"You sat the Rosenbergs in the electric chair for nothing", he said. But when she was arrested, all the aspirations she had harboured for giving her boys the kind of happy childhood that had been denied to her imploded spectacularly. At the trial, under Cohns questioning, David testified that in September 1945 he gave Julius a sketch and description of the atomic bomb, and that Ethel was deeply involved in the discussions between them. Her death was so brutal that eyewitnesses reported that smoke rose out of her head. The proof against Julius Rosenberg was strong. Equally significantly, the Korean war had just begun, which was seen by the US as a fight to stop communism destroying the American way of life. [10], According to a 2001 book by his former handler Alexander Feklisov, Rosenberg was originally recruited to spy for the interior ministry of the Soviet Union, NKVD, on Labor Day 1942 by former spymaster Semyon Semyonov. Kaufman then joined the U.S. Attorneys office, married his former bosss daughter, and distinguished himself prosecuting fraud cases. Robert and Michael are optimistic that President Biden will look favourably at their campaign to exonerate their mother, Ethel Rosenberg. June 4, 2015 5:03 PM PT Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed 55 years ago, on June 19, 1953. [37], Others, including non-Communists such as Jean Cocteau and Harold Urey, a Nobel Prize-winning physical chemist,[38] as well as Communists and left-leaning figures such as Nelson Algren, Bertolt Brecht, Albert Einstein, Dashiell Hammett, Frida Kahlo, and Diego Rivera, protested the position of the American government in what the French termed the U.S. Dreyfus affair. However, his wife, Ruth, said that Ethel had typed up the information David had given Julius to pass on to the Soviets. Things got even worse when they were put in a childrens home. the Communist aggression in Korea. The former contention was debatable, the latter hyperbolic. It was feeble stuff, as the FBI knew, yet Myles Lane, the chief assistant attorney for the Southern District of New York, told the press: If the crime with which she, Ethel, is charged had not occurred perhaps we would not have the present situation in Korea.. This article was amended on 22 June 2021 to describe the Los Alamos laboratorys focus as atomic weapons rather than atomic power. . After he died in 1992, the opening sentence of the Timess article began: Judge Irving R. Kaufman, who gained national attention in 1951 as the judge who sentenced Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to the electric chair But his extensive efforts to develop a record as more than just the judge in that case were rewarded, for the rest of the sentence read, and who wrote landmark decisions in First Amendment, antitrust and civil rights cases for more than 30 years on the Federal bench, died on Saturday night in the Mount Sinai Medical Center.. "[57], The notes allegedly typed by Ethel apparently contained little that was directly used in the Soviet atomic bomb project. (modern). As a historian, Sebba has built up a reputation for writing in particular about women, such as Wallis Simpson. 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. And she was the mother of my children. I think he was spinning: he wasnt an atomic spy, like they said, but he was a spy, so it wasnt the whole truth. Ruth was free to stay home and look after their children. But when describing the recruitment of Ruth, the cable said, Liberal and his wife recommend her as an intelligent and clever girl.. In total, its a disturbing portrait. He also claimed that his sister Ethel's husband Julius Rosenberg had convinced David's wife Ruth to recruit him while visiting him in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1944. And I think he thought if he confessed to anything they would kill him, so denying everything was the best option. Her main identity was as a wife and a mother, and thats what mattered to her, she says. David quickly admitted his guilt, and his lawyer advised him that the best thing he could do for himself, and to give his wife immunity, would be to turn in someone else. The FBI arrested Julius in July and Ethel a month later after she testified before the grand jury. However, even this summary is complicated by the fact that, as they admitted decades after the trial, David Greenglass and his wife Ruth lied about Ethel typing up Davids notes for Julius. Ethels innocence raises more questions than it settles. Most of them clearly regarded the Rosenbergs as martyred heroes and more than 500 mourners attended to-day's services, while a crowd estimated at 10,000 stood outside in burning heat. Stock stories about Kaufman and the case abound: Kaufman sentenced the Rosenbergs to death to boost his candidacy for the Jewish seat on the Supreme Court. [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. This connection would be necessary as evidence if there was to be a conviction for espionage of the Rosenbergs. I believe that Ethel thought her life without Julius would have been valueless because her sons would never have respected her, because she would have had to make some kind of confession and name names.. The son of immigrants, Kaufman strived and prospered, securing a prestigious appointment to the federal judiciary in 1949 before turning 40. 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. I ask how he feels when he looks back at his fathers letters from prison, in which he insisted he was innocent. Patient, methodical Robert, 74, a former lawyer, considers every word carefully. Nevertheless, she was charged because, in the words of FBI Director Hoover, proceedings against [Juliuss] wife will serve as a lever to get him to talk. After our initial interview, I end up speaking to them, together and separately, several times over the course of a month, mainly because I have so many questions, but also because they are so delightful to talk to: wildly intelligent, always interesting, completely admirable. Afterwards, Ethel wrote a letter to her children: Maybe you thought that I didnt feel like crying when we were hugging and kissing goodbye huh Darlings, that would have been so easy, far too easy on myself because I love you more than I love myself and because I knew you needed that love far more than I needed the relief of crying. 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 Always remember that we were innocent and could not wrong our conscience. And for that, the 37-year-old mother of two young children had five massive jolts of electricity pumped through her body. 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. The campaign to exonerate Ethel is starting again, and the Meeropols are optimistic that President Biden will look at it favourably. Ivy Meeropol remembers visiting the AIDS Quilt on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in 1987. Senator Joseph McCarthy was warning Americans about homegrown commies. Robert developed a strong physical resemblance to Ethel. He had a naive belief that the American justice system was going to work because half the case against him was a pack of lies, so he thought he could deny everything and save them both. Almost until the end, Julius believed that they wouldnt go to the chair. EL Doctorows 1971 novel, The Book Of Daniel, the Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact, a songwriter whose biggest hit was Strange Fruit, original mentor was none other than Roy Cohn. This was hardly the most likely path for the judge who condemned the Rosenbergs to death. On March 29 they Now that his 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. Or Black Despair? tel: (413) 529-0063. It made me want to hug and kiss him all the time, says Michael. Throughout the 70s and 80s, we believed our parents were just communists who were framed. Between the trial and the executions, there were widespread protests and claims of antisemitism; the charges of antisemitism were widely believed abroad[citation needed], but not among the vast majority in the United States. Rhoda Laks, another attorney on the Rosenbergs' defense team, also made this argument before Judge Kaufman. eine andere Farbe hat oder unterstrichen ist. Fr den redaktionellen Aufbau unsere webseiten suchen wir freie Redakteure, die fachspezifisch Ihr know how zum Thema Links online zur Verfgung stellen mchten. ", Deborah Friedell, "How Utterly Depraved!" Du Bois wrote a poem titled "The Rosenbergs", which began "Crucify us, Vengeance of God, as we crucify two more Jews" and ended "Who has been crowned on yonder stair? Robert launched the campaign for Ethels exoneration in 2015 not for a pardon, because that would suggest she had done something wrong, but a full exoneration. The Rosenbergs were convicted on March 29, 1951, and sentenced to death by Judge Irving Kaufman on April 5, 1951. The Rosenbergs were executed at Ossining, NY on June 19, 1953, despite worldwide protests, many from deeply religious anti-communists--people who considered the Rosenbergs guilty of espionage, but opposed the death penalty. As we approach the seventieth anniversary of the execution, the U.S. is engaged in a proxy war with Russia; Cohns client, Donald Trump, is fighting prosecutors on multiple fronts; and authors continue to write about the Rosenbergs. Their execution casts a morbid shadow over Plaths book, just as it did over the United States, and it is seen by many as the nadir of Americas engagement with the cold war. They continue to campaign for Ethel to be posthumously legally exonerated. Only three and seven when their parents were arrested, six and 10 when they were killed, they are now grandfathers with grey beards and known as Michael and Robert Meeropol, having long ago taken the surname of the couple who adopted them after the US government orphaned them. [73], Michael and Robert co-wrote a book about their and their parents' lives, We Are Your Sons: The Legacy of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg (1975). On August 11, 1950, Ethel Rosenberg was arrested after testifying before a grand jury (see section, below). 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. He admitted that he had given documents to the Soviet contact, but said these had to do with defensive radar and weaponry. Unlike many others, they stuck with it after the Soviet Union and Germany signed. Perhaps my willingness to separate Ethel from Julius is a sign I dont feel the same way about my parents, he says. PROSE: Well, one of the things that haunted me and haunts my narrator Simon all the way through the novel are the last words that Ethel Rosenberg sent to her lawyer. 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. But is that true, or just a nephew who wants to expose the people who lied about my parents? he asks. So why didnt Julius save Ethel? With 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? After World War II ended, Greenglass was discharged from the Army in 1946 and returned to civilian life in Manhattan, where he and Julius ran a machine shop. For a Jew and a communist, this was about survival.. We are all talking by video chat, and when I ask where Robert is, he replies that hes at home in Massachusetts, in a town 90 miles west of Boston and 150 miles north-east of New York City. I think it would have been very, very hard, he says eventually. [17], On June 15, 1950, David Greenglass was arrested by the FBI for espionage and soon confessed to having passed secret information on to the USSR through Gold. [Kaufman] was left to watch helplessly as his wife attempted suicide. But Julius and Ethel seemed to have little understanding of the danger they were putting the family in. Siegel was one of Kaufmans last law clerks, starting in 1991 and serving until the judges death in February 1992. Julius became a leader in the Young Communist League USA while at City College of New York during the Great Depression. He confirmed that Julius Rosenberg was "in a conspiracy that delivered to the Soviets classified military and industrial information [on] the atomic bomb," and "He never told me about anything else that he was engaged in. The Rosenbergs, who insisted they were innocent, were found guilty. "We got nothing from the Rosenbergs. Robby and I think that when our father got involved in helping the Soviets, our mother stayed out of it so that if he got arrested, she could take care of us, says Michael. Kaufmans judicial record follows the path of liberalism from the statist-centered philosophy of the early days of the Cold War to the individual-oriented 1960s and 70s to its defensive posture after the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. (You can unsubscribe anytime). Ethel Rosenberg by Anne Sebba is published by Orion at 20. The judge also engaged in improper ex parteprivate, one-sideddiscussions with prosecutors during the trial. The bomb threats and the letters and the stress helped corrode his family and private life. 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. It was more complicated for Michael, who could remember playing ball games with his father in their apartment (If it went in Robbys playpen, it was a home run.) Eventually, he decided as an adult that reverting to Rosenberg would be artificial. [65][63][64], The messages decoded by the Venona project were not made public during the Rosenbergs' trial, which relied instead on testimony from their collaborators. These were his friends! 2009 Vassiliev notebooks based on KGB archives. [74], Michael's daughter, Ivy Meeropol, directed a 2004 documentary about her grandparents, Heir to an Execution, which was featured at the Sundance Film Festival. [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. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg after their arrest in New York for espionage in 1950. t was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs So goes the opening sentence of, t is a bitter, rainy spring day when I interview the Rosenbergs sons. This dynamic still holds true: Robert is more reserved and I tend to fly off the handle, says Michael, 78, a retired economics professor, whose eyes spark with fire when he recalls old battles. As the FBI investigated the spy ring, the Korean War broke out that summer. [5][6], For decades, many people, including the Rosenbergs' sons (Michael and Robert Meeropol), maintained that Julius and Ethel were innocent of spying on their country and were victims of Cold War paranoia. Rodger D. Citron is the Associate Dean for Research and Scholarship and a Professor of Law at Touro University, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, and author of a recent article in the Rutgers Law Review on the life and work of the Hon. [18][19], On July 17, 1950, Julius Rosenberg was arrested on suspicion of espionage[20] based on David Greenglass's confession. It is a bitter, rainy spring day when I interview the Rosenbergs sons. [58] According to Alexander Feklisov, the former Soviet agent who was Julius's contact, the Rosenbergs did not provide the Soviet Union with any useful material about the atomic bomb: "He [Julius] didn't understand anything about the atomic bomb and he couldn't help us. Sie nutzen bereits als Profi-Mitglied den For this success Rosenberg received a $100 bonus. Patient, methodical Robert, 74, a former lawyer, considers every word carefully. Mithilfe von Links kann man seine Webseiten klein halten und trotzdem alles aufschreiben, was man fr wichtig hlt, ohne das die Webseite unntig grer werden muss. Ein Link ist eine Stelle im Text oder ein Symbol auf ihrem Bildschirm, welches z.B. 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. Conspiracy to commit espionage (50 U.S.C. According to Siegel, Most of Kaufmans management of the trial was legally proper. However, as Siegel shows, Kaufman consistently intervened during the trial in ways that helped the prosecution, for example, by pressing defense witnesses when they testified and clarifying the testimony of government witnesses. Tender. Nonetheless, under the Constitutions separation of powers, federal judges should protect the rights of unpopular criminal defendants, especially when they are on trial for their lives. Nevertheless, these decryptions formed the background of U.S. government investigation and prosecutions of American communists during the Cold War period. Wie baue ich einen Link auf? And Intelligent" and the course they took was one of "courage and heroism. It was further amended on 13 January 2022 to clarify that Morton Sobell served 18 years in a number of different prisons, not just Alcatraz as an earlier version indicated. What he gave them was junk, Sobell said of Julius, probably because he didnt know anything about the bomb. As Robbys daughter Jenny said to me, there is a positive to not thinking of our family as hapless victims. Kaufmans ex parte contacts included conferring with the lead prosecutor, United States Attorney Irving Saypol, the day before the defendants were to be sentenced. Siegel considers the possibility that the judges jurisprudence shifted to make amends for the Rosenberg case but ultimately does not endorse this explanation. 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 Ethel, he said, had nothing to do with this, she was completely innocent. Judge Irving Kaufman presided over the trial, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Irving Saypol leading the prosecution and criminal defense lawyer Emmanuel Bloch representing the Rosenbergs.
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