Chapter26WikiMaggio

Chapter 26 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg







Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were American citizens who spied for the Soviet Union to pass on information about the atomic bomb. They were then executed for conspiracy to commit espionage. Espionage is the practice of spying or of using spies, typically by governments to obtain political and military information.

Julius Rosenberg was born May 12, 1918 and Ethel Greenglass was born September 28, 1915. They were both born to Jewish families in New York. Julius became a leader in the "Young Communist League USA" while at "City College of New York" (Where he graduated with a degree in electrical engineering). Ethel joined the Young Communist League and met Julius in 1936, then got married in 1939. They both died June 19, 1953.

There were other spies just like Julius and Ethel but none of them were executed because they offered up confessions. One of the spies was Ethel's brother, David Greenglass, who supplied Julius with documents and had to serve a 15-year sentence.

In 1995, the United States government released a series of decoded Soviet cables, codenamed VENONA, which confirmed that Julius acted as a courier and recruiter for the Soviets, but did not provide definitive evidence for Ethel's involvement. Morton Sobell was another spy who was tried with the Rosenbergs. In 2008, Sobell admitted he was a spy and stated that Julius Rosenberg had spied for the Soviets, but that Ethel Rosenberg had not.

Because the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons did not operate an electric chair at the time, the Rosenbergs were transferred to the New York State-run Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining for execution. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed in the electric chair at sundown on June 19, 1953.

Works Cited:

Text: "Julius and Ethel Rosenberg." //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 14 Apr. 2016. .

Photo: "Julius and Ethel Rosenberg." //Wikipedia//. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 14 Apr. 2016. .