Term paper on Trial of the Rosenbergs (1950–1951)

Trial of the Rosenbergs

term paper RESOURCE GUIDE

The existence of a World War II spy ring that had passed along British and American atomic secrets to the Soviet Union came to light when the British government in 1950 arrested Klaus Fuchs, a physicist who had worked on the Manhattan Project. The German-born Fuchs implicated several others, including the Americans Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. His disclosure came shortly after the Soviet Union tested its first nuclear bomb, thereby destroying America ‘s monopoly of atomic weaponry. Found guilty of espionage in 1951, the Rosenbergs were executed two years later, the only spies executed in peacetime in U.S. history.
Suggestions for Term Papers

1. Discuss the discovery and breakup of the atomic spy ring.

2. Should the Rosenbergs have been executed?

3. Discuss public reaction to the verdict and execution of the Rosenbergs .

4. Discuss the long-range consequences of the Rosenberg case.

5. Discuss the role of the FBI in the Rosenberg case.

Suggested Sources : See entries 52, 56, and 58 for related items.

GENERAL SOURCES

Albright, Joseph, and Marcia Kunstel. Bombshell: The Secret Story of America’s Unknown Atomic Spy Conspiracy . New York : Times Books, 1997. Recent informative account describing the conduct of espionage activities beginning with the Manhattan Project.

Carmichael , Virginia . Framing History: The Rosenberg Story and the Cold War . Minneapolis : University of Minnesota , 1993. Reviews the Rosenberg story in terms of history and culture. Part of the publisher’s American Culture series.

Garber, Margorie, and Rebecca L. Walkowitz, eds. Secret Agents: The Rosenberg Case, McCarthyism and Fifties America . New York : Routledge, 1995. Essays on the 1950s, including the Rosenbergs , J. Edgar Hoover, the bomb, and McCarthyism. Part of the publisher’s Culture Work series.

Neville, John F. The Press, the Rosenbergs and the Cold War . Westport , CT : Greenwood , 1995. Study of the cold war agenda, with the primary focus on the press coverage of the Rosenbergs ‘ case from 1950 to 1953.

SPECIALIZED SOURCES

Goldstein, Alvin H. The Unquiet Death of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg . New York : Lawrence Hill, 1975. Brief exposition of the circumstances regarding the execution of the pair.

Meeropol, Robert, ed. We Are Your Sons: The Legacy of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg . 2d ed. Urbana : University of Illinois , 1986. Correspondence of the Rosenbergs to their sons maintaining their innocence of the charges.

Okun, Rob A. The Rosenbergs : Collected Visions of Artists and Writers . New York : St. Martin ‘s, 1988. Collection of portraits of the Rosenbergs done by various American artists.

Philipson, Ilene. Ethel Rosenberg: Beyond the Myths . New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1993. Contends that Ethel Rosenberg had no role in passing secrets to Soviets.

Radosh, Ronald, et al. The Rosenberg File: A Search for Truth . 2d ed. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997. With an introduction containing revelations from National Security Agency and Soviet sources; sheds new light on the proceedings.

Rosenberg, Julius, et al. The Rosenberg Letters: A Complete Edition of the Prison Correspondence of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg . Robert Meeropol, ed. Hamden, CT: Garland, 1993. The complete and unedited text of all the surviving letters written by the Rosenbergs during their three years in Sing Sing.

Schneir, Walter. Invitation to an Inquest: A New Look at the Rosenberg-Sobell Case . New York: Dell, 1968. Detailed examination of the trial and its ramifications published fifteen years after the event.

Sharlitt, Joseph. Fatal Error: The Miscarriage of Justice That Sealed the Rosenbergs’ Fate . New York: Macmillan, 1989. Indicts the criminal justice system that allowed the Rosenbergs’ sentencing and execution. Judge Kaufman presumed that the Rosenbergs gave the Russians the atomic bomb, which led to the Korean War.

Yalkowsky, Stanley. The Murder of the Rosenbergs . New York: Crucible Pub., 1990. From a review of the transcripts of the trial, study of the FBI files, and interviews conducted with various personalities, maintains that unconstitutional laws and cruelty led to the Rosenbergs’ persecution and execution.

BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES

Moss, Norman. Klaus Fuchs: The Man Who Stole the Atom Bomb . New York: St. Martin’s, 1987. Brief biography of the scientist who initiated the Rosenberg inquiry.

Powers, Richard G. Secrecy and Power: The Life of J. Edgar Hoover . New York: Free Press, 1987. Well-researched book covering all aspects of Hoover’s controversial career from the Red Scare to his retirement. Used previously unknown personal documents, interviews, presidential papers, and FBI files.

Williams, Robert C. Klaus Fuchs, Atom Spy . Cambridge, MA: Harvard Uni-

versity Press, 1987. A biographical study of Fuchs; extensive thirty-six-page bibliography.

AUDIOVISUAL SOURCES

American Justice: The Rosenbergs . New York: A&E Home Video, 1993. Videocassette. 50-minute presentation on the espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

WORLD WIDE WEB

Pizzo, Stephen. The Rosenberg Communiques. Web Review . September 1997. http://www.webreview.com/news/natl/rosenberg/index.html Brief overview of the controversy regarding the question of the Rosenbergs’ punishment. Especially useful is the link to excerpts from the partially decoded Soviet cables released by the National Security Agency in 1995.