Ethel Rosenberg

Anne Sebba gives the reader a chilling look at the death of Ethel Rosenberg, who along with her husband, Julius, were convicted of giving Atomic bomb secrets to Cold War nemesis, Russia. Wasn’t Russia an ally during WWII? Wasn’t there an American communist party that many Americans joined prior to the war? Did the government really have to send five massive charges of electricity through Ethel’s body at Sing-Sing prison in 1953? There was never any proof that Ethel was a Russian spy, but Sen. McCarthy was on a witch hunt during the early 1950s and had America in a tizzy. If she was guilty of anything, it was her loyalty to her husband. Did Julius pass on atomic bomb secrets? Most likely. Ethel was nothing more than a typical housewife bringing up her two boys and remaining loyal to her mate. But surely she was somewhat involved, right? Needless to say, author Sebba didn't believe she was. The facts brought up by the author are very persuasive. The timing of Ethel’s situation couldn’t be any worse. America, at the time, didn’t seem to feel any accused communist had any legal rights...better dead than red. The prosecution was led by (soon to be famous) lawyer, Roy Cohn. His unsubstantiated accusations and lies were easily sucked out of Rosenberg's friends and family, who were looking to distance themselves from the growing spotlight. “Julius and Ethel Rosenberg remain the only Americans ever put to death in peacetime for conspiracy to commit espionage.”

“To declare that the Rosenbergs put the A-bomb in the hands of the Russians was a grotesque exaggeration. Today there is widespread recognition that Julius did pass military information to the Soviet Union, yet skepticism that the couple had, according to the phrase used at the time, stolen ‘the secrets’ of the atomic bomb. Much was known about the basic physics involved in making a bomb; the main difficulty was devising practical weapons and the aircraft and missiles to deliver them. There is equally widespread recognition that the three-week trial at which both Rosenbergs were convicted and sentenced to death contained multiple miscarriages of justice and that the only ‘evidence’ against Ethel was the perjury of her own brother David. But over and above this, Ethel was also the victim of a government terrified of showing weakness in the face of an unyielding fear of communism at the height of the Cold War and which knowingly allowed this perjury.” 

Sebba’s story reminded me of Paulo Coelho’s book, The Spy (see my review of 1/12/2017), the story of the speedy trial and unfair execution of Mata Hari. Anyway, it gets my dander up whenever I read a book like this. I thought the author did a yeoman’s job telling Ethel’s story although a tad boring at times. Did she do enough research on this book? God knows not much was needed based on the total unfairness of Ethel’s trial. Almost everybody feels that Julius was guilty of speeding up Russia’s atomic bomb development by a year or two. Nikita Khrushchev was reported to believe that the information received from the Rosenbergs was significant. 

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Comment: On the day after WWII in Europe was over, what did the average American feel about Russia? They were our allies, weren’t they? Didn’t President Truman just sit side by side with Stalin at the Potsdam Conference to divvy up Germany? Since I was born in 1944, I would be interested to know what the typical citizen, GI or Rosie the riveter thought about Russia. 

The American Communist Party split from the American Socialist party in 1919 after Russia’s October Revolution. It was probably further developed during America’s Great Depression coupled with the formation of massive unions. Membership in the American Communist Party was at its highest (about 90,000) when the US entered the war in Europe (1942).

I guess Stalin’s bullying of Europe didn’t help its popularity. His treatment of loyal Russian officers who criticized his regime didn’t help. The great Russian author and soldier, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was sentenced in 1945 to eight years in the Gulag and expulsion thereafter for his writings that Stalin didn’t favor. Russia’s treatment of Hungary in 1956 didn’t cause a rush to join the American Communist Party and I guess Nikita Khrushchev’s pounding of his shoe at the U.N. didn’t help either. 

I guess there is no definitive answer to my question.