Ethel & Julius Rosenberg: The Only Spies Executed During the Cold War

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were American citizens who spied on behalf of the Soviet Union and were tried, convicted, and executed by the federal government of the United States. They provided top-secret information about radar, sonar, and jet propulsion engines and were accused of transmitting valuable nuclear weapon designs; at that time the United States was the only country in the world with nuclear weapons.

Other convicted co-conspirators were sentenced to prison, including Ethel's brother, David Greenglass (who had made a plea agreement), Harry Gold, and Morton Sobell. Klaus Fuchs, a German scientist working in Los Alamos, was convicted in the United Kingdom.

Julius Rosenberg and his wife, Ethel

For decades, the Rosenbergs' sons Michael and Robert Meeropol, and many other defenders maintained that Julius and Ethel were innocent of spying on their country and were victims of Cold War paranoia.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, much information concerning them was declassified, including a trove of decoded Soviet cables, code-named VENONA, which detailed Julius's role as a courier and recruiter for the Soviets and Ethel's role as an accessory.

Their sons' current position is that Julius was legally guilty of the conspiracy charge, though not of atomic spying, while Ethel was only generally aware of his activities. The children say that their father did not deserve the death penalty and that their mother was wrongly convicted. They continue to campaign for Ethel to be posthumously and legally exonerated.

In 2014, five historians who had published works based on the Rosenberg case wrote that newly available Soviet documents show that Ethel Rosenberg hid money and espionage paraphernalia for Julius, served as an intermediary for communications with his Soviet intelligence contacts, relayed her personal evaluation of individuals whom Julius considered recruiting, and was present at meetings with his sources. They support the assertion that Ethel persuaded her sister-in-law Ruth Greenglass to travel to New Mexico to recruit her brother David Greenglass as a spy.

The Rosenbergs were executed on June 19th, 1953. They were the only spies executed during the Cold War.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg dressed in swimming attire, circa late 1940s

Mrs Ethel talks to reporters in her Knickerbocker Village home after her husband Julius was arrested by the FBI on a charge of conspiracy to commit espionage, New York, 18 Jul 1950. (Image by Bettmann/CORBIS)

Mrs. Ethel Rosenberg, 34, dries dishes in her knickerbocker village home, New York, 18 Jul 1950. (Image by Bettmann/CORBIS)

Ethel Rosenberg after her arrest on charges of espionage, New York, August 11, 1950. (Image by Bettmann/CORBIS)

U.S. Deputy Marshals Harry McCabe (left) and James A. Shannon escort Mrs. Ethel Rosenberg, 35, as she appears in Federal Court, to be arraigned on an indictment charging her and her 33 year old husband Julius, were members of the atomic spy ring for Soviet Russia, New York, August 23, 1950. (Image by Bettmann/CORBIS)

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg leave Federal Court after being indicted on charges of espionage in the Klaus Fuchs atomic spy ring, New York, 23 Aug 1950. (Image by Bettmann/CORBIS)

Julius and Ethel kissed passionately in prison car outside Federal Court, New York, August 23, 1950. (Image by Bettmann/CORBIS)

Julius Rosenberg and his wife, Ethel, arrive at Federal Court for the opening of their trial on charges of conspiracy to commit espionage by passing secret atomic information to Russia. With the couple is Harry McCabe (left), U.S. Deputy Marshal, New York, 6 March 1951. (Image by Bettmann/CORBIS)

Ethel and Julius Rosenberg sitting in police van after being convicted of espionage, New York, April, 1951. (Image by Bettmann/CORBIS)

Ethel and Julius Rosenberg sitting in police van after being convicted of espionage, New York, April, 1951. (Image by Bettmann/CORBIS)

Mrs. Sophie Rosenberg addressed a rally at Union Square today and made an impassioned appeal to President Eisenhower to save the lives of her son, Julius, and his wife, Ethel, convicted atom spies who are scheduled to die in the chair at Sing Sing next Thursday night. Asserting their innocence, she told the sympathetic gathering "They never stole any atom secrets," and made a public plea to the President and world opinion to save her children, Manhattan, New York, 11 June 1953. (Image by Bettmann/CORBIS)

Michael (10) and Robert Rosenberg (6), the two sons of executed spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, look out from a car, June 16, 1953. (Image by Bettmann/CORBIS)

Michael Rosenberg pats his younger brother Robert and tries his best to comfort him, as the youngsters ride away from Sing Sing prison after visiting their parents for the last before they were executed, Ossining, New York, June 16, 1953. The Rosenbergs are scheduled to be executed on June 18th. (Image by Bettmann/CORBIS)

Demonstrators gather at Pennsylvania Station in New York, June 18th, to prepare for a trip to Washington, where they will parade with placards in a protest against the death sentence for convicted atom spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. The day before, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas granted a stay of execution for the couple doomed to die in the electric chair on June 18th. (Image by Bettmann/CORBIS)

Protests in Washington demanded the execution of Julius Rosenberg and his wife, Ethel, on charges of espionage for the Soviet Union, June 19th, 1953. (Image by Bettmann.CORBIS)

Protests in Washington demanded the execution of Julius Rosenberg and his wife, Ethel, on charges of espionage for the Soviet Union, June 19th, 1953. (Image by Bettmann/CORBIS)

The bodies of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg lie in repose at the L. J. Morris Funeral Home Chapel in Brooklyn, New York, June 20th, 1953. (Image by Bettmann/CORBIS)

Rosenbergs laid to rest. The coffins of executed atom spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg lie (foreground) ready to be interred at the Wellwood Cemetery near Farmingdale, L.I., June 21, with a crowd in attendance and flowers arranged near the grave site. In center, middleground, Mrs. Sophie Rosenberg, mother of Julius, is escorted in tears by Emanuel Bloch (dark coat, gray hat), principal defense attorney for the late Rosenbergs. On Mrs. Rosenberg's other side is a physician. The children, Michael 10, and Robert 6, were not there. (Image by Bettmann/CORBIS)

(Photos © Bettmann/CORBIS)