Learn about the case -- historical background and documents

Historical Documents

Emanuel Bloch, closing argument for the defense, March 28, 1951

Irving Saypol, closing argument for the government, March 28, 1951

Judge Irving Kaufman, charge to the jury, March 28, 1951

Judge Irving Kaufman, sentencing of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, April 5, 1951

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, decision on the defendants' appeal of their convictions, February 25, 1952

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, decision on the defendants' motion to have their sentences overturned, December 10, 1952

Supreme Court of the United States, opinions regarding stay granted by Justice Douglas, July 16, 1953

Federal statutes regarding espionage

President Dwight Eisenhower, statement regarding executive clemency, February 11, 1953

Intercepted Soviet intelligence cable regarding Ethel Rosenberg, November 27, 1944

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, prison correspondence, 1951

Ethel Rosenberg, letter to President Dwight Eisenhower, June 16, 1953

Letters to Justice William Douglas regarding the stay of execution, June 1953

U.S. Representative Elijah Forrester, remarks on Rosenberg protests, June 19, 1953

Los Angeles Times, editorials regarding Rosenberg executions, January 15 and June 20, 1953