Greenglass, witness in Rosenberg case, dead at 84

[kskiska]

Source: AP

NEW YORK (AP) — Ruth Greenglass, whose testimony in the sensational Rosenberg spy trial helped send her sister-in-law Ethel Rosenberg to the electric chair, has died. She was 84.

Greenglass had been living under an alias to avoid association with the Cold War case that led to the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1953.

Her death was revealed in court documents filed in late June. She died in New York on April 7, according to Social Security records.

Greenglass and her husband, David, were pivotal figures in the spy case. They confessed to being part of an effort to smuggle secrets to the Soviets, and turned in the Rosenbergs, their relatives, as the spies who recruited them to the task.

Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iSvqi03RdDfhdVCVU0libUXboMlAD91QKK101

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David Greenglass, Ethel's brother, lied to get a deal protecting his wife, Ruth, from prosecution, thereby sending his sister to the electric chair. Greenglass admitted as much in a 60 Minutes interview and has no regrets. Ruth was guilty of much more than Ethel, even meeting with Russian agents. There's an excellent book, "The Brother," about David Greenglass.

[sharp_stick]

1. What a horrible case that was

Ethel could have saved herself too but she wouldn't turn on Julius. They had a phone in front of her when she sat in the electric chair, all she had to do was tell them to pick it up and it would end.

I read they even broke tradition, executng the man first, so that she wouldn't feel as much of a betrayal if she talked.

That was one tough woman whatever you thought of the case.

[kskiska]

2. From NYT Obit

(snip)

It may never be determined who actually took that dictation. But in the late 1990s, Sam Roberts, a reporter for The New York Times, interviewed Mr. Greenglass for more than 50 hours while doing research for a book, “The Brother: The Untold Story of the Rosenberg Case” (Random House, 2003).

In the book, Mr. Roberts recounts how Mr. Greenglass acknowledged for the first time that he had lied on the stand and that he had no recollection that his sister had typed his notes.

“I frankly think my wife did the typing, but I don’t remember,” Mr. Greenglass told Mr. Roberts.

“You know, I seldom use the word ‘sister’ anymore; I’ve just wiped it out of my mind,” Mr. Greenglass continued, adding: “My wife put her in it. So what am I going to do, call my wife a liar? My wife is my wife.”

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/us/09greenglass.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=obituaries&adxnnlx=1215717136-W/8FJxwtEHb127cjLYE6Fw

I was just a kid when this trial was going on. I remember seeing pictures of the protesters on the news, and the pictures of their little boys being taken to see their parents at Sing Sing by their lawyer. Contrary to popular belief, the Rosenbergs were not executed for treason. The charge was "conspiracy to commit treason."

[trthnd4jstc]

11. If they executed te Rosenbergs for Conspiracy to Commit Treason, shouldn't

They execute the Democrats and Republicans who have currently sold our nation out to the rich of this nation. Could this level of inaction by our leaders during the worse economic crisis since the Great Depression be considered Treason?

[gratuitous]

3. Damn, do these nightmares ever really end?

Something for our intrepidly spineless elected representatives to ponder as they green-light the worst excesses of the corrupt Bush administration. Every time we betray our Constitution because some people are wetting themselves out of fright at some bogeyman, we regret it. Nobody comes out looking good, a lot of lives are ruined, and we spend decades recovering. Then we do it all over again, whether it's the trade unionists, the anarchists, the communists, the hippies or the terrorists. And it will be someone else come 2020 or 2030, and we'll merrily traipse down this primrose path once again.

[DesertFlower]

4. there's a documentary called

"heir to an execution" produced by the rosenberg's granddaughter, ivy meeropol.

it really made me think. i was just a kid when the trial took place.

http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/heir/

[kskiska]

5. The Rosenberg (Meeropol) boys wrote a book

"We Are Your Sons," about their lives following their parents' executions. No one in their family would take them in. Eventually, complete strangers (the songwriter who wrote "Strange Fruit") adopted them and brought them up as their parents would have wished. They've been activists all their lives, and now their children are involved in helping the children of others imprisoned for political or other reasons.

[DesertFlower]

6. thank you for that info.

i knew from the documentary that no one wanted to take the boys.

[Jefferson23]

12. Incredible, thanks for that info.

[xchrom]

7. what a nightmare that all was.

i can't really feel anything for ruth greenglass -- other than to say even the rosenberg children suffered because of those events.

[LostinVA]

8. What can you say about someone who murdered his own sister?

Knowing she was innocent, and who orphaning his two young nephews?

[Fluffdaddy]

9. David Greenglass later admitted that he had falsely implicated Ethel Rosenberg

David Greenglass (also a spy) later admitted that he had falsely implicated Ethel Rosenberg to protet his wife:

"After his release in 1960, the Greenglasses lived in New York City under an assumed name. In 1996, Greenglass recanted his sworn testimony in an interview with New York Times reporter Sam Roberts, claiming that he had lied under oath about the extent of his sister Ethel's involvement in the plot in order to protect his wife, Ruth. At the trial, Greenglass had testified that Ethel Rosenberg typed his notes to give to the Russians, though he now intimated that it had been Ruth who did the typing. Greenglass explained, "Look, I had a wife and two children. I didn’t care so much what happened to me, but I cared what happened to them.” When Roberts asked Greenglass if he would have done anything differently, he replied, "Never".

[LostinVA]

10. I know -- I read Roberts' book

He could have implicated himself while protecting his family AND his sister and nephews. What a bad time that was.

[suston96]

13. Add this guy to that group.....He never served a day in jail......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Alvin_Hall

And this: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800E7DE103AF933A25752C1A96F958260

The reason he was never prosecuted was because the Americans had broken the Soviet code and a prosecution for espionage would have publicized the breakthrough.

He gave - repeat - gave for free - everything he worked on at Los Alamos to the Soviets because, he says, he did not want an American monopoly on nuclear weaponry.

I watched a two hour documentary on him recently.