Cases

In 1951 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted in New York of conspiracy to commit espionage — passing atomic and military secrets to the Soviet Union. Judge Irving Kaufman sentenced both to death, and they were executed at Sing Sing on June 19, 1953, the only US civilians executed for espionage during the Cold War. The key witnesses were Ethel's brother David Greenglass, a Manhattan Project machinist, and his wife Ruth; David received 15 years and Ruth was never charged. What we know now: - The Venona decrypts, released by the NSA in 1995, and later statements by Soviet handler Alexander Feklisov leave little doubt that Julius ran a Soviet spy ring (code names "Antenna" and "Liberal"). - Ethel had no code name. In 1996 and 2001, David Greenglass said he had lied at trial when he testified that Ethel typed up his notes, to protect his wife. Prosecutors had privately described evidence against Ethel as thin and saw her arrest partly as leverage on Julius. - Venona does suggest Ethel knew of the espionage and helped recruit Ruth. - Greenglass's atomic information was of limited value next to what Klaus Fuchs and Theodore Hall provided, which bears on whether the death penalty was proportionate. Judge each conviction and the sentence.