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Ethel and Julius Rosenberg - p2 By Nica

Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were American communists who were convicted of espionage. They were convicted of feeding information to the Soviets about the Atomic Bomb. The case began to unfold in June of 1950. The court case officially began March 6th, 1951.

Ethel was born on September 28, 1915 in New York City to parents Tessie and Barnet Greenglass. She grew up very poor. Julius was born May 12, 1918 in New York City to polish immigrants Harry and Sophie Rosenberg. He studied to become a Rabbi but both of them wanted to be in politics. They both joined the young communist League and eventually the communist party. Julius was the chairman of branch 16B of the party’s industrial division. They failed to renew membership in 1944 and dropped out. But Ruth Greenglass said they dropped out to spy for the soviets.

They were a middle class couple in late 30s and both were short with dark hair and round faces. Julius's owlish look was enhanced by his rimless glasses. They had two children, Micheal and Robert. With their ordinariness, they were perfect for espionage. The Rosenberg case was the most controversial case in U.S history. In June of 1950 the FBI first got leads because Soviets “somehow” got closely guarded information about the atomic bomb.

The case began on March 6, 1951. They denied their charges and claimed they were victims of “the Red Scare”. David Greenglass stated that his sister, Ethel was writing notes with US secrets in their apartment in September of 1945. There was a sketch included that Julius made of a cross section of the implosion type atom bomb (the one dropped on Nagasaki as apposed to the “gun method” trigging device that was in the one dropped on Hiroshima) was also turned over to Julius Rosenberg at that meeting. The Rosenberg Trial attracted a lot of media attention like the Alger Hiss trial. The letters written by Ethel contained very little things that related to the soviet bomb project. But letters were enough evidence for the grand jury to accuse and convict Ethel of espionage.

There were mixed feelings about whether the Rosenberg’s were guilty or innocent. On April 5, 1951 they were sentenced to death under sentence two of the Espionage Act. This sentence prohibits anyone from transmitting or attempting to transmit to foreign government information relating to the national defense. They were sentenced to the electric chair. The Rosenbergs were also held responsible for deaths in the Korean War.

The couple was executed at sundown at Sing Sing in Westchester county, New York on June 19, 1953. Reports about their execution said that Julius died after the first jolt of electricity, but Ethel did not die immediately and was subjected to two more electrical charges before being pronounced dead. The chair was designed for a man of average size; and Ethel Rosenberg was a petite woman. The Rosenbergs were buried at Wellwood Cemetery in Pinelawn, New York.

__**EXTRA FOCUS**__ The Rosenbergs' two sons, Robert and Micheal, were orphaned after the execution, and no relatives wanted to adopt them for fear of being excluded or worse. They were finally adopted by the songwriter Abel Meeropol and his wife Anne. Abel Meeropol (under the pen name of Lewis Allan) wrote the classic "Strange Fruit," He also co-wrote (with Earl Robinson) "The House I Live In" Robert and Michael co-wrote a book about the experience, //We are Your Sons: The Legacy of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg//, and Robert wrote another book in 2004, //An Execution in the Family: One Son's Journey.//

David Greenglass was not executed because of his testimony. More importantly, his wife, who according to the Venona coded messages, was never even accused of espionage. He spent 10 years in prison and was released in 1960, and has lived under an different name since his release. Years later, in late 2001, Greenglass took back his testimony and claimed that he had committed perjury when he testified about the letters from his sister Ethel. Greenglass said he chose to lie about his sister in his testimony in order to protect his wife and children.

1. Pedia, Wik I., comp. "Julius and Ethel Rosenberg." Wikipedia. 5 Feb. 2007. University of Kansas City-Missouri. 6 Feb. 2007 <[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_and_Ethel_Rosenberg>.] 2. Moss, Francis. The Rosenberg Espionage Case. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 2000. 4-112. 3. Deverell, William, and Deborah G. White. United States History - Civil War to the Present. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2007. 854-855.