at trial. At the grand jury, Ruth Greenglass was asked, "Didn't you write [the information] down on a piece of paper?" She replied, "Yes, I wrote [the information] down a piece of paper and [Julius Rosenberg] took it with him." But, at the trial she testified that Ethel Rosenberg typed up notes about the atomic bomb.
Memoir of Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita KhrushchevNikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
, leader of the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
from 1958 to 1964, wrote of the Rosenbergs in his memoir, published posthumously in 1990. According to the memoir, Kruschchev learned from Stalin and Vyacheslav M. Molotov that Julius and Ethel Rosenberg "had provided very significant help in accelerating the production of our atomic bomb." He further wrote:
However, the director of the organization where the Soviet Union developed its first atomic bomb denied any involvement by the Rosenbergs. In 1989, Boris V. Brokhovich told
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record...
in an interview that development of the bomb had been a matter of trial and error. "You sat the Rosenbergs in the electric chair for nothing", he said. "We got nothing from the Rosenbergs."
Morton Sobell
In 2008, after many years of denial,
Morton SobellMorton Sobell is a former spy for the Soviet Union. Sobell was an American engineer working for General Electric and Reeves Electronics on military and government contracts. He was found guilty of spying for the Soviets , and sentenced to 30 years in prison...
finally admitted he was a Soviet spy and confirmed Julius Rosenberg was "in a conspiracy that delivered to the Soviets classified military and industrial information ... [on] the atomic bomb." However, he stated that the hand-drawn diagrams and other atomic-bomb details that were acquired by
David GreenglassDavid Greenglass was an atomic spy for the Soviet Union.-Biography:David Greenglass was recruited into Soviet espionage by his wife, Ruth Greenglass, at the behest of his sister Ethel Rosenberg, and brother-in-law, Julius Rosenberg...
and passed to Julius were of "little value" to the Soviet Union, and were used only to corroborate what they had already learned from the other atomic spies. He also stated that he believed Ethel Rosenberg was aware of her husband's misdeeds, but took no part in them.
Fictional portrayals
The Rosenbergs have figured in several film, television and literary works:
- Ethel Rosenberg is a major supporting character in Tony Kushner
Tony Kushner is an American playwright and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1992 for his play, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, and co-authored with Eric Roth the screenplay for the 2005 film, Munich.-Early years:Kushner was born in Manhattan, New York...
's critically acclaimed play Angels in AmericaAngels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes is a play in two parts by American playwright Tony Kushner. It has been made into both a television miniseries and an opera by Peter Eötvös.-Characters:...
, in which her ghost haunts a dying Roy CohnRoy Marcus Cohn was an American conservative lawyer who became famous during Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigations into Communist infiltration of U.S. government, and especially during the Army-McCarthy Hearings...
. In the HBO 2003 miniseries adaptation of the playAngels in America is a HBO miniseries adapted from the play of the same name by Tony Kushner. Kushner adapted his original text for the screen, and Mike Nichols directed....
, she was portrayed by Meryl StreepMary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. She is widely regarded as one of the most talented and respected movie actors of the modern era....
. In the 1992 film Citizen CohnCitizen Cohn is a 1992 cable film covering the life of Joseph McCarthy's controversial chief counsel Roy Cohn. James Woods, who starred as Cohn, was nominated for both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his performance...
, she is portrayed by Karen Ludwig.
- Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Faiz Ahmed Faiz was a Pakistani poet considered to be one of the most famous modern Urdu poets, though he also wrote in Punjabi. He was born in Sialkot, in the Punjab during British rule . Faiz was a member of the Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind , and an avowed Marxist...
, a celebrated revolutionary poet of South AsiaSouth Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east...
, praised Julius and Ethel Rosenberg's sacrifices in his poems, which are now classics of UrduUrdu is a Central Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. It is one of the two official languages of Pakistan. It is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of five Indian states...
poetry.
- The E. L. Doctorow
Edgar Lawrence Doctorow is an American author.- Biography :Edgar Lawrence Doctorow was born in the Bronx, New York City, the son of second-generation Americans of Russian Jewish descent...
novel The Book of DanielThe Book of Daniel is semi-historical novel by E. L. Doctorow, loosely based on the trial and execution of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg...
is based on the Rosenberg case as seen through the eyes of the (fictionalized) son. It inspired the Sidney LumetSidney Lumet is an American film director, with over 50 films to his name, including 12 Angry Men , Serpico , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict , all of which, except for Serpico , earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Director.According to The Encyclopedia of Hollywood,...
film, Daniel, starring Timothy HuttonTimothy T. Hutton is an American actor. He is the youngest actor to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he won at the age of 20 for his performance as Conrad Jarrett in Ordinary People .-Early life:...
.
- The other major novel dealing extensively with the case is Robert Coover
Robert Lowell Coover is an American author and professor in the Literary Arts program at Brown University. He is generally considered a writer of fabulation and metafiction.-Life and works:...
's The Public Burning. Unlike Doctorow, Coover uses real names for most protagonists of the case, and uses a fictionalized Richard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States and is the only president to resign the office. He was also the 36th Vice President of the United States ....
as his narrator for half of the chapters. This sparked a long delay in the publication of the novel, since publishing houses feared lawsuits from people appearing as characters in the book. Further fictional treatments of the case are Tema Nason's fictional autobiography Ethel and Millicent Dillon's fictional biography Harry Gold.
- Prominently referred to in Sylvia Plath's novel The Bell Jar
The Bell Jar is American writer and poet Sylvia Plath's only novel, which was originally published under the pseudonym "Victoria Lucas" in 1963. The novel is semi-autobiographical with the names of places and people changed...
.
See also
- Atom Spies
- Roy Cohn
Roy Marcus Cohn was an American conservative lawyer who became famous during Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigations into Communist infiltration of U.S. government, and especially during the Army-McCarthy Hearings...
, member of the prosecution team
- Soviet atomic bomb project
The Soviet project to develop an atomic bomb began during World War II in the Soviet Union. The USSR tested its first nuclear weapon in August of 1949.-Nuclear physics in the Soviet Union:...
Works cited
- Feklisov, Aleksandr, and Kostin, Sergei. The Man Behind the Rosenbergs. Enigma Books (2001). 978-929631-24-7.
- Roberts, Sam. The Brother: The Untold Story of the Rosenberg Case. Random House, 2001. ISBN 0-375-76124-1.
- Schneir, Walter. Invitation to an Inquest. Pantheon Books, 1983. ISBN 0394714962.
- Schrecker, Ellen. Many Are the Crimes: McCarthyism in America. Little, Brown and Company, 1998. ISBN 0316774707.
Further reading
- Nason, Tema. Ethel: The Fictional Autobiography of Ethel Rosenberg. Delacourt, 1990. ISBN 0-440-21110-7 and by Syracuse, 2002, ISBN 0-8156-0745-8.
- Meeropol, Robert and Michael. We Are Your Sons, The Legacy of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. University of Illinois Press, 1986. [chapter 15 is a detailed refutation of Radosh and Milton's scholarship.] ISBN 0-252-01263-1.
- Meeropol, Robert Meeropol. An Execution in the Family: One Son's Journey. St. Martin's Press, 2003. ISBN 0312306377.
- Radosh, Ronald Radosh and Joyce Milton. The Rosenberg File: A Search for the Truth. Henry Holt (1983). ISBN 0-03-049036-7.
- Wexley, John. The Judgment of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Ballantine Books, 1977. ISBN 0345248694.
- Yalkowsky, Stanley. The murder of the Rosenbergs. Crucible Publications (July 1990). ISBN 978-0962098420.
Meeropol, Michael, ed. "The Rosenberg Letters: A Complete Edition of the Prison Correspondence of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg." NY: Garland Publishers, 1994ISBN 0-8240-5948-4
External links