Ethel Rosenberg
Ethel Rosenberg, born Ethel Greenglass on September 28, 1915, was an American woman whose life was marked by radical activism and espionage. Raised in a Jewish family in New York, she initially pursued ambitions in the performing arts but shifted her focus to political activism during the Great Depression. Ethel became a prominent member of the Young Communist League and was involved in labor strikes advocating for workers' rights.
In the 1940s, Ethel and her husband, Julius Rosenberg, transitioned from open Communist Party support to covert espionage for the Soviet Union, particularly related to atomic secrets. Their activities led to their arrest in 1950, and after a highly publicized trial, Ethel was convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage. Despite appeals, she was sentenced to death and executed by electrocution on June 19, 1953. Ethel Rosenberg's case continues to evoke discussions about the death penalty, political persecution during the Cold War, and the complexities of her and her husband's legacy in espionage. Her story reflects the tensions of the era, including issues surrounding anti-Semitism and the impact of McCarthyism on American society.
Subject Terms
Ethel Rosenberg
American spy
- Born: September 28, 1915
- Birthplace: New York, New York
- Died: June 19, 1953
- Place of death: Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, New York
Major offense: Conspiracy to commit espionage, under U.S. Espionage Act of 1917
Active: c. 1942-1950
Locale: New York, New York
Sentence: Death by electrocution
Early Life
Ethel Rosenberg (EHTH-ehl ROH-zihn-burg) was born Ethel Greenglass on September 28, 1915, in were chosen, the daughter of Barnet and Tessie Greenglass. She graduated from Public School 22 at age eleven and entered Seward Park High School, where she appeared in school plays. Ethel was determined to attend college and become a famous actress or singer. Her father encouraged her, but her mother thwarted Ethel’s theatrical ambitions. At thirteen, Ethel developed ricketic curvature of the spine, from which she never fully recovered. She was petite, five feet tall, weighing about one hundred pounds. She wore her hair straight back, and a tense expression detracted from the beauty of her face.
Ethel completed a stenographic course in a settlement house when she was sixteen and then went to work at National New York Shipping and Packing Company. She continued to pursue her theatrical interests by joining the Clark House Players, an amateur group, and she became its star. In an amateur contest at Loew’s Delancey Theater she won second prize with her rendition of “Ciribiribin,” a Hasidic ode to God. This led to her appearance on Major Bowes’s talent scout competition, which gained her publicity and additional roles.
Ethel saved enough money from her seven-dollars-a-week wage to take singing lessons at a Carnegie Hall studio. She sought to join the Schola Cantorum, a professional choir directed by Hugh Ross. After she learned to sight-read music, she was accepted by the choir. A setback to her musical career came a year later when Ethel was unable to join the choir on tour because she could not leave her job.
Espionage Career
In the 1930’s, at the height of the Great Depression, Ethel became a strident radical. In 1932, she was among one thousand applicants lined up for a job at a box factory. The mob grew violent, and the fire department turned water hoses on them. Ethel was knocked down but unhurt. She dwelt angrily upon perceived injustices of employers and government failure to deal with economic crises. Listening to radical demagogues preaching anarchy and socialism on street corners, Ethel was inspired to join the Young Communist League. At the league she had a new stage and audience among her fellow Communist activists, and she found the enthusiasm with which they received her speeches empowering.
In 1935, Ethel led a strike of 150 women that shut down the New York National Shipping Company. When the company hired substitutes, Ethel led the women to attack delivery truck drivers, block the streets with their bodies, and slash cartons of clothing with razor blades. After two weeks, fifteen thousand garment workers had joined the strike. The employer capitulated, agreeing to shortened work hours and raised wages. However, Ethel and ten of her lieutenants were soon fired. By the time the National Labor Relations Board restored their jobs, Ethel was working at Bell Textile Company.
In 1936, the International Seamen’s Union invited Ethel to sing at a fund-raising party on New Year’s Eve. There she met Julius Rosenberg, another radical Communist. The two were married in 1939, after Julius graduated from New York City College. The births of their sons in 1943 and 1947 did not diminish the extent of Ethel’s activities on behalf of the Communist Party.
In 1943, Ethel and Julius suddenly ceased their open support of the Communist Party, and their subscription to the Daily Worker was canceled. They had become covert spies for the Soviet Union. In 1944, after Ethel’s brother, David Greenglass, was assigned to the Manhattan Project in New Mexico, the secret U.S. program to develop an atomic bomb, Ethel helped recruit David to obtain atomic secrets for the Soviets. In 1945, after Julius was dismissed from the U.S. Army Signal Corps because of Communist Party activities, Ethel became so ill that she spent four months in bed. Ethel and Julius engaged in espionage five more years.
Legal Action and Outcome
The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Julius Rosenberg on July 17, 1950, and Ethel Rosenberg on August 11. On January 31, 1951, both were indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit espionage. At the trial, March 6-28, 1951, David Greenglass and his wife testified that Ethel had typed up David’s notes on atomic secrets for delivery to the Soviets and was a participant in the espionage network. Ethel’s demeanor and frequent use of Fifth Amendment rights in refusing to answer questions probably harmed her defense. She was found guilty March 29, 1951, and on April 5, 1951, Judge Irving Kaufman sentenced her to death by electrocution.
Appeals to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals were denied on February 25, 1952, and June 11, 1953. The U.S. Supreme Court refused certiorari on October 13, 1952, denied a stay of execution on June 13, 1953, and six days later vacated a stay granted by Justice William O. Douglas. On June 19, 1953, Ethel Rosenberg was executed by electrocution at New York’s Sing Sing Prison.
Impact
Ethel Rosenberg’s role as a spy and the death penalty remained part of the national debate for years. The Rosenbergs’ lawyers continued their defense through the press, as Ethel’s two sons worked to clear the family name. Robert, the younger son, spent his life trying to prove his mother innocent and agitating against the death penalty. Supporting media blamed Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Red Scare investigations and a latent anti-Semitism for the lack of public sympathy for Ethel Rosenberg. In the 1990’s, when the Soviet Union was dismantled, newly released intelligence documents confirmed the Rosenbergs’ involvement in espionage.
Bibliography
Meeropol, Robert. An Execution in the Family: One Son’s Journey. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2003. The Rosenbergs’ younger son writes about the trial and execution of his parents.
Nizer, Louis. The Implosion Conspiracy. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1973. Details espionage activities and proceedings in the trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.
Radosh, Ronald, and Joyce Milton. The Rosenberg File: A Search for the Truth. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1983. Examines impact of the trial on family, lawyers, and American public.