Can The Rosenberg Case Be Reopened? (Part One)

Produced in 1975. Begins with a historical review narrated by Sally Kemp & Paul Jenkins; followed by Lee Grant's description of the Feb. 2, 1975 Santa Monica Civic Auditorium "Rally To Reopen The Rosenberg Case," where 3,000 spectators, plus 26 performers, including Henry Fonda, Martin Sheen, & Roscoe Lee Browne, were teargas bombed by US Nazis; Robert Carl Cohen interviews attorneys Ben Margolis, Luke McKissack, & Michael Meeropol, one of the Rosenbergs' sons, regarding the legal & political possibilities of reopening the infamous case.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Rosenbergs
• Espionage
• Margolis
• McKissack
• Greenglass
• A-Bomb
• Subversion
• Communism
• Spies
• USSR
• Lee-Grant
• Roscoe-Lee-Browne

[radicalfilms]

The Dept. of Justice's continued refusal to open the FBI's file on the Rosenberg Case, what with the USSR no longer in existence, leads one to question the integrity of the prosecution's case.

[zephyrfalcon1966]

correct me if I am wrong please, but wasn't there something about david greenglass openly admitting after the executions that he sacrificed his sister and brother in law to save his wife, and that he would do it again?

[radicalfilms]

@zephyrfalcon1966 That is essentially what Greenglass said when he was interviewed on 60 MInutes in 2001.

[radicalfilms]

The contradiction remains: which law was applicable, the Espionage Act of 1917, which did not provide for the death penalty, or the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, which did, but required a separate trial with a jury. Judge Kaufman's issuance of the death penalty appears to have confused the penalty provisions of both laws. Justice Black's issuance of a stay until the matter could be resolved by a lower court was over-ridden by Chief Justice Clark's unprecedented reconvening of the Court.

[JPPT1974]

Greenglass gave his only interview to 60 Minutes in 2001, and says he has no remorse about sending his sister Ethel, along with her husband Julius, to the chair. And he was only saving his own skin, as well as his wife's. Julius seemed to be more involved and should had been sent to the chair. But Ethel, was made to be a scapegoat. As her involvement has been questioned for years and always will be. But Greenglass perjured himself. That secret he will take to his grave tragically.

[DarkQuietWyattON]

The issue for me is not if they were guilty, clearly with the fall of the Soviet Union documents have come to light that show they were. The issue is why THEY were executed and Greenglass and Sobell were not. I don't think the case needs re-opened. We know they were guilty from the records the Soviets kept but we need to examine why 2 people (one was a mother) were executed and 2 others were not. I believe the Soviets identified Rosenberg as the ringleader but I could be wrong.

[edgeacebeaglebrady]

That's the whole point. The Rosenbergs NEVER GOT a fair trial. Case needs to be reopened.

[silver21662]

on beria's orders, the russians copied the Fat-Man design as it was a gurantee that it would work, even though a purely russian design was built along side Joe-1, and when tested as Joe-2, produced 38kt with half the weight and buld of Joe-1/ Fat-Man, so russia wasnt as far behind as the U/S thought. a scientist called theodore(ted) hall passed secrets to the russians, but he was never prosecuted. ask why?

[silver21662]

if you know your atomic history, you know that russia had an atomic bomb program at the start of the war, or at least until the german invasion of russia, and as such, had to dismantle it quickly. stalin knew about manhattan before truman did. as edward teller once remarked, the laws of physics operates on both sides of the atlantic. what, or if any, information the rosenbergs passed to the soviets would have made little difference

[radicalfilms]

Sobell's confession of having spied for the USSR, an ally of the USA during WWII, fails to justify the Rosenberg's being given the death penalty. It was the testimony by Greenglass, a scientifically inept, and now self-admitted perjurer, that brought the Rosenberg's prosecution under the Atomic Energy Act & the death penalty. The entirety of the FBI's interrogation files of Greenglass, which initiated the case, should be made public in order to dispell the suspicion he was prompted.