Julius Rosenberg

American engineer and spy

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July 13, 2026

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The Rosenbergs Julius and Ethel Rosenberg during their 1951 trial for espionage.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were American citizens convicted of espionage for providing U.S. military and nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. Julius, an engineer for the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and Ethel, a member of the Communist Party, were implicated by Ethel's brother, David Greenglass, who worked on the Manhattan Project. Greenglass testified that he provided nuclear weapon information, which the Rosenbergs passed to a Soviet courier. Roy Cohn, a prosecutor, played a key role in securing their convictions. Despite appeals, they were executed in 1953, becoming the first American civilians to receive the death penalty during peacetime.12

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Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg
When she married Julius Rosenberg in 1939, the year he earned a degree in electrical engineering, the two were already active members of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA). In the following year Julius obtained a job as a civilian engineer with the U.S.…
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When she married Julius Rosenberg in 1939, the year he earned a degree in electrical engineering, the two were already active members of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA). In the following year Julius obtained a job as a civilian engineer with the U.S.…
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Irving Robert Kaufman
…over the celebrated case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1951 and sentenced them to death in the electric chair after finding them guilty of having conspired to deliver atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union; they were the first American civilians to be put to death for espionage in…
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…over the celebrated case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1951 and sentenced them to death in the electric chair after finding them guilty of having conspired to deliver atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union; they were the first American civilians to be put to death for espionage in…
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United States
The Red Scare
…secrets, for which Soviet agent Julius Rosenberg and his wife Ethel were convicted in 1951 and executed two years later. Republicans had much to gain from exploiting these and related issues.
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…secrets, for which Soviet agent Julius Rosenberg and his wife Ethel were convicted in 1951 and executed two years later. Republicans had much to gain from exploiting these and related issues.
Read More