Download The Story of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

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Date Due : May 1, 2015, Friday
8th Grade, Mr. Zindman
The Story of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
By Sharon Fabian
Julius Rosenberg was born in 1918, the son of a garment worker in
New York City. He was a quiet boy who took his schoolwork seriously.
When he became a young man, he took an interest in politics. He was
also interested in the ideas of the communists, and he joined the
Communist Party. In 1939, he married a young woman named Ethel.
They had two sons, Robert and Michael.
During the World War II period, Julius was still involved in Communist
Party activities here in the United States. Ethel's brother, David
Greenglass, was too.
After World War II, the Soviet Union became the enemy of the United States, and the Cold War began. So did the
activities of Senator Joseph McCarthy, the senator who made a career of hunting for communist spies.
During this time, David Greenglass was arrested and charged with espionage, or spying. He admitted to passing
secret information. In his testimony, he also named other members of the Communist Party in the United States,
including Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. He claimed that Julius Rosenberg had asked him to get secret information
about how to make an atomic bomb and then passed it on to the Soviets in 1945. He gave details of suspicious
activities and secret meetings. He even told of a Jell-O box being used as a secret signal. He said that Ethel had
typed secret information.
Soon, Julius Rosenberg was arrested. He was charged with "conspiracy to commit espionage," a serious crime of
passing information to our enemies during wartime. He admitted that he was a member of the communist party, but
denied giving atomic bomb secrets to the Russians. His lawyer also pointed out that Russia was not our enemy at
the time the incident happened. He said that Greenglass had lied, maybe to gain a lighter sentence for himself.
Next, Ethel was arrested. She was also charged with espionage. Some historians think that she was arrested mainly
because that would put pressure on her husband to confess.
At their trial, neither Julius nor Ethel confessed to passing atomic secrets to the Soviets. They both also refused to
give the names of other members of the Communist Party. They did not win the sympathy of the jury or the judge.
Both Julius and Ethel were pronounced guilty as charged and sentenced to death in the electric chair.
They began to receive support from around the world, but their time was running out. Famous people including
Albert Einstein and Pope Pius XII spoke up for them. On the night of their execution, supporters kept a vigil in
New York's Union Square.
Although many people were accused of spying during the Cold War, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were the only
people executed for the crime.
Now, fifty years later, there is still controversy about the Rosenberg spy case. One of the most controversial
aspects of the case is their sentence of the death penalty. Other spies who had been convicted of serious acts of
espionage with much more evidence had only been sentenced to jail time, not the death penalty. In this case,
evidence showed that Julius Rosenberg probably was involved in spying, but it was never proven that he passed
atomic secrets. Why was he sentenced to die? Some people say that it was because he refused to confess and give
the names of other people who had joined the Communist Party.
Another unsettled question is whether Ethel was guilty of spying at all. The only evidence against her was the
testimony of her brother, David Greenglass. Was her conviction based on proof, or on her refusal to confess and
name names too?
Looking back from 50 years later, we can see that the Rosenbergs' fate was the result of not only their own actions
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but also of the time in history in which they lived, a time when two American communists could only be looked on
with suspicion and mistrust. Since we cannot go back in time, we will probably never know the answer to the many
questions that still remain about the Rosenberg spy case.
The Story of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Questions
1. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were accused of ______.
A. building an atomic bomb for Russia
B. spying during the Cold War
C. spying for Russia during World War II
D. fighting for the Communists
2. The Rosenbergs were found guilty of ______.
A. spying
B. typing secret notes
C. building a bomb
D. nothing
3. Their sentence was ______.
A. Two years in prison
B. death
C. 20 years in prison
D. a small fine
4. There was evidence that Julius had participated in spying during ______.
A. 1918
B. World War II
C. the Cold War
D. World War I
5. The evidence against the Rosenbergs was provided by ______.
A. Communist Party members
B. Ethel's brother
C. the Army
D. the FBI
6. ______ people were executed for spying during the Cold War.
A. fifty
B. five
C. two
D. twenty
7. A controversy is ______.
A. a question about history
B. a question with a definite answer
C. an unsettled disagreement
D. a difficult problem
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8. This article is about ______.
A. two people who were executed for spying
B. a time of mistrust and suspicion
C. unanswered questions
D. all of the above
Some people say that the Rosenbergs could not have had a fair trial because of the fear and suspicion of
communists at the time of their trial. Do you agree? Why or why not?
It appeared that the Rosenbergs' refusal to name names hurt their chances of receiving a lighter sentence. Do
you think they were right to refuse? What do you think they should have done?
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