You know me I will interject a little history in posts wherever I can. I have been writing from a Left perspective for many decades……..and I do like the history of this country especially the Left movements and personalities….
Back in the days of the Cold War especially what was to be called “the Rd Scare”…..we Americans saw Commies behind every tree and even accused some of our citizens of being agents for the USSR for even uttering anything like acceptance of socialism in any form…..and in the 1950’s that was brought out into the light with the arrest of the Rosenbergs as Russian spies.
………a lengthy and controversial espionage case. In 1950, the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Julius Rosenberg (1918–53), an electrical engineer who had worked (1940–45) for the U.S. army signal corps, and his wife Ethel (1916–53); they were indicted for conspiracy to transmit classified military information to the Soviet Union. In the trial that followed (Mar., 1951), the government charged that in 1944 and 1945 the Rosenbergs had persuaded Ethel’s brother, David Greenglass—an employee at the Los Alamos atomic bomb project—to provide them and a third person, Harry Gold, with top-secret data on nuclear weapons. The chief evidence against the Rosenbergs came from Greenglass and his wife, Ruth.
Both Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were found guilty (1951) and received the death sentence; Morton Sobell, a codefendant, received a 30-year prison term, as did Harry Gold; and David Greenglass was later sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. Despite many court appeals and pleas for executive clemency, the Rosenbergs were executed on June 19, 1953. They became the first U.S. civilians to suffer the death penalty in an espionage trial.
The case aroused much controversy. Many claimed that the political climate made a fair trial impossible and that the only seriously incriminating evidence had come from a confessed spy; others questioned the value of the information transmitted to the Soviet Union and argued that the death penalty was too severe. Communists in the United States and abroad organized a campaign to save the Rosenbergs and received the support of many liberals and religious leaders.
I have read many sources of the trial over the years and in my mind some of the “evidence” was a bit hinkey, at best……..but now there is some new news on Ethel Rosenberg…….
The newly released 1950 grand jury testimony of David Greenglass, who helped cement the executions of his brother-in-law and sister Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, offers new evidence that Ethel was innocent in the most intense spying case of the Cold War. Both Rosenbergs were convicted of conspiring to steal atomic secrets for the Soviet Union in 1951 after Greenglass said he saw Ethel transcribing information he gave the Rosenbergs—gained while serving as an Army machinist at the Manhattan Project HQ—on a typewriter in 1945. Both Rosenbergs were sent to the electric chair in 1953, though Greenglass, who spent almost 10 years in prison as a co-conspirator, later admitted he lied. In the 46-page transcript of testimony given six months before Greenglass implicated Ethel, her brother said he never spoke about the data with Ethel, only with Julius and his own wife, Ruth, reports the Guardian.
Greenglass’ testimony, ordered released after his death last year and unsealed yesterday, doesn’t disprove his later claim, reports the New York Times. He actually noted Ethel was present at key meetings, reports Politico. However, after he described Julius receiving a silver Omega watch from Russian agents and was asked if Ethel ever mentioned commendations, he said, “My sister has never spoken to me about this subject.” He said Julius discussed Greenglass staying in the Army to pass on more information, but added, “Honestly, this is a fact: I never spoke to my sister about this at all.” “There was never really any solid evidence that she had been involved in any part of espionage,” says an author on the subject. “It just confirms this idea that the government was using her, imprisoning her to get at Julius Rosenberg.” Some say it was Ruth Greenglass who typed notes for Julius to forward to the Soviets, and her husband lied to protect her.
The execution of an innocent person is nothing new in this country……
