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The Rosenberg's Part two.

© David Allen

The Rosenberg’s. Julius (1918-1953) Ethel (1915-1953).

In 1945 Julius Rosenberg lost his job at the US Signal Corps, the reason being that they had somehow discovered his communist past, the fact the he once organised fund raising and local party activities, his espionage career had in fact gone completely undiscovered and if he had been a little more tactful in his outspoken views he would have continued there for longer.

Effectively the Rosenberg’s spying were over, Julius did not work any longer at the US Signal Corps and David Greenglass’s job on the “Manhattan Project” came to an end when the bombs were dropped in Japan ending the 2nd World War, the Rosenberg’s were in the clear, or so they thought.

In 1951, Igor Gouzienko hit the world headlines when he defected to British Intelligence, during his debriefing the name of a communist spy came out, it was that of Klaus Fuchs, the British scientist who worked on the “Manhattan Project” and who had passed over top secret plans and documents. Fuchs was back in England when he was arrested and in order to save his skin the roll on effect of treachery continued with him naming and identifying soviet courier and spy Harry Gold, to whom he passed over the plans and documents concerning the “Manhattan Project”. With the arrest of Harry Gold, the Rosenberg’s must have known that they would soon be next, and sure enough, Harry Gold named them as his suppliers of top secret plans and documents.

It was on March 5th 1951, when the Rosenberg’s had the knock on the door, and found themselves along with Harry Gold, David Greenglass and Anatoli Yakovlev being charged with violating the Espionage Act of 1917 at the Federal Court House.

The Rosenberg’s had no chance of coming out of this at all, from day one they were hit on all sides, even their families and friends who Julius thought he would be safe with in his team, all turned against them in order to save their own skins. The guilty verdict was inevitable as was the sentence of death, now a fight for their lives began. Appeals and letters to anyone that could help them, but it was no use, all their attempts had failed.

On June 19th 1953 at Sing Sing Prison in New York, Julius Rosenberg stepped into the death chamber, several minutes later Ethel Rosenberg followed her husband in to the same chamber and sat in the same chair as her husband had.

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