Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
The Rosenberg’s – husband and wife – were American citizens who were the center of a spy ring established largely by Julius to provide information to the Soviets on American atomic weapon research and development. They also illegally obtained and transferred to the Soviets information on other advanced American defense projects, including the development of jet engines for aircraft, submarine sonar systems, and radar systems.
The network they developed included David Greenglass, Ethel’s brother, Harry Gold, and Klaus Fuchs, all of whom were eventually determined to be working for the Soviets. Fuchs was a German scientist who had worked in the British atomic weapon program before joining the American Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. During the Second World War Fuchs transmitted classified information via his handler Gold to the Rosenbergs, who forwarded it to the Soviets.
When Harry Truman informed Stalin that the United States had developed a weapon of previously unheard of destructive power at Potsdam in 1945 – having himself only recently learned of it – he noted that Stalin did not seem either surprised or concerned. Stalin’s knowledge of the atomic bomb’s existence was likely the result of the Rosenberg group.
Julius Rosenberg began working for the Soviet NKVD in the fall of 1942. During the war, he provided the Soviets with a complete proximity fuse – highly classified and used to detonate anti-aircraft shells when they reached a predetermined nearness to their target. When World War II ended only the United States had an atomic bomb, but the Soviets detonated a test bomb in 1949, to the utter shock of American officials and scientists. Investigations soon identified Fuchs as a source of classified material being stolen and provided to the Soviets and before long Julius and Ethel’s role in the espionage was known to authorities.
Since the Rosenberg’s conviction and execution for espionage in 1953 an ongoing campaign has been conducted – led largely by their two sons – to clear their name and establish their innocence, claiming that they were the victims of Cold War paranoia. The release of classified documents from the former Soviet Union has revealed their long-standing espionage activities against the United States. Julius acted as a courier carrying classified information to other Soviet agents, and recruited most of the members of the network which stole it, with Ethel providing advice and guidance. Ethel also collected money from the Soviets as payment for the pair’s services and assisted Julius in concealing his activities. Ethel also actively recruited her brother into the network. Soviet records include the payments made to the pair.