Final Verdict: What Really Happened in the Rosenberg Case

by Walter Schneir, Miriam Schneir (Introduction)

 
A new narrative of the famed case that finally solves its remaining mysteries, by the author of the bestselling Invitation to an Inquest

Walter and Miriam Schneir’s 1965 bestseller Invitation to an Inquest was among the first critical accounts of the controversial case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, famously executed in 1953 for passing atom bomb secrets to Soviet Russia. In Invitation the Schneirs presented exhaustive and damning evidence that key witnesses in the trial had changed their stories after coaching from prosecutors, and that the FBI had forged evidence.  The conclusion was The Rosenbergs were innocent.
 
But were they?
 
Thirty years after the publication of Inquest , Walter Schneir was back on the case after bits and pieces of new evidence started coming to light, much of it connecting Julius Rosenberg to Soviet espionage. Over more than a decade, Schneir continued his search for the truth, meeting with former intelligence officials in Moscow and Prague, and cross checking details recorded in thousands of government documents.
 
The result is an entirely new narrative of the Rosenberg case. The reality, Schneir demonstrates, is that Rosenbergs ended up hopelessly prosecuted for atomic espionage they didn’t commit—but unable to admit earlier espionage activities during World War II.
 
As it happened, Julius Rosenberg was only marginally involved in the atomic spy ring he was depicted as leading—while Ethel, critically, was not at all involved. The two lied when the contended they knew nothing about espionage. Ethel knew about it and Julius had practiced it, but the government’s contention that they had stolen the “secret” of the atom bomb was critically and fatally flawed.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, True Crime, Politics, Espionage, American History

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Jewis-American investigative writer.

Schneir wrote two books on the case about the Rosenburgs together with his wife.

In his books he doubted the guilt of the Rosenburgs and also claimed the Rosenburgs wern't the ones who leaked the secrets to the Soviet Union.

Reviews

[Lisa Nemchek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, meticulously researched

Interesting, clear, and believable account of the Rosenberg trial. I enjoyed it. Corrupt government then, corrupt government now. A shameful incident in our history

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is more nuanced then I thought. It claims that Julius was a communist spy but not the one behind the sharing of information about the atomic bomb and Ethel was innocent and that the real culprit was David Greenglass. The one who ratted them out. Greenglass was later released from prison.

Julius was a soviet spy, but not a good one and the Soviets seized working with him when he was fired from the army for being a member of the Communist Party. It says something about the amateurishness of the Soviet Union for recruiting spies from the Communist party.

According the authors the Rosenbergs only were executed for refusing to give a confession and refusing the rat out fellow communists.

[Karla Keffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a good place to start if you know little or nothing about the Rosenberg case, but if you've read Walter and Miriam Schneir's "An Invitation to an Inquest" and/or Sam Roberts' "The Brother" (about David Greenglass, Ethel Rosenberg's brother, whose false testimony condemned her to die in the electric chair), this is a fine follow-up.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

ONE OF THE ROSENBERGS' DEFENDERS NOW CONCLUDES THEY WERE GUILTY

Walter Schneir (1927-2009) and his wife Miriam wrote an earlier book, 'Invitation to an Inquest,' defending the Rosenbergs. Miriam wrote in the Preface to this 2010 book, "For fifty years, my husband and colleague Walter Schneir remained a dedicated student of the Rosenberg case... In his last years he was at work on what he called a 'political memoir.' It was to be the story of his life, but also of the Rosenberg case, for the two were inextricably intertwined. Chapters from that unfinished memoir form the heart of the present volume... Walter regarded it as a writer's duty to pursue the truth... At the end, he was satisfied that he had reached his goal; that he finally knew what had really happened---and why."

A significant factor in him changing his mind about the Rosenbergs' guilt, is that in the post-Cold War era, "aging KGB stalwarts were eager to tell the world about their espionage feats." (Pg. 40) Documents were released, as well, and "when Walter and I read the pertinent Verona cables, it was immediately evident to us that Julius Rosenberg... had worked as a spy for the Soviet Union... (the data) left no room for doubt that Julius had persuaded friends and political comrades to give technical data from their jobs to the Russians." (Pg. 46)

Concerning their later trial, they wrote, "The charge in the Rosenberg trial was conspiracy to commit espionage; the defendants were all alleged to have been participants in a scheme aimed at obtaining national defense information for the benefit of the Soviet Union. That was certainly true of Julius." (Pg. 86) They assert that the intent of the prosecution was "to convict both Rosenbergs, by any means necessary, and obtain severe sentences in the hope that the threat to Ethel would cause Julius to break." (Pg. 147)

They suggest that "Of course they lied and lied when they contended that they knew nothing about espionage. Ethel knew about it and Julius had practiced it. But they were aware that at their trial a monstrous web of lies had been spun about them, so perhaps they regarded their prevarications as petty by comparison and entirely defensible." (Pg. 155)

This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the Rosenberg trial, or the anti-communism era in general.

[Claudia Majetich · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to get a bit of info about why the Rosenbergs were or were not considered to be Soviet spies. This gives me the basics of the case....a little too much detail, a little too argumentative, but helpful.

[Tracy Backer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew a little about the Rosenberg case, but this book, even though it's not very long, provides so much information about the trial and the evidence (or lack of it). It's also frightening that such flimsy evidence led to the executions Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

[Melissa Killian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this while researching for my novel and found it very interesting. I didn't know all of the details of the case and now I understand it better.

[Mephistia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched and well written. I knew nothing about the Rosenberg Case going into the book, but I felt the author laid out the case, the decades of subsequent research, and his ultimate conclusion quite well. Through the course of the reading, I developed a strong sense of respect for the scholarly honesty with which Schneir followed the research and sources, even when they contradicted the information he hoped to find. I have a lot of respect for him as an author, researcher, and academic because he apparently came out and contradicted his statements in formerly published works with the new information found. It was clear he struggling with the contradicting information, but he laid it out bare and let the reader assess not only his research methods and source validity, but his own conclusions.

It's an excellent read for anyone with an interest in the history of espionage, the Cold War, and the beginnings of the CIA. A recent newspaper article I read also mentioned that the original charter for the NSA was drafted in the time frame the Rosenberg case was occurring, which brings up interesting parallels in terms of secret evidence and trumped up charges.

[Marc Lichtman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julious Rosenburg and his brother-in-law David Greenglass had been spying for the Soviet Union during the second world war, when it was an ally. The US government probably knew about it and let it go. There was no "secret of the atom bomb" to steal. What they got was minor intelligence. Ethel Rosenburg was not involved, although she certainly knew about it. But when David Greenglass (who later admitted as much) turned state's evidence to save himself, he implicated his sister Ethel Rosenburg, since it would be inconvenient to have her around. My party. the Socialist Workers Party did not advocate spying, but the case had become part of the fight against McCarthyism, a fascist movement aimed against the labor movement. Albert Einstein and many others protested against the execution. On McCarthyism, See Notebook of an Agitator: From the Wobblies to the Fight against the Korean War and McCarthyism.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

The verdict is far from final. There is no clear narrative in this book; no straight story I could follow; only a mish-mash of dates and names and the author's reflections and observations about his own work. Most troubling was that it seemed Schneir was writing more to vindicate his changing positions on the Rosenbergs than to vindicate the Rosenbergs themselves.

[Amy Clifton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in two sittings. I have followed this case since the 1960's when I read Invitation to an Inquest, by the same authors. I am guessing this book would not be satisfying for a person who is unfamiliar with the Rosenberg case. However for me it was a necessary read and did put some closure on the case.