On August 28, 1949, the Soviet Union exploded their first atomic bomb, causing fear amongst the American people. Americans everywhere began to realize the power of the U.S.R.R. and it finally dawned upon them that they were no longer the supreme leaders of the world. Immediately suspecting the U.S.S.R. of having stolen the plans for the atomic bomb in an act of espionage, the U.S. government was in hot pursuit of the treacherous spies. About a year later, both Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were arrested and convicted of espionage. A few years after that, they were promptly executed. Although originally vilified by the American public, the trial has generated much controversy in recent years over the involvement of Ethel Rosenberg, the harsh sentence of the judge, and trial itself, which was considered by many to be unfair.
Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Greenglass met at the Young Communist League and both got along quite quickly. They shared similar political beliefs and backgrounds, both being communists and Jewish. Thus, it did not take them long to get married. In 1942, Julius Rosenberg, according to a former KGB recruiter, started working for the KGB and was considered very valuable and dedicated. Being a member of the Army Signal Corps, he provided crucial information to the KGB with regards to the confidential transcripts and missile fuses.
In WWII, the United States began the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos National Laboratory, a project to develop the first nuclear weapon. Julius learned of this through his brother-in-law, David Greenglass who also worked at the Manhattan Project, and tried to recruit Greenglass as a spy for the Soviet Union. Having an interest in communism, Greenglass consented and began providing top secret information to the Soviet Union. On August 1949, the Soviet Union detonated their first nuclear bomb, much sooner than the American scientists predicted.
This created fear amongst Americans and the government began at once searching for the spies responsible for this. Soon after the search began, Greenglass confessed to having passed notes through a courier to the USSR. He claimed that he was recruited by his sister through his wife while she was in New Mexico. According to him, Julius had persuaded his wife to recruit Greenglass and had also participated in the espionage. On July 17, 1950, Julius Rosenberg was arrested while shaving and his wife was arrested less than a month later.
Another accused conspirrator, Martin Sobell, was in Mexico at the time of the Rosenbergs' arrest. He was kidnapped by the Mexican secret police and taken across the United States border, where he was arrested. On January 31, 1951, The Rosenbergs, Greenglass, Sobell, and Yakolev, another fellow conspirator, was indicted by the Grand Jury. Shortly afterwards, Greenglass changes his story by including Ethel in espionage activities as well. Greenglass claimed that Ethel typed up notes concerning the data of the bomb and had sent them to the Soviets. On March 6th, the trial against the Rosenbergs began, a trial that would be one of the most controversial and infamous trials in American history.
When the trial began, there was almost no public sympathy for the Rosenbergs. They were portrayed as traitors and treacherous spies and there was no doubt in the public's mind that they were guilty. Even the left-wing communists in America were certain that the Rosenbergs were guilty. Taking this into consideration, it was clear that the jury had already made its decision from the beginning. Despite all this lack of support, the Rosenbergs vehemently maintained their innocence from the beginning to the end of the trial.
Although Anatoli Yakolev and David Greenglass were also indicted, they were given a severance for trial purposes for having pleaded guilty. Martin Sobell, also indicted, was the third defendant along with the Rosenbergs. All three defendants were charged under the Espionage Act of 1917, which prohibits transmitting or attempting to transmit to a foreign government information relating to national defense.
The prosecution, represented by United States Attorney Irving Saypol and his numerous assistant attorneys, began the case by presenting Max Elitcher as a witness. The main purpose of Elitcher's testimony was to provide evidence for Sobell's guilt and Sobell's conviction rested primarily on this testimony. Following Elitcher, the prosecution sent David Greenglass to the stand, whose testimony served to bring forth the most incriminating evidence against the Rosenbergs. According to Greenglass, he was asked by his wife about the details of the Manhatten Project as well as the security surrounding the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Aware that his wife was going to give the information to the Rosenbergs, he consented anyways. In New York, 1945, Greenglass met with Julius and showed him a sketch of a lens mold used in the atomic bomb experiment. A few months later, Julius gave Greenglass half of a torn up Jello box piece and told him that whoever would meet him regarding information of the atomic bomb would have the other half of the Jello box piece.
