Posted on 01/16/2009 9:12:39 AM PST by Welcome2thejungle
That Julius Rosenberg was one the worst traitors in American history who deserved what he received there can be no doubt. Even his sons now concede that their father participated in a major spy network passing along information to the Soviets. Morton Sobell, who was convicted the Rosenbergs now confirms Julius Rosenberg's guilt as did Rosenberg's Soviet contact, Alexandre Feklisov. Interestingly enough, according to the Venona cables, Rosenberg's secret code name to the Soviets was "LIBERAL". Very befitting considering who is defenders were.
If Julius Rosenberg was one the most despicable figures in American history, his wife, Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg, surely must be considered one of the most tragic figures in history. At worst she was a minor participant in her husband's espionage activities. Her guilt has never been clearly established. According to Wikipedia.com:
"...there is little evidence that...Ethel...participated in espionage."
Truth be told, Ethel Rosenberg was executed for one simple reason: Her refusal to testify against her husband. It seems to me that considering the flimsy evidence against her, that she should have received no worse a prison sentence than her brother, David Greenglass, or Morton Sobell, who were much bigger participants in the spy ring than she ever was.
Mrs. Rosenberg suffered a particularly gruesome and excruciating fate in the electric chair. It took no less than three electrical charges to destroy this young mother of two small children. Ethel Rosenberg is indeed a victim of history who would have never suffered such a terrible fate if weren't for the circumstances she found herself in.
Life is not fair.
Consider Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn. The Lincoln Bedroom instead of the electric chair.
Regrettable, yes: they shoulda dug Jodl up and put him in her lap.
Why not give Ethel the same sentence Greenglass and Sobell received? The evidence against her was weak to begin with just as it was against Lincoln alleged conspirator Mary Surratt.
You're not exactly bolstering your case when you resort to ellipsing a Wikipedia entry.
This has always been an irritant of mine; 1953 was a very long time ago now, it's been decades since the Soviets first learned we had broken their code, and in any case the Soviet Union doesn't exist any more.
So why the secrecy?
I'm all for national security and all that, but this is ridiculous.
I don't suppose most are aware that the files on Lawrence of Arabia 1915-1919 in the Middle East are still sealed by the British government under their "Official Secrets Act".
Now, this is really absurd, and there's very good reasons to suspect that Lawrence of Arabia was just doing routine stuff there anyway. Just normal ordinary little espionage done by many others, nothing remarkable about any of it.
All of this is still sealed in Great Britain for "national security"--but on the other hand, oddly, the University of Texas, which had no connection, no connection at all, with Lawrence of Arabia, and many of the records sealed by the British are public there. I have no idea how they ended up with the University of Texas.
The Rosenbergs were traitors and they got the zot!! Justice was served.
Julius Rosenberg: Guilty
Ethel Rosenberg: Guilty
Alger Hiss: Guilty
The only difference, is that two of the three got what they deserved.
I think that legally a woman cannot be forced to testify against her husband. - When I was about seven years old, all I can remember about this is that one day I was watching “Howdy Doody” on tv, and they broke in with the news bulletin about how the Rosenberg husband and wife had just been executed and something about where their children were at that time. I didn’t watch the news as a kid, and that was how I even first heard of the Rosenbergs. I sat there for a while, not understanding, feeling odd, and worrying that someone might take me away from my parents or them away from me. I just felt sad. I was a child.
I heard their son’s a couple of decades ago screeching how their PARENTS were oh so innocent, and that it was all trumped up charges resulting from the McCarthy Era.
No, I regret the actions of the parents, but any sympathy for the son’s evaporated long ago, as a result of their own comments and false assertions.
My objection: Her punishment did not fit the crime she was charged with. The evidence against her was flimsy and probably could not stand up in a court of law today. Other conspirators such as David Greenglass and his wife (who recently passed away) and Morton Sobell received lighter sentences than Ethel. Ethel Rosenberg does not appear to have been an active participant in the spy ring according to the books I’ve read on the subject including the Rosenberg File by Ronald Radosh.
There are many including Alexandre Feklisov, Morton Sobell, and David Greenglass who offered corrobating testimony to Julius Rosenberg’s activities. But what corroborating evidence is there against Ethel?
Interesting
We don’t excute spies enough in this country. Take your crap somewhere else.
Alger Hiss was certainly guilty. The only problem with him, was that by the time the charges were made, the statute of limitations for treason had passed. He was caught in the web of his own lies before the congressional committees and convicted of perjury instead. According to the Venona cables his code name was ALES.
My own opinion is that if she knew of the treason, and failed to report it, she was guilty, herself. And so deserved to die. Perphaps her husband did more harm, but execution is as tough as we get.
Perhaps she couldn’t be convicted nowadays. Neither could OJ Simpson. Is this an improvement.
There’s lots of people to sympathize with, even help. But I only have so much sympathy in me. I’m not wasting it on this woman, her husband, her friends, or her children. She shoulda thought of them.
If she knew, she was guilty. There’s no point is comparing what others in her family got. They were lucky.
She was in it with her husband right up to her eyeballs. The evidence is clear—and it was corroborated in KGB files that became public after the fall of the Soviet Union.
She and her husband, Julius, put themselves in harms way—no one else. That others may or not have been involved in the treason is irrelevent to the Rosenberg’s guilt.
I agree: Execute spies, traitors, and terrorists. Bill Ayers should have been executed for bombing the Pentagon and other buildings. Had no problem with Timothy McVeigh’s execution.
But some people in history, including Mary Surratt, get caught up in circumstances and were merely present when bad people were plotting evil deeds around them.
Obviously, Ethel Greenglass made a poor choice of husband. But she did love him and did not want to testify against him. Should this have cost her life and orphaned two small children?
Exactly. She was as much a traitor as her husband. The whole bunch of them should have been executed. According to Dante, the lowest level of Hell is reserved for traitors.
It is pointless to argue how small or large Ethel's involvement was. She was a very willing conspirator and a fanatical communist with much influence over her husband.
Morton Sobell.
Alfred Jodl.
You don’t have very many friends, do you?
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