A couple weeks ago we posted about the London exhibition "J’Accuse," by Nicole Farhi, that features sculptures of 25 victims of injustice (including Ethel Rosenberg). As a follow up, we've just learned and are sharing this article about Ethel Rosenberg biographer Anne Sebba's recent visit to the exhibition. Sebba's book, "Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy," inspired Farhi's inclusion of Ethel Rosenberg's sculpture in her collection.
On this day in 1951, just one week after Ethel and Julius Rosenberg's conviction, Judge Irving Kaufman issued the death sentence.
Anne Sebba writes in her biography, "Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy" that Kaufman consulted the prosecution and the U.S. government before their sentencing. While FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover argued against the death penalty, arguing for it was Roy Cohn, a prosecutor on the Rosenberg Case who later became a mentor and fixer to a young Donald Trump.
On this day in 1951 in a Manhattan courthouse, a jury found both Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, as well as their co-defendant Morten Sobell, guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage.
On this day in 1951 began the trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who were falsely accused of passing the "secret of the nuclear bomb" to the Soviet Union. Two years later the pair was unjustly executed.
Almost 100 years before in 1857, another important legal case with an appalling outcome occurred on the same day on March 6th. The Supreme Court released their wildly unjust decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, ruling "that Scott, an enslaved person, was not an American citizen and therefore could not sue for his freedom in Federal court."
Ali Abbasi's 2024 film "The Apprentice" tells the story of Roy Cohn—the prosecutor who helped send Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, wrongfully, to the electric chair in 1953—and his molding and mentoring of a young Donald Trump.
We are incredibly gratified to share that on February 10th, Mass. Congressman Jim McGovern made a speech on the House floor to share Ethel Rosenberg's story and issue an apology to the Rosenberg/Meeropol family. This was the first time a sitting politician in Washington has made a public admission of the tragedy of Ethel's execution, admonishing a government that would allow such an injustice. Her family was moved to tears by the gesture.
The PBS NewsHour plans to cover the effort to exonerate Ethel Rosenberg this weekend! RFC Founder and younger son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, Robert Meeropol, will discuss the "smoking gun" in his mother's case and what a formal apology from President Biden would mean to him and his family.
In light of powerful new evidence in the Rosenberg Case, we are calling on President Biden to exonerate Ethel Rosenberg in these final days before he leaves office on January 20th. To help:
1. Please sign and share the petition: https://www.rfc.org/ethel
2. Send an email to the Office of the Pardons Attorney to urge President Biden to act NOW (instructions & template at https://www.rfc.org/take-action-to-exonerate-ethel).
In case you missed the live interview this morning, the Democracy Now! segment is now available online! Watch Amy Goodman interview Ethel's younger son (& RFC Founder) Robert Meeropol and Congressman McGovern about why Ethel's execution was wrongful, and what President Biden can do about it before he leaves office: https://www.democracynow.org/2025/1/8/ethel_rosenberg_posthumous_pardon
We are so grateful to Congressman Jim McGovern for joining today and for his ongoing support of the effort
Sharing this excellent article by historian Phillip Deery, via our friends at The Nation Magazine, making the case for why President Biden should Exonerate Ethel Rosenberg: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/biden-ethel-rosenberg-pardon-…