Executing the Rosenbergs

No cover — Lori Clune: Executing the Rosenbergs (2016, Oxford University Press)

261 pages

English language

Published Feb. 2, 2016 by Oxford University Press.

ISBN:: 978-0-19-026588-5
OCLC Number:: 921864696

(1 review)

In 1950, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were arrested for allegedly passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union, an affair FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover labeled the "crime of the century." Their case became an international sensation, inspiring petitions, letters of support, newspaper editorials, and protests in countries around the world. Nevertheless, the Rosenbergs were executed after years of appeals, making them the only civilians ever put to death for conspiracy-related activities. Yet even after their executions, protests continued. The Rosenberg case quickly transformed into legend, while the media spotlight shifted to their two orphaned sons. In Executing the Rosenbergs, Lori Clune demonstrates that the Rosenberg case played a pivotal role in the world's perception of the United States. Based on newly discovered documents from the State Department, Clune narrates the widespread dissent against the Rosenberg decision in 80 cities and 48 countries. Even as the Truman and …

In 1950, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were arrested for allegedly passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union, an affair FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover labeled the "crime of the century." Their case became an international sensation, inspiring petitions, letters of support, newspaper editorials, and protests in countries around the world. Nevertheless, the Rosenbergs were executed after years of appeals, making them the only civilians ever put to death for conspiracy-related activities. Yet even after their executions, protests continued. The Rosenberg case quickly transformed into legend, while the media spotlight shifted to their two orphaned sons. In Executing the Rosenbergs, Lori Clune demonstrates that the Rosenberg case played a pivotal role in the world's perception of the United States. Based on newly discovered documents from the State Department, Clune narrates the widespread dissent against the Rosenberg decision in 80 cities and 48 countries. Even as the Truman and Eisenhower administrations attempted to turn the case into pro-democracy propaganda, US allies and potential allies questioned whether the United States had the moral authority to win the Cold War. Meanwhile, the death of Stalin in 1953 also raised the stakes of the executions; without a clear hero and villain, the struggle between democracy and communism shifted into morally ambiguous terrain. Transcending questions of guilt or innocence, Clune weaves the case - and its aftermath - into the fabric of the Cold War, revealing its far-reaching global effects. An original approach to one of the most fascinating episodes in Cold War history, Executing the Rosenbergs broadens a quintessentially American story into a global one. "--

"The Rosenberg case tested the limits of the federal government's new Cold War propaganda apparatus. Both the Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower administrations struggled to sell the guilt of the two spies and use the case to sell democracy and freedom overseas. However, citizens around the world did not always agree with the United States' execution of the Rosenbergs, which diminished the standing of the country in the eyes of the world, particularly so soon after the death of Stalin and the removal of the face of evil global Communism. In this first book, Lori Clune uses newly discovered State Department documents to demonstrate dissent to the Rosenberg decision from 80 cities in 48 countries in the early 1950s. American diplomats overseas observed and reported protests, petitions, letters of support, and newspaper editorials back to the State Department, along with policy recommendations. This project tells a new narrative of the Rosenbergs by transcending questions of guilt and innocence, adding a transnational component to the story and weaving the case into the Korean War, the death of Stalin, and the Cold War more broadly. While the Rosenbergs have been the subject of endless debate and discussion for half a century, this book offers an original approach to the topic, one that will no doubt add fodder to the politically passionate and provide a significant case study for those interested in the US relationship with the world"--

2 editions

Stuart Woodward reviewed Executing the Rosenbergs by Lori Clune

Review of 'Executing the Rosenbergs' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

The Rosenbergs, parents of young boys, were executed in 1953 after being accused of passing on atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union. This book discusses the world wide protests and the attempts to gain clemency for them up until their execution at the order of Dwight D. Eisenhower.

I didn't realise that it was such a huge story at the time. The hope of the US government was that Rosenbergs would offer a last minute confession in exchange for implicating other members of their spy ring. Some of the details of the testimony against them given by David Greenglass, Ethel Rosenberg's brother who worked on the Manhattan Project and at Oak ridge was done in order to save his own wife from being implicated.

It turns out that they didn't in fact pass useful nuclear secrets but they were organisers of an active spy ring passing on thousands of …

The Rosenbergs, parents of young boys, were executed in 1953 after being accused of passing on atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union. This book discusses the world wide protests and the attempts to gain clemency for them up until their execution at the order of Dwight D. Eisenhower.

I didn't realise that it was such a huge story at the time. The hope of the US government was that Rosenbergs would offer a last minute confession in exchange for implicating other members of their spy ring. Some of the details of the testimony against them given by David Greenglass, Ethel Rosenberg's brother who worked on the Manhattan Project and at Oak ridge was done in order to save his own wife from being implicated.

It turns out that they didn't in fact pass useful nuclear secrets but they were organisers of an active spy ring passing on thousands of military and industrial secrets to the USSR.

While this book is not an extensive review of the evidence against the Rosenbergs, it does detail the day by day machinations of the press, US and other foreign governments and activities of activists trying to save them.

A tragic story. Interesting as I will now have to follow up on all the other threads of this real life conspiracy.

Coincidentally today I was reminded of this quote from The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn about executions in the USSR:

"Therefore, when we sign a sentence ordering someone to be shot we can never be absolutely certain, but only approximately, in view of certain hypotheses, and in a certain sense, that we are punishing a guilty person. Thence arose the most practical conclusion: that it was useless to seek absolute evidence—for evidence is always relative—or unchallengeable witnesses—for they can say different things at different times."

Subjects

Trials (Conspiracy)
Trials, litigation
Trials (Espionage)
History

Places

United States
New York (State)
New York