Not only did he vote in favor of the New York Times and against the federal government when the Pentagon Papers case was before the Second Circuitthe Supreme Court took the same position in its 6-3 decisionbut Kaufman consistently sided with the press in cases involving confidential sources and libel claims. [78] In October 2016, both Michael and Robert Meeropol spoke with Anderson Cooper in an interview which aired on 60 Minutes. At a time when American fears about communism were high, the Rosenbergs did not receive support from mainstream Jewish organizations. Feklisov agreed that Julius had passed on military secrets but, he didnt understand anything about the atomic bomb, and he couldnt help us. The judge also engaged in improper ex parteprivate, one-sideddiscussions with prosecutors during the trial. Cohn would go on later to work for Senator Joseph McCarthy, appointed as chief counsel to the investigations subcommittee during McCarthy's tenure as chairman of the Senate Government Operations Committee. But Julius and Ethel seemed to have little understanding of the danger they were putting the family in. She became involved in labor disputes and joined the Young Communist League, where she met Julius in 1936. To be more specific Michael is in his home in New York state, in a town he describes as just south of. All other appeals were also unsuccessful. [33], In imposing the death penalty, Kaufman noted that he held the Rosenbergs responsible not only for espionage but also for American deaths in the Korean War:[34]. The Rosenberg boys: The Cold War's most famous orphans 05:50. Yet there is more to Kaufman than the Rosenberg case, as Martin J. Siegel shows in his excellent biography, Judgment and Mercy: The Life and Turbulent Times of the Judge Who Condemned the Rosenbergs. [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. Wer Benutzt Links? He said that he and Julius had been spies together, and confirmed that Julius had not helped the Russians build the bomb. Ein Link ist eine Stelle im Text oder ein Symbol auf ihrem Bildschirm, welches z.B. More than seven decades after their trial, conviction, and execution, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg still resonate in our political and legal culture. The governments views were muddled, Siegel notes. und sein eigenes Angebot erstellen. The West was shocked by the speed with which the Soviets were able to stage their first nuclear test, "Joe 1", on August 29, 1949. Last Words of the Executed More generally, Kaufman sought justice on the bench; in the most consequential case of his tenure, however, his view of justice led him to make decisions that would overshadow his many accomplishments and define his judicial legacy. So what am I gonna do, call my wife a liar? "[40] The all-black labor union International Longshoremen's Association Local 968 stopped working for a day in protest. They could finally grow up in anonymity among loving people who told them their parents had been brave and admirable. After she was given three electric shocks, attendants removed the strapping only to have doctors determine that Ethel's heart was still beating. The posting followed the confession last week of Morton Sobell, one of the principals in the case, to spying. "Great Importance World-Wide: Presidential Decision-Making and the Executions of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. . [70], In a subsequent letter to The New York Times, Sobell denied that he knew anything about Julius Rosenberg's alleged atomic espionage activities, and that the only thing he knew for sure was what he himself did in association with Julius Rosenberg. Copyright 2021Rosenberg Fund for Children, Inc. The Rosenbergs lawyer Emanuel Bloch with Robert and Michael outside Sing Sing prison in New York state in 1953. ith their extended family still unwilling to look after them (People later said to me, A Jewish family and no family members took in the kids? On 19 June, Ethel and Julius wrote their last letter to their children: We wish we might have had the tremendous joy and gratification of living our lives out with you As Kaufman neared the end of his career, he was said to be fixated on how his obituary in The New York Times would readthat he would be remembered as the judge in Rosenberg. - jede Sonderleistungen wird ebenso ein Artikel! Only a But even with that, Myles Lane, who had publicly laid the blame for the Korean war at Ethels feet, admitted privately in a closed-door meeting of the Congressional Joint Committee on Atomic Energy: The case is not strong against Mrs Rosenberg. Today, it is not disputed that Julius Rosenberg spied for the Soviet Union. In June 1953, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for conspiracy to commit espionage under the Important research on electronics, communications, radar and guided missile controls was undertaken at Fort Monmouth during World War II. There is something to each account. If Ethel did think this, she might have been right. Ethel and Juliuss sons Robert, left, and Michael Meeropol, who took their adoptive parents surname. This was the "Fat Man" bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, as opposed to a bomb with the "gun method" triggering device used in the "Little Boy" bomb dropped on Hiroshima. In her re-interview, Ruth Greenglass expanded on her husband's version: Julius then took the info into the bathroom and read it and when he came out he called Ethel and told her she had to type this information immediately Ethel then sat down at the typewriter which she placed on a bridge table in the living room and proceeded to type the information that David had given to Julius. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Martin J. Siegel's new biography "Judgment and Mercy: The Life and Turbulent Times of the Judge Who Condemned the Rosenbergs" explores the life of Irving R. Kaufman. [30], On March 29, 1951, the Rosenbergs were convicted of espionage. [11], Rosenberg provided thousands of classified reports from Emerson Radio, including a complete proximity fuse. Was macht so ein Link? The Rosenbergs, who insisted they were innocent, were found guilty. As noted earlier, there now is a consensus that Julius Rosenberg ran a spy ring that provided information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union while Ethel, at most, supported her husbands efforts. Hier finden Sie Tipps und Tricks - alles rund um das Thema Links. The Rosenbergs made a public statement: "By asking us to repudiate the truth of our innocence, the government admits its own doubts concerning our guilt we will not be coerced, even under pain of death, to bear false witness". Kaufmans biography begins with an American tale: the immigration of his parents, Tzvi and Rachel, from Galicia to, ultimately, the United States in 1903. September/October 2021 Published on August 24, 2021 Ethel Rosenberg was the only American woman ever executed for a crime other than murder and, with her husband, Julius, was one of only two Americans ever to face capital punishment for conspiring to commit espionage in peacetime. They could finally grow up in anonymity among loving people who told them their parents had been brave and admirable. In reality, the older Rosenberg child is called Michael, and his younger brother is Robert. He admitted that he had given documents to the Soviet contact, but said these had to do with defensive radar and weaponry. The prosecutors, who included Roy Cohn, obtained the couples conviction through the testimony of Ethels younger brother, David Greenglass. But then I realised this was as close to a smoking gun we would ever get, because it said that Julius and Ethel didnt do the thing they were killed for. We always had a good time on the prison visits: singing, talking, enjoying ourselves, says Michael. This revelation prompted Justice Felix Frankfurterwho held the so-called Jewish seat on the Supreme Court that Kaufman aspired to fill some dayto later write in a letter to Learned Hand, another federal judge, I despise a judge who feels God told him to impose a death sentence, adding I am mean enough to try to stay here long enough so that K will be too old to succeed me.. He recoils, poleaxed by the thought. The execution of New York City couple Ethel and Julius Rosenberg after their conviction for being Soviet spies was a major news event of the early 1950s. Perhaps the greatest strength of Siegels book is that it is balanced. The killing of the Rosenbergs was so shocking at the time and is so resonant of a specific period in American history that it has become part of popular culture. But is that just fantasy?. "We got nothing from the Rosenbergs. Michael was more sceptical of the Venona papers and wondered if they were CIA disinformation. Klaus Fuchs, a German scientist working in Los Alamos, was convicted in the United Kingdom. [27], The trial of the Rosenbergs and Sobell on federal espionage charges began on March 6, 1951, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. [25], On August 11, Ethel Rosenberg testified before a grand jury. Like many on the left, the Meeropols were shocked by Trumps victory. WebThe Rosenbergs were charged with conspiracy to commit espionage and brought to trial on March 6, 1951; Greenglass was the chief witness for the prosecution. The Rosenbergs are still the only Americans ever put to death in peacetime for espionage, and Ethel is the only American woman killed by the US government for a crime other than murder. Abel Meeropol was. [65], The Rosenbergs' two sons, Michael and Robert, spent years trying to prove the innocence of their parents. If we set aside what we know now about the case and turn back the clock to 1951, when the trial occurred, what can we say about Kaufmans conduct in Rosenberg? David quickly changed his story the week before the trial to corroborate his wifes version, probably under pressure from Roy Cohn, the ambitious chief assistant prosecutor. the Communist aggression in Korea. The former contention was debatable, the latter hyperbolic. Give Bomb Data to Soviet Is Laid to His Sister Here", "Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg (American spies) Britannica Online Encyclopedia", "Judge Kaufman's Sentencing Statement in the Rosenberg Case", "The trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg", "Nashville now and then: A lawyer's last gamble", "Funeral Tributes To Rosenbergs: Execution Denounced", "Never Losing Faith for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg", "False testimony clinched Rosenberg spy trial", "50 years later, Rosenberg execution is still fresh", "Khrushchev on Rosenbergs: Stoking Old Embers", "K.G.B. After Semyonov was recalled to Moscow in 1944 his duties were taken over by Feklisov. Many hundreds of people filed past the biers. It is a bitter, rainy spring day when I interview the Rosenbergs sons. We just didnt believe people could be so conned [into voting for Trump], but of course they can: the Salem witch trials, the antisemitic blood libel, communists under the bed, all the crap people have believed through the ages, says Michael. But for the serendipity of Ethels younger brother, David Greenglass, being assigned to work as a machinist at Los Alamos, the New Mexico laboratory where the United States developed the atomic bomb, neither Julius nor Ethel ever would have been charged with a capital crime. Anne Sebbas new book, Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy, comes in the wake of the public release of the last of the grand jury testimony in the case, that of The trial court judge, Irving R. Kaufman, called their crime worse than murder and sentenced the Rosenbergs to death. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Mr. Bloch [their counsel], who delivered one of the main orations, bitterly exclaimed that America was "living under the heel of a military dictator garbed in civilian attire": the Rosenbergs were "Sweet. "Thanks to information provided by their agents", Moynihan wrote in his book Secrecy, "they did it in four". Recent research corroborates their argument: Soviet sources state that Julius stopped working for them in February 1945. Julius became a leader in the Young Communist League USA while at City College of New York during the Great Depression. (modern). While Julius had a close relationship with his mother, Sophie, Ethel and her mother, Tessie, had a difficult one. Through interviews and access to family files, photos, and correspondence, Siegel also describes Kaufmans private life, providing a portrait of the man beneath the robe. Rosenberg had been introduced to Semyonov by Bernard Schuster, a high-ranking member of the Communist Party USA and NKVD liaison for Earl Browder. He was arrested when he was identified as part of a chain that passed on secrets about the technology to the Soviets. WebThe Final Letter From the Rosenbergs to Their Children (Written on the day of their execution, June 19, 1953.) Documents relating to the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Case, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, A statement by the Rosenberg's sons in support of their exoneration, An Interview with Robert Meeropol about the adoption, National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case, Annotated bibliography for Ethel Rosenberg from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues, Annotated bibliography for Julius Rosenberg from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues, The Cold War International History Project (CWIHP), Rosenberg Son: "My Parents Were Executed Under the Unconstitutional Espionage Act", History on Trial: The Rosenberg Case in E.L. Doctorow's, Julius Rosenberg at court sentenced to death, The WSWS speaks to Julius and Ethel Rosenbergs son An interview with Robert Meeropol, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Julius_and_Ethel_Rosenberg&oldid=1151973397, American people convicted of spying for the Soviet Union, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2021, Articles with failed verification from November 2022, Articles with French-language sources (fr), Wikipedia external links cleanup from October 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Images of the Rosenbergs are engraved on a memorial in, The execution is explored in great detail and serves as the premise of, Clune, Lori. Ethel absolutely did not want to be separated from Julius, and her letters show that she thought she was the one who had done him wrong by introducing him to her ghastly family, says Sebba. But is that just fantasy?. Harris, Brian. They know their argument defies the confines of bite-size headlines, and so is a difficult one to sell to the public: Julius was guilty, although the extent of his guilt was exaggerated in an attempt to scare him into naming names; Ethel was possibly complicit, but not culpable. Your Daddy who is with me in these last momentous hours, sends his heart and all the love that is in it for his dearest boys. His wife Helen, described by one former law clerk as warm, forthright, unpretentious . Michael and Robert never saw the Greenglasses again after the trial, and all Michael remembers of them is: David looked like a nondescript schlub and Ruth was a cold fish. The previous month, Ethels younger brother, David Greenglass, had been arrested for the same crime. Its easy today to criticise them, but these were people who grew up in poverty during the Depression and saw the rise of fascism. They had been convicted in 1951 for passing secretes to the Soviet Union and, and their sentencing, judge in the case, Irving Kaufman, issued an angry statement, claiming that their activities had had abundant negative consequences. For a Jew and a communist, this was about survival.. . Hoover, aware of the tenuousness of the case against Ethel, and how it would look if America executed a young mother, urged against the death sentence for her, but Cohn argued for it and won. [11], In February 1944, Rosenberg succeeded in recruiting a second source of Manhattan Project information, engineer Russell McNutt, who worked on designs for the plants at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Despite some public outrage and failed appeals, the Rosenbergs were executed by electric chair at Sing Sing Prison on June 19, 1953. Sie haben Spass am schreiben? Siegel considers the possibility that the judges jurisprudence shifted to make amends for the Rosenberg case but ultimately does not endorse this explanation. Supporting the Children of Resistance Since 1990. Wenn man auf den Link drauf Klickt, zeigt der Link weitere Informationen oder neue Webseiten zu einem bestimmten Thema oder einem Herdausstechendem Stichwort. The government and FBI hoped that, too. Siegel notes that there was an element of self-promotion in Kaufmans rulings: At the same time Kaufman was protecting the press, he was energetically courting it, he writes, nowhere more so than the Times. Indeed, when she and her husband, Julius, were charged with espionage, attempts were made by their fellow "leftists" to link their prosecution with antisemitism. The prosecutors, who included Roy Cohn, obtained the couples conviction through the testimony of Ethels younger brother, David Greenglass. Isidore, their fifth child, and youngest son, was born seven years later on the Lower East Side of New York City. [55], Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, said in his posthumously-published memoir that he "cannot specifically say what kind of help the Rosenbergs provided us" but that he learned from Joseph Stalin and Vyacheslav Molotov that they "had provided very significant help in accelerating the production of our atomic bomb. 2009 Vassiliev notebooks based on KGB archives. Despite numerous appeals, the couple was executed in June 1953. These were his friends! We press you close and kiss you with all our strength. "[67] He said he gave false testimony to protect himself and his wife, Ruth, and that he was encouraged by the prosecution to do so. Ethel was convicted, and her conviction was upheld, on the basis of false testimony.
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