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Ethel Rosenberg

1915–1953 · 38 years

Convicted on her brother's testimony, which he later said was false

Portrait of Ethel Rosenberg — Roger Higgins, photographer from "New York World-Telegram and the Sun" — 1951 — Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

The stage was the plan. Ethel Greenglass grew up in a two-room cold-water flat on Sheriff Street, the eldest child and only daughter of a sewing-machine repairman who worked out of the front room. She acted at Seward Park High School, graduated in 1931 at 15, and chose college-preparatory courses over the secretarial track most girls were steered into. She sang well enough for the Schola Cantorum. The Depression put her behind a desk at a packing and shipping company instead, and in August 1935 she sat as the only woman on a four-person strike committee, was fired for it, and won her job back through the new National Labor Relations Board. She met Julius Rosenberg in December 1936, singing at a union benefit. They married in 1939.

What she is known for is a case rather than a career. The FBI arrested Julius on July 17, 1950, and Ethel on August 11, as she left the courthouse where she had taken the Fifth before a grand jury. The trial opened on March 6, 1951, before Judge Irving Kaufman, with Irving Saypol and Roy Cohn prosecuting. On March 29 a jury convicted both of conspiracy to commit espionage. Kaufman sentenced them to death on April 5. That Julius spied is no longer seriously in dispute. What Ethel did is a separate question, and it has never closed.

The government's own files record why she was charged. In February 1951 the prosecutor Myles Lane told the Joint Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy that the case against her was not strong but that for the sake of deterrence it was important she be convicted and given a stiff sentence. J. Edgar Hoover wrote that proceeding against the wife would serve as a lever to make Julius talk. Ten days before trial, David and Ruth Greenglass were interviewed again and their accounts changed. David now placed the exchange in the Rosenbergs' living room, and Ruth described Ethel typing the notes at a bridge table. All charges against Ruth were dropped. Deputy Attorney General William Rogers said years later that the death sentence was meant to break Julius, and that she called their bluff.

They died at Sing Sing on June 19, 1953, the hour moved up to precede the Sabbath. Julius went on the first shock. Ethel took three, then two more when doctors found her heart still beating. Michael and Robert, 10 and six, were raised by Abel and Anne Meeropol. Venona corroborated Julius and gave him a codename. Ethel had none, though Soviet files opened in 2009 describe her as knowing his work and helping recruit her brother. In 2001 David Greenglass told Sam Roberts he had lied about the typing to protect his wife. Grand jury transcripts released in 2008 showed Ruth had first told a different story. No president has exonerated her. Her sons are still asking.

Lifespan

15401700180019002030

Ethel Rosenberg's life against the full span of the corpus.

Notable works

Grand jury testimony, Southern District of New York other
She invoked the Fifth Amendment on every question and was arrested as she left the courthouse 1950
Trial testimony, United States v. Rosenberg other
She took the stand in her own defence and denied the Greenglasses' account 1951
Joint statement refusing to trade a confession for their lives other
They would not be coerced, they said, even under pain of death, to bear false witness 1953
Petition for executive clemency to President Eisenhower other
Denied. Eisenhower also refused an appeal from Pope Pius XII on February 11, 1953 1953
The Rosenberg Letters book
The complete prison correspondence, edited by her son Michael Meeropol 1994

Life in brief

with age at each point

1931 aged ~16 Graduates from Seward Park High School at 15 She had starred in school productions and taken the college-preparatory course rather than the secretarial one.
August 1935 aged 19 Sits as the only woman on a four-person shipping-clerks strike committee She was fired with the other leaders and won reinstatement through the newly created National Labor Relations Board.
December 1936 aged 21 Meets Julius Rosenberg while singing at a seamen's union benefit
1939 aged ~24 Marries Julius Rosenberg Their sons Michael and Robert were born in 1943 and 1947.
August 11, 1950 aged 34 Arrested by the FBI as she leaves the grand jury room Her lawyer's request that she be released over the weekend to arrange care for her two small children was denied.
March 29, 1951 aged 35 Convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage Judge Irving Kaufman sentenced both Rosenbergs to death on April 5.
June 19, 1953 aged 37 Executed at Sing Sing The hour was moved up to precede the Sabbath. After the standard three shocks doctors found her heart still beating and two more were applied.
2001 aged ~86 David Greenglass recants his testimony about the typing He told Sam Roberts he thought his wife had done the typing, that he had given false testimony to protect her, and that the prosecution had encouraged him.
September 2024 aged 108 The NSA releases a 1950 memo written ten days after her arrest The codebreaker Meredith Gardner had concluded she knew of her husband's work but that ill health kept her from doing it herself. Michael and Robert Meeropol renewed their petition, this time to President Biden. He left office without acting.