Julius Rosenberg

On September 11, 2008, a set of documents related to the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg espionage trial of the 1950s was released from the National Archives. They support the guilt of Julius Rosenberg in the trial, but absolve his wife Ethel of any serious wrongdoing.New York Times: Figure in Rosenberg Case Admits ... (September 11, 2008) The Rosenbergs were both found guilty and executed in 1953.

The Rosenbergs' sons, Robert and Michael Meeropol were six- and 10-years-old respectively at the time of their parents' executions. According to a New York Times report, the brothers accepted that their father was a spy in the wake the revelations.New York Times: Rosenbergs' Sons Accept That Father Was a Spy (September 16, 2008)

Julius Rosenberg was running a fairly unsuccessful machine shop in 1951 when he was arrested for espionage. His brother-in-law David Greenglass, confessed that he had stolen papers from the Los Alamos National Laboratory where he worked, and naming his conspirators, among them Morton Sobell, Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg. The papers were related to the atomic bomb research that was being undertaken at Los Alamos; Julius Rosenberg made sure they were delivered to the Soviet Union.New York Times: Figure in Rosenberg Case Admits to Soviet Spying (September 11, 2008)

According to the documents released on September 11, 2008, prosecutors had concocted a story with the help of David Greenglass and his wife Ruth Greenglass, to the effect that Ethel Rosenberg had typed up the notes before they were sent to the Soviets. It was hoped that Julius Rosenberg would confess in order to save his wife. That did not work, and both Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed by electric chair on June 19, 1953.

On the day that the documents were released, Sobell was quoted in the New York Times, admitting his guilt, as well as that of Julius Rosenberg, but maintaining the innocence of Ethel Rosenberg.New York Times: Figure in Rosenberg Case Admits to Soviet Spying (September 11, 2008) Some of his comments are excerpted below.

On whether he had been a spy:

• "Yeah, yeah, yeah, call it that. I never thought of it as that in those terms."New York Times: Figure in Rosenberg Case Admits to Soviet Spying (September 11, 2008)

On Soviet communism:

• "Now I know it was an illusion. I was taken in."New York Times: Figure in Rosenberg Case Admits to Soviet Spying (September 11, 2008)

On Ethel Rosenberg:

• "She knew what [Julius] was doing, but what was she guilty of? Of being Julius's wife."New York Times: Figure in Rosenberg Case Admits to Soviet Spying (September 11, 2008)