Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
In 1950 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were detained on the charge of “conspiracy to commit espionage.” They were accused of causing the Korean War by passing information on atomic technology to the Soviets. Since the charge was conspiracy, they did not need physical evidence to convict them. There was very little, but during the Rosenbergs’ trial, David Greenglass, Ethel’s brother who was accused of the same crime, testified against them in court in order to reduce his charges. In the defense’s closing statement the attorney, Emanual Block, made a moral argument to prove that he was not a valid witness and even stated “if ever a witness discredited himself on a stand, he did.” The ranking judge on the federal court, Judge Irving R. Kaufman, delivered the guilty verdict that carried the penalty of death. In June of 1953 both Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were executed. This ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court and eventually carried out. It has been revealed to be one of the great travesties of justice in American history. After the fall of the Soviet Union, access to KGB files revealed that the Rosenbergs were not the ones involved in passing atomic secrets to the USSR, although they were involved in passing industrial information in 1944 during the Second World War to the Soviets to help them with their war effort. The information from the KGB shows, as the Rosenbergs’ sons have long alleged - that their parents were set up by the government: “The Agencies explanation that they were not used at our parents' trial for national security reasons does not explain why they have refused to release them to us for the last 20 years. It is much more plausible that the documents were only released now because they prove nothing and do not help justify our parents' execution.”
Above are Julius and Ethel Rosenberg's mugshots. The first set was taken on June 17, 1950 when Julius Rosenberg was arrested and the second set was taken when Ethel was arrested on August 11, 1950.
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“I feel that the majority of people should decide for themselves what kind of government they want.” – Julius Rosenberg “I refuse to answer on the ground that this might be incriminating.” – Ethel Rosenberg |