Transcript The Case Against

The Case Against
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
INTRODUCTION
The year 2000 marks the 50th anniversary of the arrests of
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and the beginning of a legal case
that would capture and hold the interest of people around the
world from that beginning through today. Their controversial
conviction on charges of conspiring to give away secrets of
the atomic bomb just a few short years after it was used to end
WWII, divided the world, the nation, and a brother and sister
and their spouses. The key government witness was Ethel
Rosenberg’s own brother, David Greenglass. This display is
designed to introduce you to these historic personalities and to
some of the facts and questions that still surround the case. It
should be viewed with an eye toward what it might have been
like to be sitting at the defendant’s chair or testifying on the
witness stand, or listening from the jury box.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
 September 28, 1915: Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg born
 March 1917: The Russian Revolution begins
 1917: Espionage Act that the Rosenbergs are convicted of violating is enacted
 May 12, 1918: Julius Rosenberg born
 1929: Communist Party of the United States is founded
 1934: Julius Rosenberg enters City College of New York; is involved in radical
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politics
Summer 1939: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg married
1943: Rosenbergs cease open activities with Communist Party; Daily Worker
subscription stops
July 1944: David Greenglass chosen to work on the Manhattan Project
November 1944: Julius Rosenberg recruits aid of Greenglasses in obtaining
information about the Manhattan Project
January 1945: David Greenglass provides his own notes and a sketch of a
high-explosive lens from the Manhattan Project
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
 June 1945: Harry Gold meets with Greenglass in Albuqurque
 August 6, 1945: United States drops Atom bomb at Hiroshima
 September, 1945: Greenglass meets with Rosenberg while on forlough in New
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York
August 28, 1949: Soviets detonate their first Atom bomb
February 2, 1950: Klaus Fuchs arrested
May 22, 1950: Harry Gold confesses to the FBI
June 15, 1950: David Greenglass names Julius as the man who recruited him
to spy for the Soviet Union
July 17, 1950: Julius Rosenberg arrested
August 11, 1950: Ethel Rosenberg arrested
THE ACCUSED
Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg and
Julius Rosenberg in happier times.
Members of the jury will be asked to
determine if this seemingly typical
couple were the leaders of an
American spy ring that gave secrets
of the atomic bomb to the Soviet
Union.
PROSECUTION WITNESS
David Greenglass, known as "Doovey" to his older sister Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg, was born in
1922. Greenglass, like his brother-in-law Julius, was interested in the ideas of Communism. He and
his wife Ruth joined the Young Communist League in early 1943, and shortly afterwards David was
inducted into the Army. While in the Army Greenglass preached his political ideas to his fellow
soldiers, sometimes to their annoyance, but he proved valuable as a highly skilled machinist. When
his unit shipped out of Jackson, Mississippi, and Greenglass was left behind, he suspected that it
was the result of his political ideas. Ironically it was not, he had been selected to be part of the
secret Manhattan Project. He was stationed in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and then later in Los Alamos,
New Mexico.
Greenglass was not aware that the purpose of the Manhattan Project was to develop the atomic bomb until his wife
told him; she had been informed by Julius Rosenberg. In November 1944, while Ruth was visiting him in
Albuquerque, he decided to pass information about the project along to Julius Rosenberg, and continued to do so
until he left the Army in 1946.
Greenglass decided to be a prosecution witness against his sister and his brother-in-law in exchange for immunity
for his wife Ruth, so that she might remain with their two children. Greenglass received a 15 year sentence for his
role in the passing of the Atomic information. He and Ruth remained together after he was released from prison.
In 1990, David Greenglass was living under an assumed name in a single-family house in the Queens when he was
interviewed by Sam Roberts of the New York Times. Since released from prison, Greenglass had invented a number
of devices, including a waterproof ornamental electrical outlet. Roberts described Greenglass, then 68, as "still
pudgy and wearing steel-rimmed glasses." According to Roberts, Greenglass, when asked if he would have done
anything differently, replied "Never."
PROSECUTION TESTIMONY
Greenglass testified that Rosenberg asked David and Ruth Greenglass to visit him in
Knickerbocker Village. When they arrived, a woman by the name of Ann Sidorovich was
also there. Greenglass said that Rosenberg told him that Sidrovich would probably meet
Greenglass in a movie theater in Denver to pick up information that he is able to get in
Los Alamos. Because his contact might turn out to be someone else, Rosenberg cut a
Jell-O box with a scissors and gave one half to Ruth Greenglass while keeping the other
half. He told Greenglass that whatever person he sent to meet with him would carry the
matching half of the Jell-O box as a recognition signal. The meeting point was changed
from Denver to Albuquerque. Greenglass then testified as to a meeting (also in New
York) arranged by Julius, with a Russian in a car. Greenglass described the lenses to the
unknown Russian and answered his questions about activities in Los Alamos. Cohn
provided Greenglass with a Jell-O box and asked him to cut it in the way that he said
Julius had during their meeting at his apartment. Cohn asked Greenglass about his
meeting in Albuquerque with Harry Gold, who turned out to be his contact.
David Greenglass Testimony (80 s)
THE LENS MOLD
This lens mold sketch was
drawn by David
Greenglass and presented
by the prosecution as the
key secret given to the
Soviet Union. Physicists
later described it as
“insignificant.
PROSECUTION WITNESS
Harry Gold was the son of poor Russian Jewish immigrants. He was a small quiet boy abused by
his schoolmates. As a young man both he and his family became interested in Socialism, perhaps
as a means of escape from their rough life. His interest in Socialism eventually led him to make
contacts within the Communist movement. In 1935, Gold began to steal industrial formulas from
the Pennsylvania Sugar Company, where he was working as a chemist. He had been asked by his
friend Tom Black to aid the Soviets with the formulas. As Gold continued his espionage activities
and rose in responsibility he began to tell his various contacts elaborate tales of his family life.
But Gold's tales were all fantasy, he was actually a bachelor. Gold also began drinking heavily and was sloppy with the
evidence of his illegal activities. Perhaps he wanted to be caught. Gold was given several days warning that the FBI
was going to search his home, where he lived with his father and brother. Yet he didn't begin trying to rid his home of
incriminating evidence until mere hours before the search was to begin. There was simply too much to destroy and
Gold confessed to the FBI. Gold was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his espionage activities and actually seemed
to adapt well to the structured life of prison.
PROSECUTION TESTIMONY
At the time of the Rosenberg trial, Harry Gold had been involved with spying for the
Soviet Union for about 15 years. His testimony against the Rosenbergs served to verify
what David Greenglass had stated concerning Julius’ role as the ring leader of the
American spy ring. He stated that a Soviet agent named Anatoli Yakalev contacted him
and instructed him to go to Albuquerque to pick up some information from the home of
some American spies named Greenglass. He said that Yakalev gave him $500.00 to give
to the Greenglass’ and half of a jello box top that was to be used as a means to identify
the exchange. He testified that the recognition signal was to be “I come from Julius.”
DEFENSE WITNESS
Julius Rosenberg was born on May 12, 1918 in New York City. He was the son of Polish
immigrants, his father Harry worked in the garment industry and his mother Sophie took care of the
couple's five children. As a boy Julius attended Downtown Talmud Torah and then Seward Park
High School where he graduated at 16. Although his father hoped Julius would become a rabbi,
Julius enrolled at the City College of New York to study electrical engineering. In college, Julius
also pursued his interest in politics, joining the Steinmetz Club, the campus branch of the Young
Communist League where he would meet Morton Sobell, William Perl, and Joel Barr. Julius also
became a member of the Federation of Architects, Engineers, Chemists, and Technicians
(FAECT), a rather radical union for professionals.
Julius Rosenberg became so engrossed in his political activities that his studies began to languish. Rosenberg graduated
in 1939, but was one semester behind the rest of his class. Later that same summer, Julius married Ethel Greenglass.
After leaving college, Julius did freelance work until the fall of 1940 when he was hired as a civilian employee of the
U.S. Army Signal Corps. Julius was promoted in 1942 to the position of Inspector and the new position allowed the
Rrosenbergs to move to a new three bedroom apartment. Around this same time Julius and Ethel became full members
in the American Communist Party. Julius was the chairman of Branch 16B of the Party's Industrial Division and held its
meetings at the Rosenbergs' apartment. By 1943, however, the Rosenberg's dropped out of the Communist Party to
pursue his espionage activities.
Early in 1945 Rosenberg was fired from his job with the Signal Corps when his past membership in the Communist
Party came to light. Julius took a job with the Emerson Radio Corporation for a while and then in 1946 formed G & R
Engineering Company with David Greenglass, Bernard Greenglass, and Isadore Goldstein. But this small machine shop
was never a success. On June 17, 1950, Julius Rosenberg was arrested on suspicion of espionage after
having been named by David Greenglass. Julius Rosenberg stoically maintained his innocence throughout the length of
his trial and appeals. On June 19, 1953, Julius Rosenberg was executed at Sing-Sing Prison in New York.
DEFENSE TESTIMONY
BLOCH: If the Court, please, my first witness is the defendant Julius Rosenberg.
E. H. BLOCH: Now, Mr. Rosenberg, are you aware of the charge that the Government has leveled against you?
ROSENBERG: I am.
E. H. BLOCH: D o you know what you are being charged with?
ROSENBERG: Yes.
E. H. BLOCH: What are you being charged with?
ROSENBERG: Conspiracy to commit espionage to aid a foreign government.
E. H. BLOCH: And you have been here all the time that the witnesses who appeared for the prosecution testified?
ROSENBERG: Yes, sir, I have.
E. H. BLOCH: And amongst those witnesses did you hear your brother-in-law Dave Greenglass testify?
ROSENBERG: Yes, I did.
E. H. BLOCH: And did you hear your sister-in-law Ruth Greenglass testify?
ROSENBERG: I did.
E. R. BLOCH: Now I want to direct the following questions and try to have you focus your attention upon your recollection
of their testimony. Mrs. Ruth
Oreenglass testified here, in substance, that in the middle of November 1944, you came over to her house or you invited her
to your house and you asked
her to enlist her husband, Dave Greenglass, in getting information out of where he was working and deliver or convey that
information to you.Did you ever
have any conversation with Mrs. Ruth Greenalass at or about that time with respect to getting information from Dave
Greenglass out of the place that he
was working?
ROSENBERG: I did not.
Julius Rosenberg Testimony (90 s)
DEFENSE WITNESS
Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg was born September 28, 1915 in New York City to Barnet and Tessie
Greenglass. Her father ran a repair shop for sewing machines, but was barely able to provide for his
wife and four children. The Greenglass family lived in a shabby tenement that was unheated. Early
on Ethel, the only daughter, showed that she was a strong willed and intelligent woman. Ethel
attended a religious school, Downtown Talmud Torah, and then Seward Park High School, where
she graduated at the age of only 15. Ethel became a clerk for a shipping company immediately after
finishing school. She remained at this job for the next four years, until she was let go for her role as
the organizer of a strike of 150 women workers.
Ethel was not just an activist at work, she was also interested in politics. Ethel joined the Young Communist League and
eventually became a member of the American Communist Party. In addition to her clerk job, Ethel enjoyed singing,
alone as well as with a choir. Ethel was waiting to go on stage to sing at a New Years Eve benefit when she first met
Julius Rosenberg. The couple was married not long afterwards in the summer of 1939.
Although mentally tough, Ethel Rosenberg's body was weak. She was not healthy enough to work after the Rosenberg's
were married, instead Ethel stayed home with their two sons Michael and Robert. By the summer of 1950, Ethel's
younger brother, David Greenglass, had named Julius as a participant in the spy ring. The FBI questioned her husband
and eventually placed him under arrest. On August 11, 1950, Ethel Rosenberg was herself arrested. At trial Ruth
Greenglass, Ethel's sister-in-law, implicated Ethel in the Atomic spy ring by testifying that Ethel had been the one to
type the notes provided by David Greenglass. This testimony sealed Ethel's fate. She was found guilty of espionage
along with Julius Rosenberg and on April 5, 1951 was sentenced to death.
For the next two years Ethel Rosenberg lived on death row at Sing Sing prison maintaining her innocence and hoping
for leniency. It never came. On June 19, 1953, Ethel was put to death in the electric chair.
DEFENSE TESTIMONY
Ethel Rosenberg testified after her husband and was asked about her
knowledge concerning her brother’s military assignment. She was
asked about his testimony regarding the alleged jello box and its use
as a signal from her husband to pass information to an emissary.
Ethel Rosenberg Testimony (90 s)
PROSECUTION SUMMARY
 Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are members of
the communist party.
 Harry Gold and David Greenglass each
stated that Julius arranged the transfer of
information using a jello box.
 David Greenglass drew a sketch of the lens
mold which was given to the soviets at
Julius’ request.
DEFENSE SUMMARY
 Being members of the Communist Party is
not a crime, and the accused are not on trial
for this action.
 Both Julius and Ethel Rosenberg denied the
jello box testimony.
JURY DELIBERATION
The Verdict decision comes down to which testimony is the most
believable, that of David Greenglass, or that of the Rosenbergs.
Would a brother lie, knowing the that his sister could be
executed?
Would the transfer of such a secret be done with such a
simplistic method; a jello box?
Has the prosecution met the burden of proof in this case? Have
they convinced the jury the crime has been committed by the
Rosenbergs?
If you were sitting in the jury box in 1950 would your vote be
guilty or not guilty?
VERDICT
GUILTY
SENTENCE STATEMENT
I consider your crime worse than murder. Plain deliberate contemplated murder is
dwarfed in magnitude by comparison with the crime you have committed. In committing the act of
murder, the criminal kills only his victim. The immediate family is brought to grief and when
justice is meted out the chapter is closed. But in your case, I believe your conduct in putting into the
hands of the Russians the A-bomb years before our best scientists predicted Russia would perfect
the bomb has already caused, in my opinion, the Communist aggression in Korea, with the
resultant casualties exceeding 50,000 and who knows but that millions more of innocent people
may pay the price of your treason. Indeed, by your betrayal you undoubtedly have altered the
course of history to the disadvantage of our country.
The evidence indicated quite clearly that Julius Rosenberg was the prime mover in
this conspiracy. However, let no mistake be made about the role which his wife, Ethel Rosenberg,
played in this conspiracy. Instead of deterring him from pursuing his ignoble cause, she
encouraged and assisted the cause. She was a mature woman--almost three years older than her
husband and almost seven years older than her younger brother. She was a full-fledged partner in
this crime.
Indeed the defendants Julius and Ethel Rosenberg placed their devotion to their cause
above their own personal safety and were conscious that they were sacrificing their own children,
should their misdeeds be detected--all of which did not deter them from pursuing their course.
Love for their cause dominated their lives--it was even greater than their love for their children."
Judge Irving Kaufman
FINAL LETTER
Dearest Sweethearts, my most precious children,
Only this morning it looked like we might be together again after all. Now that this cannot be, I want so much for you to know
all that I have come to know. Unfortunately, I may write only a few simple words; the rest your own lives must teach you, even as
mine taught me.
At first, of course, you will grieve bitterly for us, but you will not grieve alone. That is our consolation and it must eventually be
yours.
Eventually, too you must come to believe that life is worth the living. Be comforted that even now, with the end of ours slowly
approaching, that we know this with a conviction that defeats the executioner!
Your lives must teach you, too, that good cannot flourish in the midst of evil; that freedom and all the things that go to make up
a truly satisfying and worthwhile life, must sometime be purchased very dearly. Be comforted then that we were serene and
understood with the deepest kind of understanding, that civilization had not as yet progressed to the point where life did not
have to be lost for the sake of life; and that we were comforted in the sure knowledge that others would carry on after us.
We wish we might have had the tremendous joy and gratification of living our lives out with you. Your Daddy who is with me in
the last momentous hours, sends his heart and all the love that is in it for his dearest boys. Always remember that we were
innocent and could not wrong our conscience.
We press you close and kiss you with all our strength.
Lovingly,
Daddy and Mommy
Julie
Ethel
INFORMATION
 Meeropol, Robert and Michael. We Are
Your Sons. Houghton and Mifflin, 1975.
 Schneirs, Walter and Mirriam. Invitation to
an Inquest.
 Sharlitt, Joseph. Fatal Error. Charles
Scribner’s Sons, 1989.
 Yalkowsky, Stanley. The Murder of the
Rosenbergs.
THE END
BARB PEARSON