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Government
Views of the Rosenberg Spy Case
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were executed for espionage in Sing Sing Prison on 19 June 1953. They had been convicted of giving American atomic secrets to the Soviets during World War II. Though the government was convinced of their guilt, many people were not and the debate over their guilt or innocence did not stop with their deaths. Subsequent declassified government documents have however indicated that Julius Rosenberg did indeed spy for the Soviets but that the government's case against Ethel Rosenberg was quite weak.
Here at The City College of New York we have a particular interest in the Rosenberg case because Julius Rosenberg was a 1939 graduate of City College (School of Engineering). It was also at City College that he met many of the men who were later identified as part of what is sometimes referred to as the "Atomic Spy Ring," including his trial codefendant, Morton Sobell (Class of 1938, School of Engineering).
This site concentrates on primary government documents and information about both the Rosenberg case and the people involved. Resources include a number of declassified documents from such Federal agencies as the FBI and the Central Intelligence Agency, as well as documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
The Case Supporters The Cold War The Trial General Background Venona Project Perlin Papers Who's Who Presidential Communications
The Case
Undated, but current
Atomic Spies: Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
An interactive data base which "provides interesting [Central Intelligence] Agency insights on this post-WWII spy case. Documents cover, among many other topics, US intelligence activities, including FBI-CIA cooperation; USSR intelligence activities; the Rosenberg espionage network's collection against the US atomic energy program; their attempts to protect the network as US authorities closed in on it; their arrest; Soviet propaganda; the Soviet's protest of the Rosenberg's sentencing; and Moscow's reaction to the execution of their spies."
There are 102 documents in the database.
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
http://www.foia.cia.gov/rosenberg.asp12 January 1998
"Summary of the case involving Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who were convicted of espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union; the atomic bomb spies were executed on June 19, 1953, at Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, New York."
Federal Bureau of Investigation
(Total summary is 171 pages)
Part 1
http://foia.fbi.gov/rosen/rosen1.pdf (PDF)
Part 2
http://foia.fbi.gov/rosen/rosen2.pdf (PDF)1990
Go to: Table of Contents
The Rosenberg Case in Perspective - Its Present Significance
The Supreme Court Historical Society
http://www.supremecourthistory.org/04_library/subs_volumes/04_c12_l.htmlThe Cold War
Here are some resources which give an overview/background information about the political situation and general climate in which the Rosenbergs were arrested, tried and executed.
2001
CIA's Analysis of the Soviet Union 1947-1991
Center for the Study of Intelligence
Central Intelligence Agency
http://www.odci.gov/csi/books/princeton/index.html16 November 1999
The 50s
U.S. Department of Energy
http://www.em.doe.gov/timeline/the50s.html4 January 1996
Cold War: Postwar Estrangement
Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/colp.html9 March 1995
The Cold War and the Nuclear Weapons Complex
U.S. Department of Energy
http://www.em.doe.gov/circle/weapons.htmlMay 1994
Postwar America
Chapter 11, An Outline of American History
U.S. Information Agency
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/history/ch11.htm1949-1989
Cold War Reconnaissance
Cold War History 1949-1989
U.S. Air Force Museum
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/coldwar/cwr.htm1945-1989
Cold War Resources 1945-1989
The National Register of Historic Places
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/publications/bulletins/01workshop/coldwar.htm1945-1950
Go to: Table of Contents
Peace Becomes Cold War 1945-1950
Chapter 24, American Military History
Office of the Chief of Military History, United States Army
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/amh/AMH-24.htmGeneral Background
Undated
Atomic Spies: Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
An interactive database which "provides interesting [Central Intelligence] Agency insights on this post-WWII spy case. Documents cover, among many other topics, US intelligence activities, including FBI-CIA cooperation; USSR intelligence activities; the Rosenberg espionage network's collection against the US atomic energy program; their attempts to protect the network as US authorities closed in on it; their arrest; Soviet propaganda; the Soviet's protest of the Rosenberg's sentencing; and Moscow's reaction to the execution of their spies."
There are 102 documents in the database.
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
http://www.foia.cia.gov/rosenberg.asp2002
Review of The Brother
The Brother, by New York Times journalist Sam Roberts, looks at the Rosenberg case primarily from the point of view of David Greenglass, (Ethel Rosenberg's younger brother). David Greenglass worked as an Army mechanic at Los Alamos from 1944-1946, was himself arrested for espionage and testified against the Rosenbergs at their trial.
During Mr. Roberts' interviews, David Greenglass said his wife Ruth had lied about Ethel Rosenberg's level of involvement in the espionage, specifically by falsely identifying Ethel as the person who typed out David's notes (about the Manhattan Project), which Julius Rosenberg later passed onto the Soviets. Greenglass said he supported his wife's story in order to save his wife from going to prison.
This article goes far beyond a simple book review and includes an extensive history of the Rosenberg case as well as discussing the major contributions to the bibliographic literature on the case.
Intelligence in Recent Public Literature
Studies in Intelligence: Journal of the American Intelligence Professional
Vol. 46, No. 4, 2002
Central Intelligence Agency
http://www.cia.gov/csi/studies/vol46no4/article09.htmlUndated
The Atom Spy Case
Federal Bureau of Investigation
http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famcases/atom/atom.htmMay 1994
Postwar America
An overview of the political situation and general climate in which the Rosenbergs were arrested, tried and executed.
Chapter 11 of An Outline of American History
U.S. Information Agency
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/history/ch11.htm12 January 1998
Go to: Table of Contents
"Summary of the case involving Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who were convicted of espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union; the atomic bomb spies were executed on June 19, 1953, at Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, New York."
Federal Bureau of Investigation
(Total summary is 171 pages)
Part 1
http://foia.fbi.gov/rosen/rosen1.pdf (PDF)
Part 2
http://foia.fbi.gov/rosen/rosen2.pdf (PDF)Perlin Papers
Marshall Perlin and Emanuel Bloch acted as defense attorneys for the Rosenbergs and after the Rosenbergs were executed, Mr. Perlin also represented the Rosenberg children. In the 1970s a large quantity of government documents relating to "the investigation, trial and execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg" were declassified, largely through the FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] efforts of the two Rosenberg children and Marshall Perlin. Mr. Perlin, a graduate of the Columbia University Law School, later donated the approximately 250,000 pages to the Law School.
A number of the documents have been scanned and are hosted on Columbia's website.
Go to: Table of Contents
http://www.columbia.edu/acis/cria/rosenberg/index.htmlPresidential Communications
20 June 1953
Go to: Table of Contents
Text of President Dwight Eisenhower's denial of clemency for the Rosenbergs
The text of President Eisenhower's statement is included in the report of the executions that appeared in Britain's Guardian newspaper. The report is dated 20 June and begins by saying the Rosenbergs "were executed early this morning." The Rosenbergs were executed in the early evening of 19 June 1953, New York time. The time differential between New York and Britain meant that the executions did indeed take place "early in the morning" British time.
Execution of the Rosenbergs
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4694827,00.htmlSupporters
Many people thought the Rosenbergs were innocent and had been wrongfully arrested and executed.
Undated but after May 2003
Website of the National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case
http://www.rosenbergtrial.org/May-June 2003
The Trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
International Socialist Review
http://www.isreview.org/issues/29/rosenbergs.shtml20 June 1953
Execution of the Rosenbergs
Text of the report of the executions that appeared in Britain's Guardian newspaper. The report is dated 20 June and begins by saying the Rosenbergs "were executed early this morning." The Rosenbergs were executed in the early evening of 19 June 1953, New York time. The time differential between New York and Britain meant that the executions did indeed take place "early in the morning" British time.The article includes reports of activities of supporters of the Rosenbergs in London, Manchester and at Chartwell, the British Prime Minister's country home as the time for the executions drew near.
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4694827,00.html18 June 1953
Photograph
"Demonstrators bound for Washington, D.C. with signs pleading for clemency for Ethel and Julius Rosenberg fill Pennsylvania Station." Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
http://lcweb4.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?ils:1:./temp/~pp_NydB::1953
Go to: Table of Contents
Photograph
"Demonstrators leaving New York's Pennsylvania Station bound for Washington, D.C., carry signs supporting Ethel and Julius Rosenberg as they walk by a soldier's flag-draped casket."
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
http://lcweb4.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?ils:4:./temp/~pp_NydB::The Trial
2001
The Rosenberg Trial
This is an extensive site about the Rosenberg Trial including biographies of the main participants, transcripts of testimony and excerpts from the summations of both the Prosecution and the Defense.
University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/ROSENB.HTM6 April 1951
Go to: Table of Contents
"Atom Spy Couple Sentenced to Die; Aide Gets 30 Years"
This is the text of the 6 April 1951 New York Times article about the sentencing of the Rosenbergs and Morton Sobell the day before.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0405.html#articleVenona Project
In February 1943 the U.S. Army Intelligence Service began to examine copies of encrypted Soviet diplomatic messages. The project was later given the codename of Venona. Thousands of intercepted messages were examined and many of them were eventually able to be deciphered in whole or in part. Among the deciphered messages were documents that helped identify Julius Rosenberg as a KGB agent, as well as documents that led to the discovery of Donald MacLean and Kim Philby, two of Britain's "Cambridge Spies." A number of the Venona documents were made public beginning in July 1995.
Summer 2000
The Venona Progeny
(A Literature Review)
Naval War College Review
U.S. Naval War College
http://www.nwc.navy.mil/press/Review/2000/summer/re2-Su0.htm3 February 1999
A listing of FBI documents of historic interest re Venona that are referenced in Daniel P. Moynihan's book Secrecy.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
http://foia.fbi.gov/venona.htm1995
An Introductory History of Venona and Guide to the Translations.
The National Security Agency
http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS3323027 February - 14 September 1977
Sobell on "Venona and the Rosenbergs"
This is a series of email messages between Morton Sobell and members of the H-DIPLO list serv.In 1977, Morton Sobell, who had been released from prison in 1969, was a member of the H-DIPLO (History-Diplomacy) list serv and sent a posting to that list about the Venona intercepts. Mr. Sobell had always maintained his innocence and his email questioned the actions of the U.S. government both at the time of his arrest and trial and afterwards.
A series of postings by various list members followed along with several responses by Mr. Sobell. Both Mr. Sobell's opriginal postings and the follow-up messages are included here.
http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~diplo/Sobell.htm1996
Venona: Soviet Espionage and the American Response 1939-1957
Central Intelligence Agency
http://www.cia.gov/csi/books/venona/venona.htm14 November 1944
Venona Intercept No 1600
GIF Image of message sent from New York to Moscow
This message mentions "LIBERAL" (Julius Rosenberg), "KALIBR" (David Greenglass) and "OSA" (Ruth Greenglass).
"LIBERAL will receive the films from METR for passing on"
"OSA has agreed to cooperate with us in drawing in ShMEL (henceforth KALIBR) ... with a view to ENORMOUS [the Atomic Energy Project]
Department of History - University of San Diego
http://history.acusd.edu/gen/text/coldwar/14_Nov_1944_R1.GIF27 November 1944
Go to: Table of Contents
Venona Intercept No 1657
GIF Image of message sent from New York to Moscow
This message mentions "LIBERAL" (Julius Rosenberg) and "LIBERAL's" wife Ethel.
"Knows about her husband's work"
Department of History - University of San Diego
http://history.acusd.edu/gen/text/coldwar/27_Nov_1944_R1.GIFWho's Who
Emanuel Bloch Irving Kaufman Pavel Fitin Ethel & Julius Rosenberg Klaus Fuchs Irving Saypol Harry Gold Morton Sobell David & Ruth Greenglass Anatoli Yakovlev Karel Kaplan Vassili Zubilin Emanuel Bloch
Emanuel Bloch was the primary Defense Attorney for the Rosenbergs.
28 March 1951
Exerpts of Emanuel Bloch's Defense Summation at the Rosenbergs' trial
University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/ROS_TBLO.HTMLieutenant General Pavel Fitin
The Foreign Intelligence Directorate (The First Chief Directorate) of the KGB's Moscow Center supervised all foreign KGB Residencies (offices). General Fitin was head of the First Chief Directorate and many of the Venona messages sent to Moscow by overseas KGB agents were addressed to him. His covername was VIKTOR.
Lieutenant General Pavel Fitin
jpg Photo
National Security Agency
http://www.nsa.gov/docs/venona/monographs/fitin.jpgKlaus Fuchs
During World War II German-born physicist Klaus Fuchs worked on The Manhattan Project [the Atomic Bomb] at the Los Alamos Laboratories in New Mexico. In January 1950 Fuchs confessed to British Intelligence and later to the FBI that during the time he was at Los Alamos he had been a Soviet spy. Fuchs said the man to whom he passed on information about the atomic bomb project was known to him as Raymond. Raymond was eventually identified as a Philadelphia chemist whose real name was Harry Gold. Gold's other contact at Los Alamos was David Greenglass, the brother-in-law of Julius Rosenberg.
2001
Short biography of Klaus Fuchs
The University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/ROS_BFUC.HTMBetween 1930-1954?
Photograph
"Klaus Fuchs--British atomic scientist jaild [i.e., jailed]"
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
http://lcweb4.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?ils:1:./temp/~pp_yK1p::Harry Gold
During World War II German-born physicist Klaus Fuchs worked on The Manhattan Project [the Atomic Bomb] at the Los Alamos Laboratories in New Mexico. In January 1950 Fuchs confessed to British Intelligence and later to the FBI that during the time he was at Los Alamos he had been a Soviet spy. Fuchs said the man to whom he passed on information about the atomic bomb project was known to him as Raymond. Raymond was eventually identified as a Philadelphia chemist whose real name was Harry Gold. Gold not only also confessed to being a Soviet spy, but said he had another contact at Los Alamos, a U.S. soldier to whom he had given money in return for information about the Project. Gold later identified that U.S. soldier as David Greenglass. Greenglass, who had been assigned to Los Alamos as a mechanic, was the brother-in-law of Julius Rosenberg.
Anatoli Yakovlev, the Soviet Vice Consul in New York, oversaw Harry Gold's espionage activities, as well as those of Julius Rosenberg.
1950
Photograph
"Harry Gold, half-length portrait, facing front, handcuffed, flanked by Thomas Hasson (l) and John J. Gericke (r)"
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
http://lcweb4.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?ils:50:./temp/~pp_vegQ::David & Ruth Greenglass
David Greenglass was Ethel Rosenberg's younger brother and had been introduced to Communism by Julius and Ethel. Greenglass worked as an Army mechanic at Los Alamos from 1944-1946. After being identified as a contact by Harry Gold, Greenglass was also arrested for espionage and was one of the main witnesses against the Rosenbergs at their trial. Part of the testimony that was used against Ethel Rosenberg was that she typed David's notes about the Manhattan Project [the Atomic Bomb] and that those notes were part of the information Julius Rosenberg later passed on to the Soviets. The typing of the notes was seen as proof of Ethel Rosenberg's participation in espionage.However, in recent years during interviews with New York Times journalist Sam Roberts, Greenglass has said that his wife Ruth lied about Ethel's typing the notes and that he had supported his wife's story because he wanted to keep her from going to prison.
2002
Review of The Brother
The Brother, by New York Times journalist Sam Roberts, looks at the Rosenberg case primarily from the point of view of David Greenglass, (Ethel Rosenberg's brother). David Greenglass worked as an Army mechanic at Los Alamos from 1944-1946, was himself arrested for espionage and testified against the Rosenbergs at their trial.
During Mr. Roberts' interviews, David Greenglass said his wife Ruth had lied about Ethel Rosenberg's level of involvement in the espionage, specifically by falsely identifying Ethel as the person who typed out David's notes (about the Manhattan Project), which Julius Rosenberg later passed onto the Soviets. Greenglass said he supported his wife's story in order to save his wife from going to prison.
This article goes far beyond a simple book review and includes an extensive history of the Rosenberg case as well as discussing the major contributions to the bibliographic literature on the case.
Intelligence in Recent Public Literature
Studies in Intelligence: Journal of the American Intelligence Professional
Vol. 46, No. 4, 2002
Central Intelligence Agency
http://www.cia.gov/csi/studies/vol46no4/article09.html1950
Photograph
"David Greenglass, handcuffed, being led away by Deputy Marshall Eugene Fitzgerald"
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
http://lcweb4.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?ils:1:./temp/~pp_n6ZG::1950
Photograph
"David Greenglass, looking down, handcuffed, being led away by Deputy U.S. Marshal Albert Gibson"
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
http://lcweb4.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?ils:2:./temp/~pp_n6ZG::Karel Kaplan
29 June 1977
Karel Kaplan's comments on Julius Rosenberg
This is the text of a memo sent by the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] to the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation].Karel Kaplan, a historian and researcher for the Central Committee of the Czech Communist Party, was granted access in 1968-1969 to the official Czech archives in Prague to research the Czech purges and political trials that took place in the 1950s. On 3 May 1977 the Italian newsmagazine Panorama published an installment of an interview with Kaplan with two American academics, David Kennedy of Stanford and Allen Weinstein of Smith College.
During the interview Kaplan said he had seen a Czech Intelligence file In the Czech archives for Julius Rosenberg. The file was dated 1947, four years before Rosenberg was arrested for espionage. The existence of this file does not in itself prove that Rosenberg was a spy, but it certainly indicates that Rosenberg was known to the Czech Intelligence Service as early as 1947.
A transcript of the Kaplan interview is included in the online searchable Rosenberg Case database maintained by the Central Intelligence Agency's Electronic Reading Room. Retrieve this document using the search term Kaplan. The first 10 pages of the document deal with Julius Rosenberg.
Central Intelligence Agency Electronic Reading Room
http://www.foia.cia.gov/rosenberg.aspIrving R. Kaufman
Judge Kaufman presided at the trial of the Rosenbergs and Martin Sobell.
5 April 1951
Judge Kaufman's Statement at the Rosenbergs' Sentencing
San Diego State University
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~allen7/judge.htm1953
Photograph
"Judge Irving R. Kaufman, half-length portrait, seated, facing left, after signing order for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to be put to death at Sing-Sing prison"
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
http://lcweb4.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?ils:27:./temp/~pp_NydB::Ethel & Julius Rosenberg
There were certainly people both before and after their execution who thought the Rosenbergs were innocent. As time went on and documents about the case began to be declassified and released, especially the Venona Intercepts, even some of these supporters came to believe that Julius Rosenberg was indeed a Soviet spy. However, the information revealed in the declassified documents did not indicate that Ethel Rosenberg was deeply involved in espionage. Many historians have come to feel that while Ethel Rosenberg was aware of her husband's activities, she did not play a primary role in the espionage and that her activities did not rise to the level of the death penalty.
At the time of the trial a strong piece of evidence against Ethel Rosenberg was the testimony of her brother David Greenglass and his wife Ruth that she had typed up Greenglass' notes from Los Alamos. Julius Rosenberg later gave these notes to the Soviets. The prosecution claimed that the typing of the notes was evidence of her involvement in the espionage. In recent years David Greenglass has said his wife lied about Ethel typing his notes and that he also lied about the typed notes to prevent his wife from going to prison.
Undated
Atomic Spies: Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
An interactive database which "provides interesting [Central Intelligence] Agency insights on this post-WWII spy case. Documents cover, among many other topics, US intelligence activities, including FBI-CIA cooperation; USSR intelligence activities; the Rosenberg espionage network's collection against the US atomic energy program; their attempts to protect the network as US authorities closed in on it; their arrest; Soviet propaganda; the Soviet's protest of the Rosenberg's sentencing; and Moscow's reaction to the execution of their spies."
There are 102 documents in the database
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
http://www.foia.cia.gov/rosenberg.asp2001
Trial Testimony of Ethel Rosenberg
University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/ROS_TETH.HTM2001
Trial Testimony of Julius Rosenberg
University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/ROS_TJRO.HTM19 June 1953
Associated Press Story of the Rosenberg Executions
http://www.epals.com/20thcentury/53rosenbergs.tpl19 June 1953
Final Letter from the Rosenbergs to their Children
(Written on the day of their Execution)
University of Missouri-Kansas City School Of Law
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/ROS_LTR.HTM1953
Photograph
"Composite photograph of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, bust portraits, facing front"
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
http://lcweb4.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?ils:2:./temp/~pp_NydB::1953
Photograph
"Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, half-length portrait, she facing front with her hand holding his arm, he facing left, handcuffed"
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
http://lcweb4.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?ils:3:./temp/~pp_NydB::1951
Photograph
"Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, separated by heavy wire screen as they leave U.S. Court House after being found guilty by jury"
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
http://lcweb4.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?ils:5:./temp/~pp_NydB::27 November 1944
Venona Intercept No 1657
GIF Image of message sent from New York to Moscow
This message mentions "LIBERAL" (Julius Rosenberg) and LIBERAL's wife Ethel.
"Knows about her husband's work"
Department of History - University of San Diego
http://history.acusd.edu/gen/text/coldwar/27_Nov_1944_R1.GIFIrving Saypol
Irving Saypol was the Chief Prosecuting Attorney in the trial of the Rosenbergs and Morton Sobell. He was already well known as the successful Prosecutor of Alger Hiss and at the time of the Rosenberg trial he was the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Several months after the Rosenbergs and Sobell were found guilty, Saypol was appointed to the New York State Supreme Court. Saypol's assistant during the Rosenberg trial was Roy Cohn, who later appeared on the national stage as Senator Joseph McCarthy's assistant during the McCarthy hearings.
28 March 1951
Exerpts from Irving Saypol's Summation for the Prosecution in the trial of Ethel and Jullius Rosenberg and Morton Sobell.
University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/ROS_TSAY.HTMMorton Sobell
Along with Julius Rosenberg, Morton Sobell was also a City College graduate (Class of 1938, Electrical Engineering) and it was at City College that the two met. From early 1939 through October 1940 Sobell worked in Washington as an electrical engineer for the Navy's Bureau of Ordnance and later earned a Masters Degree and worked as an engineer for a number of commercial companies. He was also active in the Communist Party.
Early in the summer of 1950 Sobell told his then employer that he was going to take a few weeks off, but actually took his family to Mexico and unsuccessfully attempted to arrange passage to Europe. A few months later in August the Sobell family was taken by the Mexican authorities to the Mexican/United States border and turned over to the FBI. The FBI arrested Sobell and he was a codefendent at the Rosenbergs' trial where he received a sentence of 30 years. Sobell has always maintained that he was innocent of espionage and that he had fled to Mexico because he was afraid of being persecuted because of his membership in the Communist Party.
Undated
Short biography of Morton Sobell
University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/rosenb/ROS_BSOB.HTMUndated
CIA documents that mention Morton Sobell and the Sobell family
The CIA maintains an online Electronic Reading Room which includes a searchable database about the Rosenberg case. If you search using the name Sobell, you will find 22 documents, some of which are specifically about Morton Sobell and/or his family and some of which mention the Sobells only tangentially.
The Central Intelligence Agency
http://www.foia.cia.gov/rosenberg.asp27 February - 14 September 1977
Sobell on "Venona and the Rosenbergs"
A series of email messages between Morton Sobell and members of the H-DIPLO list servIn 1977, Morton Sobell, who had been released from prison in 1969, was a member of the H-DIPLO (History-Diplomacy) list serv and sent a posting to that list about the Venona intercepts. Mr. Sobell has always maintained his innocence and his email questioned the actions of the U.S. government both at the time of his arrest and trial and afterwards.
A series of postings by various list members followed along with several responses by Mr. Sobell. Both Mr. Sobell's original postings and the follow-up messages are included here.
http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~diplo/Sobell.htm1960
Photograph
Portrait of Morton Sobell
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
http://lcweb4.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?ils:3:./temp/~pp_Rvxc::Anatoli Yakovlev
Anatoli Yakovlev, (whose real name was Yatskov) was the Soviet Vice Consul in New York and oversaw Harry Gold's espionage activities, as well as those of Julius Rosenberg. Yakovlev was originally included in the indictment against the Rosenbergs, Morton Sobell and David Greenglass, but Yakovlev was in the United States on a Russian diplomatic passport and before the trial began Yakovlev was removed from the list of defendants.
Undated
CIA documents that mention Anatoli Yakovlev
The CIA maintains an online Electronic Reading Room which includes a searchable database about the Rosenberg case. If you search using the name Yakovlev, you will find 10 documents that relate to or mention Anatoli Yakovlev.
The Central Intelligence Agency
http://www.foia.cia.gov/rosenberg.aspGeneral Vassili Zubilin
General Vassili M. Zubilin became head, (known as the Resident), of the KGB's New York office in 1942 and in 1943 became the Resident at the Russian Embassy in Washington. General Zubilin's real name was Zarubin and his covername was MAXIM.
Go to: Table of ContentsGeneral Vassili Zubilin
gif Photo
National Security Agency
http://www.nsa.gov/docs/venona/monographs/zubilin.gif
Prepared by
Grace-Ellen McCrann
Chief, Government Documents Division
Cohen Library
The City College of New York
138th Street at Convent Avenue
New York, NY 10031
gemscot@yahoo.com
11 September 2003
Link to our Bibliography on D-Day 1944:
Government Views of D-Day 1944
http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/library/Divisions/Government/DDay.htmlLink to our Bibliography on Iraq:
Government Views of Iraq
http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/library/Divisions/Government/Iraqbib.htmlLink to our Bibliography on SARS:
Government Views of SARS
http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/library/Divisions/Government/SARS.html
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