The Case Against

1
The Case Against

• Ethel and Julius Rosenberg

2
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
Rosenbergs 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 defendants
chair or testifying on the witness stand, or
listening from the jury box.
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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 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

4
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 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

5
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.
6
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."
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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)
8
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.
9
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.
10
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.
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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.
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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)
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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.
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DEFENSE TESTIMONY
Ethel Rosenberg testified after her husband and
was asked about her knowledge concerning her
brothers 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)
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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.

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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.

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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?
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VERDICT
GUILTY
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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
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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
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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 Scribners
  Sons, 1989.
• Yalkowsky, Stanley. The Murder of the Rosenbergs.

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THE END

• BARB PEARSON