Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed in 1953 for passing classified information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. They were accused of being part of a complex network of spies sympathetic to the Russians. The trials were criticized for being unfair due to the Communist and Jewish affiliations of the accused. Later evidence suggested Julius was involved in espionage, but the value of the information is disputed.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg have the dubious honor of being the first American civilians to be executed for espionage. The two were electrocuted on June 19, 1953 for their roles in passing classified information regarding the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. The Rosenbergs are often used to illustrate the paranoid anti-Communist climate of the Cold War, with some historians arguing that the couple were innocent.
Both were born into Jewish families and joined the Communist Party at a relatively young age. During World War II, Julius Rosenberg initially worked for the signal corps, but was fired when his Communist Party ties were revealed. He went to work for Ethel’s brother David Greenglass. Greenglass had worked at Los Alamos, and it was later alleged that Julius used Greenglass to gather intelligence which he then passed on to the Soviet Union.
When the Soviet Union produced a nuclear weapon shortly after the end of World War II, the United States was deeply suspicious. The investigations revealed a complex network of spies who surely passed information to the Russians, both because they sympathized with them and because they believed that the United States should not have exclusive control of atomic weapons. Greenglass was implicated in this network and in turn passed on the name of Julius Rosenberg.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested both Rosenbergs, hoping to force Julius to confess in order to save his wife. Both, however, supported the Fifth Amendment during their trials and were ultimately convicted. The Rosenberg trials have been criticized in hindsight because many people felt they had not been administered fairly, due to the Communist and Jewish affiliations of the accused. During the trials, the couple’s guilt was more or less speculated, and only after the trial did international outcry bring attention to the matter.
Despite two years of campaigning, the death sentence was upheld for the couple. Later evidence has suggested that Julius, at least, was definitely involved in espionage, although the value of the information is disputed. Much of this information came from Project Venona, a cooperative arrangement between the United States and Great Britain to intercept and decode Soviet communications. Numerous documents on the Rosenberg case have been made available by the Central Intelligence Agency and the FBI, since there has been so much public interest in the case.
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