Fuchs almost immediately confessed his role and began a series of accusations. Fuchs confessed that American Harry Gold had served as a courier for the Soviet agents to whom Fuchs passed along his information.
American authorities captured Gold, who thereupon pointed the finger at David Greenglass, a young man who worked at the laboratory where the atomic bomb had been developed. Gold claimed Greenglass was even more heavily involved in spying than Fuchs. Upon his arrest, Greenglass readily confessed and then accused his sister and brother-in-law, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, of being the spies who controlled the entire operation.
Both Ethel and Julius had strong leftist leanings and had been heavily involved in labor and political issues in the United States during the lates and s. Julius was arrested in July and Ethel in August By present-day standards, the trial was remarkably fast. It began on March 6, and the jury had convicted both of conspiracy to commit espionage by March The Rosenbergs were not helped by a defense that many at the time, and since, have labeled incompetent.
More harmful, however, was the testimony of Greenglass and Gold. Greenglass declared that Julius Rosenberg had set up a meeting during which Greenglass passed the plans for the atomic bomb to Gold. The jury found both guilty. A few days later, the Rosenbergs were sentenced to death.
Both maintained their innocence to the end. The Rosenberg case garnered worldwide attention. Army Signal Corps as a civilian engineer. He left the Communist Party to avoid suspicions. By , Julius was heavily involved with espionage activities for the Soviet Union. She and David met in the YCL, and married in By , the Soviets considered Rosenberg and his espionage network to be providing valuable information.
By , Julius had recruited him to spy for the Soviets. Perl contributed to the development of the first jet fighter in the U. The engineers worked at top electronic firms, and they passed on confidential and useful information to the Soviet Union.
Greenglass passed information to Julius, including information about the high explosive lenses being developed at Los Alamos for the implosion bomb. He also worked with Klaus Fuchs , a physicist at Los Alamos and Soviet spy, to pass on atomic research secrets.
In , the U. Decrypted cables revealed this information through the Venona project. In February , Fuchs was arrested in the United Kingdom. His arrest began a chain of investigations, which ultimately led to the arrest of Julius and Ethel.
Fuchs was charged with violating the Official Secrets Act, and he confessed to spying for the Soviet Union. When questioned, Greenglass admitted to spying. He also named Julius and Ethel Rosenberg as contacts and denied that his wife, Ruth Greenglass, was involved with any espionage activities.
The trial lasted for nearly one month. They were charged with conspiracy and providing atomic secrets to the USSR. They could not be charged for treason since the U. They also defended Sobell , who was put on trial with the Rosenbergs. Judge Irving R. Kaufman presided over the trial. He opened the trial by stating : "The evidence will show that the loyalty and alliance of the Rosenbergs and Sobell were not to our country, but that it was to Communism.
Communism in this country and Communism throughout the world. Sobell and Julius Rosenberg, classmates together in college, dedicated themselves to the cause of Communism. This love of Communism and the Soviet Union soon led them into a Soviet espionage ring. During the trial, both Ethel and Julius pleaded the Fifth Amendment when asked repeated questions related to espionage, and when questioned about being members of the Communist Party.
Not answering questions proved to be problematic for the Rosenbergs because during the era of McCarthyism , many believed that the refusal to answer questions was an admission of guilt and involvement with the Communist Party. Ethel and Julius denied all allegations of espionage, and refused to provide any names.
Since the Rosenbergs were being charged with conspiracy, no tangible evidence was required. Greenglass secretly testified before a grand jury in August In this testimony he named Julius and claimed he was recruited to join the Soviet spy ring by him. He stated that Julius asked him to help provide secrets about atomic weapons so that Julius could pass on the information to the USSR. He then claimed that he passed this information to Julius on a New York street corner, and that Ethel was not involved.
This new testimony, now against Julius and Ethel, was part of a deal granted to the Greenglasses. In exchange for this new testimony, Ruth was permitted to remain with their children and care for them. The Greenglasses now claimed that Julius, with help from Ethel, recruited David into the atomic spy ring in At this time, Greenglass worked at Los Alamos.
They claimed that David gave a sketch and description of an atomic bomb to Julius in September Now, however, Greenglass claimed that this exchange occurred in the living room of the Rosenbergs' New York apartment, and that Ethel was present.
They stated Ethel was present during all meetings, typing notes for Julius. Ruth stated in her witness testimony: "Julius then took the info into the bathroom and read it and when he came out he called Ethel and told her she had to type this info immediately. Ethel then sat down at the typewriter which she placed on a bridge table in the living room and proceeded to type the info which David had given to Julius. She was viewed as a co-conspirator and never indicted. In February , less than two weeks after a jury convicted Alger Hiss of perjury for denying under oath that he had passed secret information to a Communist agent named Whittaker Chambers, Klaus Fuchs was arrested and confessed to disclosing to the Soviets information about the Manhattan Project.
One week after Fuchs' arrest, Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin propelled himself into the headlines by charging that the State Department employed over Communist agents. It was a bad time to be a suspected Communist; it was a terrible time to be a suspected spy.
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