Rosenbergs Sentenced
Husband and wife Julius and Ethel Rosenberg of New York City, convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage on March 29, 1951, were sentenced to death by Judge Irving R. Kaufman on April 5, 1951, for passing U.S. atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union, enabling the Soviets to detonate their first nuclear weapon in 1949. Although the couple consistently claimed to be innocent, a jury of 11 men and one woman found them guilty on March 30 on the evidence provided by key government witness David Greenglass, Ethel Rosenberg’s brother. The Rosenbergs were electrocuted on June 19, 1953, leaving behind two young sons.
Photo: National Archives
