JULIUS ROSENBERG, A HERO: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THE ROSENBERGS ON ANOTHER ANNIVERSARY OF THEIR EXECUTION

June 18 marks another anniversary of the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1953. There is not doubt about the absolute innocence of Ethel, even more so since the release in 2015 of the secret files of David Greenglass’ Grand Jury testimony. J Edgar Hoover was keen on using the threat of the execution of Ethel who had no involvement at all and knew nothing (at least there is no proof that she did) of what was happening in order to pressure Julius into signing a “confession” regardless of whether it was true or false. But the questions and doubts and the center of controversy revolve around what Julius did and did not do. One thing is for sure, if Julius had told everything that really happened (regardless of what that was), he would not have received a fair trial, which would have been impossible in the atmosphere of the height of McCarthyism and the height of the Korean War. I once had a rather heated discussion with someone who passionately condemned Julius Rosenberg and by implication was not in disagreement with his execution who didn’t even know that he allegedly passed information on to the Soviet Union at a time when that country was a major ally of the U.S. Undoubtedly most people at the time of the trial were equally ignorant. Has anyone called for the execution of U.S. spies who passed secret military information on to Israel?

But let us suppose for one moment that Julius Rosenberg was guilty of everything that the U.S. government claimed. And let us look, not at the ethical aspect from the point of view that he acted against the interests of his country. After all, Rosenberg was a Marxist with a perspective of internationalism as opposed to patriotism. And let’s look at the impact Rosenberg’s supposed actions had in succeeding years. What would have happened during the Cold War had the Soviet Union not developed the atomic bomb in 1949? We know on the basis of hard proof that the U.S. considered using or threatening the use of nuclear weapons at least a dozen times in the course of the Cold War. Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense under Kennedy and Johnson documented ten or so such incidents. We know that General Douglas MacArthur advocated a strategy along those lines during the Korean War, and Air Force Chief of Staff Curtis LeMay favored bombing Cuba during the Missile Crisis of 1962. And now Daniel Ellsberg is about to release secrete documents that demonstrate that the Eisenhower administration including top generals were considering resorting to the use of, or threat of using, nuclear weapons against China in the controversy over Quemoy and Matsu in 1958. Ellsberg and others allege that Nixon was seriously considering the same strategy during the Vietnam War which is why he masterminded the break-in of the office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist. What would have happened if the Soviet Union did not have a deterrent capacity in the form of their own nuclear arsenal? After all, the United States was and is the only nation on earth that has used nuclear weapons in war. From this perspective, Julius Rosenberg has to be considered a hero, no matter what way you look at it.