The Rosenberg Trial
« As is the case with many famous trials, it is a
story of betrayal, a love story, a spy story, a
story of a family torn apart, and a story of
government overreaching. »
The charges
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conspiracy to commit
espionage
The type of trial: civil? criminal!
The defendant
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Emanuel Bloch
The Rosenberg case would be Bloch's most
infamous as well as his last. In early 1954 Bloch
was found dead in his apartment, dead of a
heart attack at age 52. According to his father,
Emanuel Bloch was also a victim of the
Rosenberg case.
The prosecution
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●
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●
The lawyer :United States Attorney Irving
Saypol
His main grounds: investigation by the FBI and
testimonies of Gold and Greenglass.
His pieces of evidence: circumstantial
evidence (conflicting stories by Gold and
Greenglass, vague sketches of the secrets
passed by Julius to the Soviets); government
secrecy with its own evidence.
The sentence being asked: death penalty
Klaus Fuchs(physicist) is
caught by the FBI
David Greenglass
(offered Gold info about
the atomic bomb)
Morton Sobell=college
friend of Julius who was
reported to have helped
him at times by Max
Elitcher
Raymond
(soviet agent) = Harry
Gold
Julius Rosenberg =
Greenglass’ brother-inlaw
The witnesses for the defense
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The witnesses :
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Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
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Main arguments: both Rosenbergs pleaded the
Fifth Amendment; testified as to their modest
lifestyle, inconsistent with the rewards one
would expect a world class spy to have
received; mostly offered a long string of denials.
The witnesses for the prosecution
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Max Elitcher
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David Greenglass & Ruth Greenglass
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Harry Gold
●
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Elizabeth Bentley, dubbed "The Red Spy
Queen"
Ben Schneider
The chronology of the case
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On June 15, 1950, FBI officials questioned
David Greenglass.
In 1944, David had been assigned to work as a
soldier-machinist in Los Alamos. Greenglass
told the FBI that Rosenberg asked his wife,
Ruth, to talk with him to see if he might be
willing to provide descriptions of Manhattan
Project research.
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Shortly after 8 a.m. on June 16, 1950, FBI
agents showed up at the apartment of Julius
Rosenberg and asked that he accompany him
for questioning.
Two agents showed up on the evening of July
17, 1950 to clap handcuffs on Rosenberg in the
view of both his sons.
One month later, on August 11, Julius’ wife,
Ethel, was also arrested, charged with assisting
her husband with his illicit activities.
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Things began to happen to several of Julius's
acquaintances who shared his enthusiasm for
leftist politics.
March 6, 1951, the case of the United States v
Julius Rosenberg, Ethel Rosenberg, and
Morton Sobell was called for trial.
Summations by both sides brought the monthlong trial to its end, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
were found guilty and executed shortly after 8
p.m. in Sing-Sing Prison on June 19, 1953.
The sentence given
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Calling their crime "worse than murder" and
blaming them for 50,000 American deaths in
Korea, Judge Irving Kaufman sentenced both
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to death in the
electric chair.
Morton Sobell received a thirty-year sentence.
THE END
Thank you for
your attention!