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In the 1950’s, the Soviet Union gained information on the atomic bomb with the help of two Americans. The couple, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, suffered greatly for their crime. The Rosenbergs, having committed a crime of espionage on the US, had a large impact on not only the nation, but the world. This was due to their historical execution.
Julius Rosenberg was born on May 12, 1918, in New York City (Petersen 1). Julius grew up in poverty on the lower east side of New York. He was the youngest of five children, and was very studious and religious. Julius was aiming at rabbinical studies and attended Downtown Talmud Torah (Frost 92). Later, he studied at Steward Park High School; he graduated from high school at the age of 16. He then went onto City College to major in electrical engineering in 1934. When at college, he became interested in radical political ideas. He joined a branch of the Young Communists League—the Steinmetz Club. In 1940, Julius was hired as a civilian engineer for the United States Army Signal Corps (Petersen 1).
Ethel Greenglass was born on September 28, 1915. She was also raised on the lower east side. She attended the same schools as Julius. Ethel graduated high school at the age of 15. Soon after, she landed a job as a clerk at a shipping company. She became interested in the Young Communists League, similar to Julius. However, Ethel loved to sing and aspired to be a professional entertainer. She was singing at a New Year’s Eve benefit when the couple met (Petersen 1).
Around 1943, a Russian KGB officer by the name of Aleksandr Feklisov asked Julius to work as a spy for the communist government of the Soviet Union (Petersen 1). Julius agreed to spy and recruit others. “Over the n...
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...zed a campaign to save the Rosenbergs. The couple received the support of liberals and religious leaders around the world (“Rosenberg Case” 1).
The Rosenbergs’ poor decision to spy for the soviets did eventually come back to haunt them. The United States had no mercy upon the Rosenbergs and their punishment became world renowned. Their execution had an affect on many individuals, even to this day.
Works Cited
Frost, Bob. “The Debate That Won’t Die.” Biography 2.2 (1998): 92 MasterFILE Premier. Web. 27 Jan. 2014.
Petersen, Jennifer B. “Julius and Ethel Rosenberg” Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (2005): 1 MasterFILE Premier. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
“Rosenberg Case” Columbia Electronic Encyclopaedia, 6th Edition, (2013): 1 MasterFILE Premier. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
Simkin, John. “Rosenberg Trial” Rosenberg Trial. Spartacus Educational, (2013): Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
A young scientist who was very smart and intelligent was the creator of a bomb that killed millions. The bomb was the most powerful weapon that was ever manufactured. He changed the course of World War II. This man is Robert Oppenheimer, creator of the atomic bomb. The book “Bomb” by Steve Sheinkin, is a book that includes teamwork and how Americans made a deadly bomb that changed the course of the war. The book engages the reader through how spies share secret information with enemies. Because the physicists were specifically told not to share any information, they were not justified in supplying the Soviet Union with the bomb technology.
In today’s society, many countries and even citizens of the United States question the U.S. government’s decision to get involved in nuclear warfare. These people deemed it unnecessary and stated that the U.S. is a hypocrite that preaches peace, but causes destruction and death. Before and during World War II the U.S. was presented with a difficult decision on whether or not to develop and use the atomic bomb. The U.S. decided to develop the atomic bomb based on the fear they had for the safety of the nation. In August 1939 nuclear physicists sent manuscripts to Albert Einstein in fear the Germany might use the new knowledge of fission on the uranium nucleus as way to construct weapons.
Imagine working with radioactive materials in a secret camp, and the government not telling you that this material is harmful to your body. In the book Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters by Kate Brown, she takes her readers on a journey to expose what happened in the first two cities that started producing plutonium. Brown is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She has won a handful of prizes, such as the American Historical Association’s George Louis Beer Prize for the Best Book in International European History, and was also a 2009 Guggenheim Fellow. Brown wrote this book by looking through hundreds of archives and interviews with people, the evidence she found brought light to how this important history of the Cold War left a nuclear imprint on the world today.
middle of paper ... ... Works Cited “About Simon Wiesenthal.” – Simon Wiesenthal Center. N.p., n.d. Web.
The atomic bomb created under the Manhattan Project set a new level of psychological panic. It influence media, government, and daily lives of those all around the world. The media was covering stories about protection from a nuclear attack and the government was right next to the reporters helping to further the creation of fear with their messages about preparation.
To illustrate the ideas this essay proposes, it will first give a clear and factual overview of the Rosenberg Case. It all began even before the Rosenbergs came into the picture, namely with the arrest and confession of soviet spy Klaus Fuchs in 1950. This namely led to the investigation of his courier, Harry Gold, and then David Greenglass, Ethel Rosenberg's brother. Greenglass cooperated and named Julius Rosenberg as a fellow spy, claiming that he provided Julius with documents from the Los Alamos lab where atomic bombs were fab...
As World War 2, came to a close, The United States unleashed a secret atomic weapon upon the enemy nation of Japan that was quickly recognized as the most powerful wartime weapon in human history. They completely destroyed the entire Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and essentially vaporized countless innocent Japanese lives. Some historians believe that it was a foolish, brutal decision to use the atomic bomb on a weakened Japan, and that the civilians of the country did not deserve that kind of mass-annihilation. On the opposite side, other historians assert that dropping the bomb saved countless American and Japanese lives by ending the war faster than a regular invasion would have. What is undisputed is that this sad event dramatically changed the course of human history.
They held the belief that the Rosenbergs were, "hopeless victims of cold war hysteria, singled out because of their political views, and perhaps also because of their Jewishness." U.S. Ambassador Douglass Dillion said, "Nothing could be better calculated than this claim to convince waverers that the Rosenbergs, if executed, will be victims of what the Europeans freely term McCarthyism." Harold Urey, a world-renowned scientist, said: "Now that I can see what goes on in Judge Kaufman's courtroom, I believe that the Rosenbergs are innocent. What appalls me most is the role that the press are playing. The judge's bias is so obvious. I keep looking over at the newspapermen and there is not a flicker of indignation or concern.. " Albert Einstein wrote to President Truman: "My conscience compels me to urge you to commute the death sentence of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.this appeal to you was prompted by the same reasons which were set forth so convincingly by my colleague Harold C. Urey in his letter."
When President Truman authorized the use of two nuclear weapons in 1945 against the Japanese in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II, the nature of international security was changed irreversibly. At that time, the United States had what was said to have a monopoly of atomic bombs. Soon thereafter, the Soviet Union began working on atomic weaponry. In 1949, it had already detonated it first atomic bomb and tensions began to heat up between the two countries. With the information that the Soviets had tested their first bomb, the United States began work on more powerful weapons1, and a fight for nuclear superiority had begun.
The development of the atomic bomb and chemical warfare forever changed the way people saw the world. It was a landmark in time for which there was no turning back. The constant balancing of the nuclear super powers kept the whole of humankind on the brink of atomic Armageddon. Fear of nuclear winter and the uncertainty of radiation created its own form of a cultural epidemic in the United States. During these tense times in human history officials made controversial decisions such as the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Dangerous biological experiments and bombs tests were carried out in the name of the greater good and national defense. Some historians and scientists argue that the decisions and acts carried out by the U.S. during World War II and the Cold War were unethical because of the direct damage they did. The United States' decisions were moral because it can be proven their actions were aimed at achieving a greater good and those that were put in potential danger volunteered and were informed of the risk.
Throughout the years most country's governments have established some sort of secret police. No matter what the government called it, whether it is the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or her Majesty's secret service (MI6), whatever name the government used, the international term of "secret police" could always be applied. Many agencies of secret police have had their success and failures, some more than others. The KGB, which in English means "the Committee of Public Safety," has had their share of both successes and failures. Most secret police agencies have been used primarily to obtain information from other countries. This was also a primary goal for the KGB, but one of their other goals, which was just as important, was to keep unwanted outside information from the Russian people. This was only one out of many the KGB's objectives. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to prove that the actions of the KGB were, all in all, a success.
Among the spies of the 20th century, Kim Philby was a master of his craft. “To betray, you must first belong,” Kim Philby once said. Philby betrayed his colleagues, his friends, his wives, and most of all his country. He did all this in the secret service of the Soviet Union. The effects of this master spy’s operations set the stage for post-World War II in Europe.
This was very concerning to the United States because many government officials believed that the Russians would not have this ability this fast. The government started an extensive hunt into how the Russians had acquired this knowledge. Their investigation broke open when the Army Signal Corps broke the Russians code for sending messages. Rosenberg’s ties were discovered during this investigation. David Greenglass was the first to be arrested for espionage. He then told authorities about Julius and Ethel Rosenberg recruiting him. This lead to Julius and Ethel being indicted on August 11th, 1950 along with Morton Sobell a friend of Julius’s from his college and Communist party days. All were being accused of being spies for the Russians. The Rosenberg’s vigorously protested their innocence, but after a brief trial that began on March 6, 1951, and attracted much media attention, the couple was convicted. On April 5, 1951, a judge sentenced them to death. After their trail and conviction the Rosenbergs asked President Eisenhower for clemency. They were ultimately denied. President Eisenhower issued a statement saying, “I can only say that, by immeasurably increasing the chances of atomic war, the Rosenbergs may have condemned to death tens of millions of innocent people all over the world. The execution of two human beings is a
To make certain themselves of an endless supply of "traitors” the NKVD interrogators concentrated on two questions: "Who recruited you?" and "Who did you recruit?" The "confessions" often doomed casual associates, friends, and even family. “Even at a time when the threat of war in Europe was rising, much of the military leadership - the only remaining base of potential opposition - was executed. It was at this point that Stalin's method began to show definite signs of madness.”(
Richard Sorge also known as Stalin’s Spy, was an extreme professional when it came to espionage. He was born on October 4th 1895 in Russia, his father was a German engineer. When his father took a leap in his career, they moved to Germany. Sorge was only a few years old. In 1914, Richard enlisted in the German army, and was wounded; he had shattered his legs which led to him having a lifelong limp. Four years later he earned his PhD and joined the German Communist Party. In 1924 he left Germany to return to Russia. There he joined the Communist International Party, working with other foreign parties. He soon began work as a Military Intelligence Officer that started his permanent career of espionage. Being an Intelligence Officer, he had access to secret information, which sparked his interest. This interest led him to China and Japan where he would have his biggest assignments.