A Spy Among Us Essay, Research Paper
In 1951, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of
passing information to the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR) concerning the construction of nuclear
weapons. In 1953, the United States Government executed
them. Some say, the Rosenbergs received their just
punishment. Many historians feel that the trial was unfair,
and that international claims for clemency were wrongly
ignored. These historians claim that the Rosenbergs were
assassinated by the US government. This report will be an
analysis of the trial, the events which led up to it, and its
aftermath. What Led to the Arrest? The first clue America
had that a Russian spy ring existed in the US was the
discovery of a KGB codebook on the Finnish battlefield
during World War II. When compared with Germany’s
machine-scrambled codes, the code appeared to be
relatively primitive; a certain set of numbers corresponded
to a word, letter, or essential phrase. There was a little
catch though; the codebook was to be read with a
corresponding page that every KGB officer was given.
Because the American ciphers did not have the
corresponding page, there were an infinite number of
possibilities that could have corresponded to the book,
making deciphering it impossible. (Milton 7) Klaus Fuchs
In 1944, the FBI raided the New York offices of the
Soviet Government Purchasing Commission, a known front
for the KGB industrial espionage operations. When the
FBI began to go through what they had taken, they found
that many KGB officers did not adhere to their orders
diligently. They were told to dispose of all their
“corresponding sheets.” Many memos and other letters
were carelessly stored away, instead of being destroyed
after their use. After much studying of all the confiscated
letters of the KGB, including the new sheets, the ciphers
were now able to elucidate some of the codebook they had
found earlier. In 1949, a report by Klaus Fuchs was
deciphered. This was America’s first solid evidence that
there was a spy ring operating within the US. borders. The
American authorities had some doubts, however. It was
possible that Fuchs was not a spy and somehow the KGB
had obtained his report. After much investigation, the FBI
arrested Fuchs. Along with other evidence, a letter
deciphered by the FBI had a reference to a British atomic
spy, whose sister was attending an American University.
Fuchs sister, Kristel, had been a student at Swarthmore
College at that time. The FBI appointed James Skardon to
confront Fuchs. Skardon was a renowned spy-catcher,
who had obtained confessions from many, including the
traitor William Joyce. On December 21 1949, Skardon
went to talk with Fuchs in his laboratory at the Harwell
Atomic Research Establishment. To Skardon’s surprise,
Fuchs was eager to talk. Apparently, Fuchs wanted to talk
because he was very upset with the Soviet Union’s postwar
policy in Eastern Europe. He did not say everything, but it
was a start. After many meetings, Skardon was able to get
Fuchs to disclose even more. Fuchs thought that if he
owned up to his past, it would be forgotten, or at least
forgiven. He was wrong. Fuchs said, “At first I thought that
all I would do was inform the Russian authorities that work
on the atomic bomb was going on? I did what I consider
the worst that I could have done, namely to give
information about the principle of the design of the
plutonium bomb.” The FBI later found out from Fuchs that
his contact was “Raymond.” They had only met a handful of
times and Fuchs did not know much about him. On March
1, 1950, Fuchs was put on trial. After a trial that lasted
only an hour and a half, he was convicted of four accounts
of espionage and sentenced to 14 years in jail. The reason
he was not killed was that he gave secrets to an ally. If he
had given the same information to an enemy, he would have
been condemned to death. (This contrasts with the current
US treatment of Jonathan Pollard – another spy on behalf
of a US ally, Israel.) The FBI now had the first link in the
chain; the next step was finding Raymond. (Eisenhower
223) Fuchs, in 1945, had been transferred to the
theoretical division of the main Manhattan Project
installation at Los Alamos, New Mexico. Fuchs then left,
without telling his Soviet control that he was leaving. After
Fuchs missed two meetings, Raymond grew very troubled,
so he went to his Soviet chief, Anatoli Yakovlev, at the
Soviet consulate staff in New York. Yakovlev went
through Fuchs’ portfolio and found his sister’s address. He
then told Raymond to go visit Fuchs sister, Kristal, in
Cambridge, Massachusetts. Raymond acting as an old
friend of Fuchs inquired as to his well being. Upon her
telling him that he had moved “somewhere down south,” he
left his telephone number. When Fuchs came home for a
vacation with his sister, she called Raymond. Raymond
immediately resumed their secret meetings. When the FBI
was searching for “Raymond”, they asked Fuchs and
Kristal for descriptions. The FBI, with their two
descriptions from the Fuchs, researched into their own files
and produced a suspect: Joseph Arnold Robbins, a
left-wing chemical engineer who graduated from CCNY in
1941. After a background search on him, the FBI rejected
him as a witness. After more intense investigation, two
other suspects were suggested, Abraham Brothmon and
Harry Gold. The FBI thought Gold was a stronger suspect
for multiple reasons, so, on May 9, Hoover ordered a
manhunt to find Gold. On May 23 1950, Gold was
arrested in Philadelphia. The importance the FBI attached
to the capture of Fuch’s accomplice was indicated by J.
Edgar Hoover, “In all the history of the FBI there never
was a more important problem than this one, never another
case where we felt under such pressure. The unknown man
simply had to be found.” The pressure that Hoover was
referring to is unknown, but months just prior to Gold’s
arrest the FBI was criticized for allegedly bungling
investigations in the Redin, Amerasia, Eisler, and Coplon
cases. (Milton 38) Harry Gold In 1915, Tom Black, an old
friend, offered Gold a job in the Manufacturing Company in
New Jersey. Gold immediately took the job. After working
there for a little while, Black began to take Gold to
Communist meetings. Gradually, Gold became a committed
Soviet and when Black asked him (in 1935) to help the
Soviets and give them some information, Gold eagerly
agreed. Although, Gold was not pro-Communist, he was
pro-Soviet. The reason Gold liked the Soviets so much
was because he thought they were benevolent towards the
Jews. Sam Semenov, Gold’s Soviet contact, suggested that
he make his own contacts that had access to more
information than he did. After working for the Soviets for
eight years, Semenov told Gold to break all ties with his
former contacts. Gold was given new contacts, “a group of
American scientists in New York.” This was considered a
promotion, for Gold was assigned a contact who had
access to a lot more information. This new person was
Klaus Fuchs. After four years of working with Fuchs, Gold
stopped working for the Soviets and began to lead a
normal life, cutting all ties he had with his contacts and the
Soviets. A couple of months later, one of Gold’s contacts,
Abraham Brothmon called Gold franticly saying the FBI
questioned him and they were onto them. Days later, the
FBI interrogated Gold. At first, Gold claimed the same
story as Brothmon, but after extremely long interrogations
Gold was worn down, and accidentally slipped, and the
FBI began to catch the inconsistencies in Gold’s story. The
next week, they searched his house. In the middle of the
search, Gold admitted to being the man to whom Klaus
Fuchs passed the information on atomic energy. Despite
Gold’s attempts, after an exhausting week of interrogation,
Gold slipped and mentioned old contact’s and friend’s
names, including his friend Tom Black and David
Greenglass. (Allen 41) David & Ethel Greenglass David
Greenglass was an American solider assigned as a
technician at Los Alamos. For $500 he gave Gold sketches
of the system used to focus high explosive pressure waves
that drove together packets of uranium and produced the
chain the chain reaction of nuclear fission-the explosion of
the atomic bomb. David Greenglass’ sister was Ethel
Greenglass, later to be Ethel Rosenberg. The Greenglass’s
grew up in New York’s Lower East Side, in a small
cramped apartment. Ethel was brilliant. She graduated at
age 15 from Seward Park High School. Even in the poor
economy of that period, when there was an extreme
demand for jobs, she was able to find work within a month
of receiving her diploma, at age 15. She was fired four
years later when she organized a strike of 150 women who
lay down in the street blocking all the company’s delivery
trucks. Ethel then filed a complaint with the National Labor
Relations Board, which she won. She succeeded at finding
a better job, for twice the pay of her previous one. Ethel
was known as a “go-getter”; she did not stop until she was
satisfied. With some training, Ethel started to sing in choirs
and act in plays in the evenings. One evening, before Ethel
went on stage, she met the one and only love of her life,
Julius Rosenberg. (Milton 50) Julius Rosenberg Julius’
background was similar to Ehtel’s; he grew up on New
York’s East Side. He went to the same schools as Ethel,
Talmud Torah for middle school, and Seward Park for high
school. Julius never had to worry about money, and his
father wanted him to further his religious leanings and
become a rabbi. In Julius’ senior year, he grew more
interested in politics and less interested in religion. After
Julius graduated from Seward, he went to the City College
of New York, where he majored in electrical engineering.
This major was favored by politically aware students
because it entitled them to membership in the Federation of
Architects, Engineers, Chemists and Technicians (FAECT),
a militant union for white collar professionals with a
pro-Communist leadership. Julius soon became a member
in the Steinmentz Club, a branch of the Young Communist
League, or YCL. Soon Julius became so involved in
politics that his graduation was in jeopardy. At this time,
Julius and Ethel were becoming very serious about each
other and Ethel made Julius come over to her house to
study so that he would eventually receive his diploma.
Because Julius spent so much time in Ethel’s house, David
(Ethel’s brother) became very friendly with Julius. Julius
kindled David’s interest in politics, convincing him to join
the YCL. (Allen 45) Julius and Ethel were married in 1939.
After struggling for a few years with no substantial job,
Julius was hired as a civilian employee of the U.S. Army
Signal Corps in the fall of 1942. In 1942, David married
Ruth Printz. In 1943, the Greenglasses joined the YCL,
and the Rosenbergs were full members of the Communist
Party. Julius was chairperson of Branch 16B of the Party
Industrial Division and often held meetings in his house.
Party members were encouraging everybody to do
everything they could to support the wartime effort. When
David was admitted to the American army, he looked
forward to helping the Communist cause in any way he
could. Julius, however, was physically unfit for the army, so
he looked for other ways to help his party. (Milton 70)
According to Ruth Greenglass’ testimony, Julius and Ethel
dropped out of the Communist party in 1943 to take their
own “initiative” in helping their party. She claims that Julius
told her that he began to form contacts to help him enter a
new kind of activity. David later claimed that Julius
approached him about the subject of espionage. Even
without David Greenglass’ testimony, one can understand
why the Rosenbergs dropped out of the party. Ethel had
her first child in early 1943, and Julius was working for the
government, so he was afraid he would lose his job if his
Communist affiliations were discovered. (Eisenhower 224)
In the beginning of 1945, Julius was dismissed from his job.
Sometime before this, the FBI had sent to the U.S. Army
Intelligence a copy of a Communist Party membership card
showing that in 1939, Julius had been involved in the Party.
The Army felt this was not sufficient evidence to dismiss
Julius because there was no reason for them to assume it
was the same Julius Rosenberg who was their Signal Corps
employee. In the fall of 1944, the FBI sent the Army more
information on Rosenberg, including his address. This time
the evidence sufficed and Julius was dismissed. (Milton 83)
On July 17, 1950, David told the FBI that Julius was
talking freely about his “secret work” in order to make
David more comfortable helping him. Julius confided in
David that the first move he made in espionage was while
he was working as a signal corps inspector. Julius told
David that he knew that soviet radios and electronics were
floundering (Dav
their radar technology) and had tried to help the Soviets by
picking up copies of tube manuals. David said that Julius
bragged to him many times about the network of contacts
he had built in Cleveland, Ohio, and upstate New York,
and about information about certain top secret weapons.
(Milton 84) On July 16, 1950, two uniformed police
officers, William Norton and John Harrington, came to
Julius’ apartment and took him down for questioning. Julius
remained very calm while being interrogated but refused to
allow his apartment to be checked without a warrant.
When Julius was taken to the base, Harrington asked him,
“What would you say if we told you that your
brother-in-law said you asked him to supply information to
the Russians?” Julius responded sharply, “Bring him here,
and I will call him a liar to his face.” (Sharlitt 3) Soon after
being taken to the station, Julius asked to call his lawyer.
When Victor Rabinowitz answered the telephone, his first
question was, was he under arrest. When they told Julius
that he had not been arrested, he immediately stood up and
walked out of the station. When Julius left the station, he
saw the newspapers screaming that Greenglass had been
arrested that day and was being held on $100,000 bond.
From the station, Julius went straight to Rabinowitz.
Rosenberg wanted the FAECT counsel to represent him,
but because Rabinowitz had recently defended the alleged
spy Judith Coplon, he felt his involvement would be
detrimental for Rosenberg’s case, so he gave Rosenberg
another lawyer, Emanuel Hirsch Bloch. Bloch was a very
eminent lawyer; he was a member in National Lawyer’s
Guild and the Civil Rights Congress. He served on the
defense team of Willie McGee and was also serving as one
of the three CRC attorneys assigned to the case of the
Trenton Six. Bloch was also well known for his
representation of Steve Nelson, a leader of the Communist
Party in Pittsburgh. The real reason though, that Rabinowitz
appointed Bloch, was that Bloch was a good friend of O.
John Rogge and shared an office building with him. Rogge
was Greenglass’ attorney and Rabinowitz wanted to stay
well informed of Greenglass’ situation, and if possible,
prevent him from becoming a government witness. (Sharlitt
6) The first time Bloch met Rosenberg he thought this
would be a simple open and shut case. He thought that if
Rosenberg would respond to all questions with the Fifth
Amendment, then the prosecution’s case would become a
lot weaker. He missed some obvious hints though, that
would have led him to think otherwise. For example,
Greenglass was nicknamed by the media as the
“atom-spy.” (Sharlitt 6) After being released, Julius
continued his normal routine while the FBI conducted what
they call a “discreet surveillance.” Agents Norton and
Harrington were permanently assigned to Rosenberg’s
case. Without David Greenglass expanding on his
accusations from June 15-16, they could not justify
arresting him. There are different theories as to why Julius
did not seize the chance to flee the FBI. One theory is that
he did not think that David would break down so far as to
mention even his own family. Another theory is that it
would have taken weeks to alert some of his contacts
without leading the FBI to them. (Meerpool 37) On July
12, Greenglass, with the urging of his lawyers, had his
second extradition hearing. This led the media to think that
Greenglass was leaning towards pleading guilty. According
to Ruth, David’s wife, Ethel visited her to find out what
David’s plans were and if he was going to indict her
husband, Julius. (Meerpool 42) The FBI, after Greenglass
made his statements, went to James McInerney of the
Justice Department, who agreed there was now enough
evidence to charge Julius Rosenberg with conspiracy to
commit espionage. When Richard Whelan, assistant special
agent in charge of the New York office, heard McInerney’s
ruling, he sent Norton to file a complaint before federal
judge John F. X. McGohey. Immediately after J. Edgar
Hoover heard that Whelan tried to delay the arrest, he
grew infuriated. He suspected the reason for the delay was
in order to tip off the press so that the story would be
covered in the next day’s papers. Hoover feared that when
the press found out, Rosenberg might be tipped-off and
flee at the last second. (Milton 92) On Tuesday, July 17,
1950, when Rosenberg was arrested, it was in full view of
his aghast family; his two sons standing agape, watching
their father dragged out by two officers. Julius and Ethel
until the bitter end maintained their innocence. They never
pleaded guilty nor even considered it. The FBI, after
searching Julius’ house, had evidence that the espionage
ring that Greenglass talked about was true. In order to
force Rosenberg to disclose names of other spies, Hoover
suggetsed that Ethel be arrested, and be used as leverage
to force Julius to talk. (Mitlon 93) Ethel Rosenberg On
August 11, Ethel Rosenberg was arrested and bail was set
at $100,000-the same huge amount as her husband. Ethel’s
lawyer was Bloch’s father, Alexander Bloch. The reason
for this was that when she was arrested, Manny Bloch was
not in the office, but his father was, so he rushed down to
the station to help Ethel and then later took her case. The
Rosenberg children were sent to Tessie Greenglass, who
very soon complained to the court she could not control
them and more importantly, could not afford them. The
court sent them to the Hebrew Children’s Home in the
Bronx. Most believe that the FBI arrested Ethel in order to
force her husband into confessing. Others disagree and say
that Greenglass’ accusations proved true, and it is possible
that Ethel was a full partner in her husband’s doings and she
was arrested purely on her misdeeds. (Sharlitt 42) The
Trial On March 6, 1951, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg’s trial
began. Their case attracted so much attention because this
was the most publicized spy hunt of all time. Another
reason this case received so much attention was that it
contained all the elements of a high drama trial. The case
had a family feud already familiar to the public, because the
Jewish Daily Forward had published a series of articles on
the Greenglasses. The trial also involved defendants who
firmly claimed their innocence, and the possibility of
eminent atomic scientists testifying. (Milton 98) US
Attorney Irving Saypool was prosecuting the case. Saypool
had made a very good reputation for himself when he
prosecuted Communists, including Alger Hiss and the
eleven Smith Act defendants. From the onset of the trial,
Saypool treated the defendants without the accustomed
court propriety. Irving R. Kaufman, the judge, chose the
jurors himself in a day and a half. Kaufman read a list of
many parties, organizations, and clubs and anybody
affiliated with any of them were excused. Then they were
asked if they were opposed to the death penalty, the use of
atomic-weapons in war, or felt that any information
concerning the development of atomic energy should be
revealed to any Russian satellite country. If they were, they
were excused. (Burkholz 73) In Saypool’s opening words,
he stated, “The loyalty and the allegiance of the Rosenbergs
were not to the country but to Communism, Communism in
this country and throughout the world.” Emanuel Bloch
immediately objected that Saypool’s allusion to communism
was irrelevant because communism was not on trial.
Kaufman said that communism would be allowed in the trial
because it established motive. Saypool also said that they
convinced David Greenglass to become a traitor to his
country, “a modern Benedict Arnorld.” After Saypool’s
very powerful opening statement, the public began to talk
about capital punishment. (Burkholz 75) It is nearly
impossible to convict someone of treason. It was such a
serious crime that the standards of proof are very strict. On
the other hand, it is easy to get a conviction for conspiracy;
it is even sometimes refereed to as the “prosecutor’s
friend.” Hearsay testimony is admissible in trial, and once
the existence of conspiracy is established every conspirator
may be held liable for the acts of the others, even if he does
not have any knowledge of them. In addition, in order to be
convicted, only the conspiracy had to be proven.
(Meerpool 176) The prosecution brought several very
damaging witnesses against the defense: Julius Rosenberg’s
brother-in-law, David Greenglass, and his wife Ruth Printz
Greenglass. Greenglass testified that he passed to his sister
and brother-in-law sketches of the implosion lens, a vital
component of the plutonium bomb. David Greenglass’s
story was corroborated by his wife and another spy, Harry
Gold. Gold testified that he received information from
David Greenglass, and that he passed them on to the
Rosenbergs. These testimonies showed clearly that there
was a plan to spy and to pass secrets. (Milton 103) Max
Elicher testified about a second spy ring which Julius
Rosenberg headed. The second ring was formed to
disclose to the Soviets naval secrets pertaining to
communications instruments. He testified that Julius
Rosenberg recruited him to spy. Nobody knew about the
two conspiracies except for Rosenberg; he was the only
connection between the two. Although Elicher did not say
what information he gave to Rosenberg, it connected Julius
Rosenberg to two spy rings. None of Elicher’s testimony
was refuted except by Rosenberg’s denials. (Milton 104)
After a fourteen day trial, there was no evidence proving
the Rosenberg’s innocence so the jury decided to believe
David Greenglass’, Harry Gold’s, and Max Elicher’s
testimonies. The prosecutors asked the Rosenbergs many
questions about their involvement in the Communist Party in
order to establish motive. They answered most of the
questions with the Fifth Amendment so that their answers
would not incriminate them. This led many people, including
the jurors, to feel very strongly about their guilt. Many
argue that the Rosenbergs were framed and that they were
the perfect people to be framed because of their
involvement in the Communist Party. There are a few
questions as to why Emanuel Bloch did certain things in the
trial. For example, he did not cross-examine Harry Gold.
(Sharlitt 17) For cooperating with the prosecution,
Greenglass’ sentence was for fifteen years of imprisonment,
Gold’s for thirty and Fuch’s for only fourteen. The
Rosenbergs pled not guilty. In March 1951, they became
the first Americans to be sentenced to death on a charge of
espionage in peacetime. (Milton 103) Doubts on the Trial
Some historians say that the government framed the
Rosenbergs, and was aiming for capital punishment. First,
they were not charged with espionage, rather they were
charged and convicted of conspiracy to spy. This was to
the government’s advantage because, as explained
previously, much less proof is necessary for a conviction
for conspiracy. A second reason that historians think that
the government was out to kill the Rosenbergs was
because Saypool, Lane, Cohn, and Kilsheimer were all
assigned to the case. This showed the government’s strong
and special interest in the case. In summary, the charge
against the Rosenbergs, the powerful prosecution, the
well-known anti-Communist prosecutors and the judge, all
support that the government’s objective was to kill the
Rosenbergs. (Sharlitt 23) The reason many people call the
Rosenberg’s executions a legal and fatal error is simple. On
June 19, 1953, the federal government executed the
Rosenbergs. The Rosenbergs were charged, tried, and
convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917. In 1946, the
Atomic Energy Act was passed. It required that spies who
passed atomic secrets be executed only after a jury’s
recommendations. From the day the Rosenbergs were
indicted to three days before their execution, this act was
ignored. Astonishingly, nobody realized, including the
prosecutors, defendants, or any judges, that this was being
ignored. A lawyer from the West Coast raised the issue
that suggested to somebody that the Rosenbergs were
being wrongly executed. Even after the issue was raised,
the Supreme Court ignored it and the Rosenbergs were
executed anyway. Still today, there is an ongoing and bitter
controversy as to why the Rosenbergs were put to death.
(Sharlitt 27) Bibliography Allen, Thomas, and Norman
Polmar. Merchants of Treason. New York: Delacorte
Press, 1988. Burkholz, Herbert, and Clifford Irving. Spy
The Story of Modern Espionage. New York: Macmillan
Publishing Company, 1969. Eisenhower, Dwight. Mandate
For Change. Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc.,
1963. Milton, Joyce, and Ronald Rodash. The Rosenberg
File. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997. Meeropol,
Michael, and Robert Meeropol. We Are Your Sons.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1975. Sharlitt,
Joseph. Fatal Error. New York: Macmillan Publishing
Company, 1989.