On March 6, 1951, the espionage trial of Ethel and Julius
Rosenberg began in New York. The couple was accused of selling nuclear secrets
to the Soviet Union. The Rosenberg’s, and co-defendant, Morton Sobell, were
defended by the father and son team of Emanuel and Alexander Bloch. The
prosecution included Roy Cohn, best known for his association with Senator
Joseph McCarthy. David Greenglass was a machinist at Los Alamos, where America
developed the atomic bomb. Julius Rosenberg, his brother-in-law, was a member
of the American Communist Party and was fired from his government job during
the Red Scare. According to Greenglass, Rosenberg asked him to pass highly
confidential instructions on making atomic weapons to the Soviet Union. These
materials were transferred to the Russians by Harry Gold, an acquaintance of
Greenglass. The Soviets exploded their first atomic bomb in September 1949
based on information Greenglass and other spies. The only direct evidence of
the Rosenberg's involvement was the confession of Greenglass. The left-wing
community believed that the Rosenberg’s were prosecuted because of their
membership in the Communist Party. The trial lasted nearly a month, finally
ending on April 4 with convictions for all the defendants. The Rosenberg’s were
sentenced to death, while Sobell received a thirty-year sentence. Greenglass received
fifteen years for his cooperation. Reportedly, the Rosenberg’s were offered a
deal in which their death sentences would be commuted in return for an
admission of their guilt. They refused and were executed in the electric chair
at Sing Sing prison on June 19, 1953.
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