Are you familiar with the Rosenberg Case? You should be,

[DemBones DemBones]

because there are some implications for us today. The basics of the case are that Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were tried in federal court in Manhattan for "conspiring to commit espionage for the Soviet Union." Not for committing espionage or for treason, only for conspiring to commit espionage. It was alleged that they persuaded Ethel's sister-in-law, Ruth Greenglass, to convince her husband (and Ethel's brother), David Greenglass to steal secrets at Los Alamos in 1944.

The Rosenbergs were found guilty and executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing on June 19, 1953. They left behind two sons, Michael, age 10, and Robby, age 6.
On the day they were executed, thousands of people gathered in 17th Street after New York City denied them permission to hold a vigil in Union Square.

The case against the Rosenbergs was a frame-up. It would take too much space for me to explain all that was done wrong, so I'll refer you to the site of a group that wants to re-open the Rosenberg case.

http://www.rosenbergtrial.org /

Here is some information from that site that is quite pertinent today:


"The purpose, and result, of this frame-up case was the destruction of America's political conscience. The harsh sentences meted out in this case conveyed a clear message to Americans that disagreement with our government's policies could be hazardous to liberty and life. In addition, the outcome of the case reflected and re-enforced one of the most draconian laws (passed over the veto of President Truman) ever enacted by Congress: The Internal Security Act of 1950 (McCarran Act)."

"By order of this McCarthy/FBI inspired McCarran Act, all members of the Communist Party and all members of a hundred so-called Communist Front organizations (defined by the Attorney General), were declared to have "transferred their allegiance to" the Soviet Union. Overnight, almost 500,000 Americans had become "Soviet spies". Of course, this included the Rosenbergs.Because of the stigma attached to membership, many public service organizations were destroyed. These organizations had defended civil rights and civil liberties; supported affirmative action; and aided the poor, the minorities, the under-privileged, the unemployed, the elderly and disabled, the ill housed and ill fed. Although most of the McCarran Act was declared unconstitutional and repealed by 1971, progressive party politics has been stifled to this day."

"The Rosenberg case was unprecedented in the way the death penalty was applied. Never before in American civil court history had there been an execution for espionage, let alone conspiring to commit espionage. And since then, many Americans have been convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and other countries. Amazingly, some of these spies were FBI and CIA agents. Yet, none of them have received a death sentence."

"What made the Rosenberg case so unique? The defendants were executed for crimes they were convicted of in the media, but not by a jury in the courtroom. The trial took place at the height of McCarthyism and anti-communist hysteria and paranoia. For eight months after their arrests, the Rosenbergs were being blamed by the FBI and throughout the media with having caused the United States' undeclared war then raging in Korea. It was claimed that they did this by having stolen and transmitted the A-bomb secret to the Soviets. A majority of Americans uncritically accepted these false allegations and clamored for the harsh punishment of these "communist traitors". When the trial began the public was under the impression that the defendants were being tried for atomic espionage and treason, a capital offense. However, neither of these crimes was charged at the trial. The indictment was only for conspiring to commit espionage, not for passing any classified material. And definitely not for treason."



I really had no idea of all that was wrong with this case until I read about it this morning. I remember hearing about it as a child but what I heard was what the media reported and these were the days of McCarthyism and "Better dead than Red."

There are many photos at the site and artwork by Picasso, Leger, and less-known artists. I especially liked "His Famous Smile (Eisenhower)" because of its message. Ike could have commuted the Rosenberg's death sentences since it was a federal case.

[yardwork]

1. k&r Good reminder of another disgraceful chapter in U.S. history

[asjr]

2. I remember it well. Our

manipulative media have not changed their ways.

[DemBones DemBones]

5. I don't remember much because

I started first grade in the fall of 1953, we didn't have television, and I wasn't reading newspapers yet. But I remember the anti-communist, "Better Dead than Red" rhetoric very well.

[0007]

3. I remember the trial hearings and newspaper accounts like it was yesterday

The McCarthyism and anti-communist hysteria and paranoia just can't be comprehended by the youth of this age today.

I was just getting out of the Army and the Korea conflict had come to a conclusion. The John Birch Society was going full blast. Most unions were looked down upon with scorn and suspicion of being communist controlled.

I remember having to sign papers when I was hired by an employer that stated I was not a member of the communist party, which was normal procedure in those days.

All hell broke loose during the hippy days of the sixties. Justifiable so! The stereo type had been pierced, and big changes were indeed coming. The rest is history. In reality nothing has changed except that the police and our government have become more powerful, a hell of a lot more sneaky. Things are just as bad and maybe worse, in my humble opinion.

[DemBones DemBones]

6. Thanks for telling us more about it. As I said

just above, I don't really remember the trial because I wasn't reading yet and we had no tv. I remember the McCarthyism and anti-communist paranoia well but was too young to see it for what it was. "Better dead than Red" never made sense to me, though. I didn't think it was better to be dead for any reason, still don't.

My dad was career Navy, joined before WW II, and my older brother joined the Marine Corps in the fall of 1952, but I never heard the anti-communist line from them.

I didn't realize they were already busting unions that early. I thought the Fifties were when unions were strongest and that was part of the reason the economy was good.

In the mid-Sixties, I had to study about communism as an enemy of America in my American history class. But I also had to essentially memorize the Constitution so that was very good. When I got National Student Loans for college two years later, I had to sign a paper stating that I was loyal to the Constitution or something like that. I don't think it mentioned communism but it might have.

I thought the parallels between the McCarran Act and the PATRIOT Act were disturbing. I think we're constantly going through periods of Dionysian excess followed by periods of repression. Would you say the situation is worse today than in the Fifties? I think it is but I was just a kid so I could be wrong.

[0007]

8. The fifties were kind of special to me and I guess that was because

of my naiveness. The only difference I can see between today and the fifties is that in the fifties most people were not aware of what was going on as they are today. And perhaps I may be wrong about that, because I view Politics and life differently as I grew older. (75 yo)

Big corporations didn't have the power they have today, probably due to the Unions. The 'working class' which is now called the 'middle class' did very well.

The unions were stronger in the fifties than today. And would have been stronger barring big business and their propaganda.

I do remember Senator Pat McCarran of Nevada and his so-called connections to the mob and Meyer Lansky Which I believe may be true.

McCarran was an admirer of Gen. Francisco Franco of Spain, McCarran was nicknamed the “Senator from Madrid” by the columnist Drew Pearson because of his efforts to increase foreign aid to Spain.

Estes Kefauver was one of my favorite Senators. Even though I never been in Tennessee. He was a crime fighting son-of-a-gun. Or at least that's what I thought in my younger day.

n 1950, Kefauver headed a U.S. Senate committee investigating organized crime. The committee, officially known as the Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce, was popularly known as the Kefauver Committee or the Kefauver hearings. The Committee held hearings in fourteen cities and heard testimony from over 600 witnesses. Many of the witnesses were high-profile crime bosses, including such well-known names as Willie Moretti, Joe Adonis, and Frank Costello, the latter making himself famous by refusing to allow his face to be filmed during his questioning and then staging a much-publicized walkout.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estes_Kefauver

I was born and raised in Colorado Springs Colorado. We were one of the poorest families that lived in that rich republican town in those days after the depression and WWII.

You were extremely lucky to have the opportunity to go to college.

I'm sure your father can agree with the times of the fifties.

[ellenfl]

7. 'in reality nothing has changed'

well, it did for a while. the john birch society and others of that ilk are still at it tho' and it will take education of the masses (especially the kids, who have no clue) to keep history from repeating itself. that is what is so great about the internet . . . at least the info is readily available to most.

ellen fl

[0007]

9. You may be right! But the way I see the John Birch Society today is that

in my opinion it has kind of died down a little after the Berlin Wall came down and as Russia leans more toward a Democracy.

But then again what do I know.

I do check out their website from time to time and know a few doctors that are Birchers.

[Hydra]

4. I saw a special on A&E regarding this

I wasn't alive at the time, but it basically said that the Rosenbergs were nailed because they were an easy target- that the person who leaked the plutonium bomb info was a worker in Los Alamos who felt(erroneously) that since we had nukes, that the world balance of power was was unfairly tilted in our direction.

Little did he know the USSR was already hard at work on the problem, and would have gotten the bomb anyway- he just made it faster and less expensive for them to do so.

[DemBones DemBones]

10. According to the physicist Richard Feynman,

Klaus Fuchs was the spy. He had a car and Feynman would borrow it to go into Albuquerque to visit his wife, who was hospitalized with TB and died while the Project was still going on. Feynman was quite a character. The book "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman" is very funny.

[puebloknot]

11. Yes, I remember it. I was 11 years old. Years later, I read more about it...

...and was haunted by it.

The film "The Book of Daniel" is loosely based on the story, but masked with the children being a girl and a boy.

There are elements who want to use the death penalty for anything they don't agree with, and it's frightening.