Red Scare project

Est. 2013

The Issue Monday, November 25, 2013

Volume 1, Issue 1

! n o i t i d E l a i c e Sp A decade of despair: 50s plagued by looming threat of communism

Rosenbergs executed for alleged espionage Thousands fear growing anticommunist movement

Features

Monday, November 25, 2013 • page 2

Julias,Ethel Rosenb Julius and Ethel Rosenberg charged with espionage; Katy Canada Indictment

research ad manufacture of the atomic bomb.”

Emanel Bloch, the defense counsel, said, “This case will be bitterly fought right down the line.” He also said that since their arrest, the Rosenbergs have suffered a tremendous financial loss because they were forced to liquidate a machinery company that the family operated.

Referring to the previous cases of Harry Gold and David

Julius Rosenberg and his wife Ethel pled not guilty on Aug. 24, 1950 to charges that they had plotted to share secrets of the atomic bomb with the Soviet Union, according to the New York Times summary of what happened. They also reported that Federal Judge T. Hoyt Davis issued a warrant for the arrest of Anatoli H. Yakovlev, a former Russian vice consul residing in New York. Yakovlev has also been indicted with the Rosenbergs for the conspiracy to commit espionage.

“I remember when it happened,” said Aaron Riems, “It was a really big deal at the time. I know there were a lot of protests around the time of the trial. People began to see how unfair it was.”

The Rosenbergs were accused of being part of the Klaus Fuchs atom spy ring. The Washington Post reported that the Rosenbergs denied the assertion that they tried to recruit Ethel Rosenberg’s brother, David Greenglass, as a source of information to turn over to Harry Gold, another Soviet spy. Greenglass, who was stationed at Los Alamos Atom-Bomb Center in 1945 as an army specialist.

The Washington Post also said that Federal ages oogle im esy of G rt eir u Judge T. Hoyt Davis set bail at a nonnegotiable h o t c Photo iting a w a , $100,000. United States Attorney Irving H. g sit senber as Ro 54.

Saypol asked the Judge to hold the Rosenbergs li u J and 9, 19 without bail, arguing that the Rosenbergs have Ethel ion on June 1 Greenglass, t u c been charged “with conspiring with others dur- exe both of whom plead guilty to ing a time of war to transmit to the Soviet Union charges of spying for Russia, Bloch said, “This information concerning the national defense is not a Gold or Greenglass with whom they are of this country.” Saypol also said that the case dealing.” involved “material emanating from the atomic When Bloch attempted to lower bail, Saypol energy project at Los Alamos, information con- argued that the Rosenbergs had recently given cerning the personnel and technical process in $5,000 to another defendant. It was later discov-

ered that this money went to Greenglass, and a reduction of bail was denied.

“It was all around that brother of hers,” said Riems, “I can remember thinking that it was all his fault.”

The New York Times wrote that “a request for the government to supply copies of the documents that the Rosenbergs are charged with sharing with the Soviet Union is greatly opposed by the prosecutor.”

Saypol said in court, “It seems that nothing less would satisfy the defense than that the government furnish the complete details of the construction of the atomic bomb or perhaps turn over to

September 25.

Conviction

The Rosenbergs were convicted of wartime espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union on Thursday, March 29, 1951. According to The New York Times. “The maximum punishment that they will receive is the death penalty. The Jury made no recommendation for leniency when the time comes for sentencing. The sentence will be made at 10:30 a.m. on April 5.”

Another man who was convicted along with the Rosenbergs was Morton Sobell, 34, an expert on electronics. Greenglass, who had been convicted previously, was set to be sentenced at the same time. The New York Times wrote that “Greenglass, a brother of Ethel Rosenberg, was an important government witness against both Ethel and Julius.” He confessed to taking part in the spy plot.

“Like I said before,” said Riems, “It was all her brother. I don’t even think he punished for it, or at least not like they did.”

The fifth defendant in this case, Anatoli Yakovlev left New York with his family on Dec. 27, 1946 and was considered to be a fugitive and was not indicted at the time.

It was reported by the New York Times, that Judge Irving Kaufman, the man presiding over the case, “has yet to Ethel decide what sentencing is appropriate.” a n dJ befor e the ulias Ros Gold, a witness against the Rosenbergs P h ir exe e o cutio nberg em to courtesy o and Sobel who plead previously guilty in ns. brace f Goo gle im for th their counsel e last ages the same case of wartime espionage, received time a 30-year sentence. those details.”

During the conviction of these three deIt was reported in the New York Times that during the indictment, they seemed fendants, Harold H. Axley, the seventh juror, oblivious to the court proceedings, whispering was the only juror who was not convinced of to each other and holding hands the entire time. the guilt of one out of the three defendants. He The Rosenberg’s trial date was then set for refused to discuss the case following the convic-

Features

Monday, November 25, 2013 • page 3

erg trials: A history convicted, sentenced to death in electric chair tion, but he did not deny that he had qualms.

A rumor has circulated that one of the jurors wasn’t convinced of Sobell’s guilt before reaching the final verdict. This individual was not identified.

Emmanuel Bloch, the Rosenberg’s attorney, said in a press conference, “Despite the verdict, Mr. and Mrs. Rosenberg have authorized me to say that they are innocent of the crime of which they convicted. They will appeal to the highest courts of this land, and they always will maintain their innocence. I think they thought that in this political climate, it was almost impossible to overcome a charge of this kind.”

All three defendants planned to appeal the conviction after sentencing. Harold M. Phillips, the attorney who helped Edward Kuntz defend Sobell, said “Our client will carry his fight to the highest court, confident that his innocence will be established and that justice will be done.”

After the conviction, Kaufman thanked the jury for its verdict. “You have my deepest gratitude for the conscientious and industrious way in which you went about deliberating in this case. My own opinion is that your verdict is a correct verdict, and what I was particularly pleased about what the time which you took to deliberate in this case.”

Kaufman then went on to thank the defense attorneys for “demeaning themselves as attorneys should.”

“They just wanted to make an example of them,” said Riems, “They thought that other people wouldn’t step out of line because they didn’t want to end up like the Rosenbergs. Instead it just made people a lot angrier over the whole situation.”

years in prison. Kaufman found Sobell was less guilty than the Rosenbergs.

The provisions outlined in the Espionage Act, which were enacted in 1917 provide a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment for a conviction of peacetime espionage and a maximum of capital punishment for no more than 30 years for wartime espionage.

Kaufman said that the law did not take into account significant events like the atomic bomb, stating, “It is time for congress to examine the penal provisions of this act. This is a dirty business–betrayal of one’s own country.”

He went on to say that the repercussions from the Rosenberg’s actions altered the course of history and, ultimately, led to the Korean War. The death penalty, Judge Kaufman said, is meant to “demonstrate with finality that this Nation’s security must remain inviolate–that traffic in military secrets, whether promoted by slavish devotion to a foreign ideology or by a desire for monetary gains, must cease.”

The Rosenbergs were sentenced to be executed by electric chair in during the week of May

21 in the state of New York. The Rosenbergs planned to appeal their case to delay their case at least a month, if not infinitively.

Execution According to the New York Times, The Rosenbergs received the death penalty on June 19, 1953. The pair was executed in the electric chair for wartime espionage at Sing Sing Prison.

The Rosenbergs were the first to receive capitol punishment for this crime and the first to be executed at this venue.

“It was brutal,” said Riems, “That electric chair was no fun.”

Julius, 35, was the first to receive the penalty. He entered the chamber following Rabbi Irving Koslowe, the chaplain at Sing Sing Prison. He read the Twenty-third Psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Julius died after three jolts, two minutes and 45 seconds.

After the removal of her husband’s body, Ethel Rosenberg entered the death chamber.

Sentencing The Rosenbergs, were sentenced to capitol punishment on April 5, 1951, according to the Christian Science Monitor. Sobell, who was convicted at the same time, was sentenced to 30

Photo courtesy of MCT campus

A group protests the sentencing of the Rosenbergs outside the courthouse where it took place.

Before taking a seat in the chair, she kissed Matron Helen Evans.

One witness said that Mrs. Rosenberg sat in the electric chair, “with the most composed look you ever saw.” She died after five jolts of electricity, which was nearly five minutes.

The executions took place following a 24hour stay of execution. The Supreme Court rejected a fifth appeal in the case.

Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson said, “Vacating this stay is not to be construed as indorsing the wisdom or appropriateness to this case of a death sentence. That sentence, however, is permitted by law and, as was previously pointed out, is therefore not within this court’s power of revision” The Rosenbergs ultimately appealed twice to the president of the United States for clemency, but both times Eisenhower refused.

Even so, the Rosenbergs lived a day past the fourth date set for execution.

The day before the execution, their fourteenth wedding anniversary, the couple was permitted to visit with one another. They sat on benches that were separated by a screen and spoke quietly. They were denied special treatment for the occasion.

The warden said, “We have 1400 other prisoners, and we’d be celebrating anniversaries the year round if we tried to observe such occasions. The Rosenbergs get the exactly the same treatment as the other prisoners.”

The bodies were claimed by Julius Rosenberg’s mother, Sophie Rosenberg on June 20.

Rosenberg supported her son and daughterin-law throughout the entire incident. It was reported that she visited them at Sing Sing Prison to exchange good-byes but did not attend the execution.

The couple was buried together on June 21.

“It was just really tragic for everyone involved,” said Riems, “It was just a sad, sad affair.”

News

Monday, November 25, 2013 • page 4

Photo courtesy of Google images.

The red scare of the 1950s was actually the second red scare the country went through. The first was in the 1920s.

Growing fear of communism spreads throughout country; McCarthy, HUAC investigate suspected communists Kaitlin Dunn Simone Jasper Today, the 1950s is thought of as being a simpler time, filled with poodle skirts, sock hops, and I Love Lucy. But ask anyone who

remembers the decade, and they will tell a different tale. They remember the 1950s as full of panic, fear, and mania, as the country struggled to purge America of communism in what would be known as the Red Scare.

Growing fear “It really was like witch hunts,” said Aaron Riems, a veteran of the US Air Force who was stationed in Dover, Delaware for most of the decade, “There was that play

[The Crucible] about it being like that, but it really was. They just went after everyone imaginable.”

Fears of communism in America began long before Joseph McCarthy ascended to power and rallied the country around anti-

News

Monday, November 25, 2013 • page 5

communist sentiments on television. After the United States dropped the first nuclear bomb on Japan in the 1940s, the threat of nuclear war became a reality.

“We had the psychological fear of people attacking this country,” said Charles Patton, who was a child during the 50s.

With the encroaching possibility of the Soviet Union dropping a bomb imminent, many Americans linked communism to the Soviet Union, and came to the conclusion that anyone who supported communism must be anti American. Communism was a threat to American values.

Many people who were suspected to have ties with communists were investigated based on the possibility that they were associated with the Soviet Union. The government administered tests to its employees, requiring them to indicate their political affiliations.

The House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was established to determine who was guilty of being a communist. Since the Communist Party required that its members keep their affiliation a secret, many thought that communists could only be distinguished by the people that they associated with.

“People had to be very careful about what they said,” said Conella Brown, who was a student in college during the early 50s, “If their views were viewed as communistic, they were viewed as non-Americans.”

Executive Order 9835 in 1947 stated that the United States Attorney General could deny federal jobs to people who displayed “sympathetic association with organizations or movements that were identified as totalitarian, fascist, communist, or subversive.”

The book Red Channels, published in 1950, listed people in the entertainment industry who had potential ties to the Communist Party. They were subsequently blacklisted from the industry and found it impossible to find work. Anyone who hired them would risk also being put under investigation for being a communist.

“He [McCarthy] really wanted to go after Hollywood,” said Riems, “They were all so liberal out there, and he was a conservative, so it made sense for him to go after them.”

McCarthyism and the media “McCarthyism” came to fruition as the 1950s began. McCarthy, a senator from Wisconsin became an outspoken critic of communism, asserting that Americans with ties to the ideology were enemies. “ Y o u couldn’t turn on the television without hearing about him accusing someone else,” said Riems, “He just went after everyone, everywhere.”

McCarthy essentially took over the media at the time. Newspapers were still widely circulated, and television was beginning to be extremely popular as well.

McCarthy used this to his advantage. He exploited the deadlines to get his press releases in for maximum exposure. His hearings were often televised so that everyone knew what was going on. The newspapers and television broadcasts lavished him with attention.

“The media didn’t question McCarthy about people’s general freedoms and liberties,” said Patton.

“You couldn’t turn on the television without hearing about him accusing someone else. He just went after everyone, everywhere.”

-Aaron Riems

Hollywood Another part of the country that was “purged” of communists was Hollywood.

Army McCarthy hearings In 1954, Army officials argued that

Photo courtesy of MCT campus

Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin was one of the most influential people of the time, vowing to rid the country of communists. McCarthy is pictured above posing for a photograph.

McCarthy tried to obtain benefits for a member of his investigative team who was drafted in the Army. The senator countered that Army officials wanted to blackmail and bribe him to stop him from asking questions about communism in the Army.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations conducted a televised hearing to investigate the issue. Television would work against this instance. With his approval already declining, many people thought he looked unattractive as well as disapproving of his behavior, and public

opinion plummeted. After the Army-McCarthy hearings, more Americans began to disagree with McCarthy’s views, and the Senate removed him from power “He was finally brought down,” said Brown, “But it was after destroying so many people’s careers and lives.”

The hysteria about communism continued well after McCarthy was removed from power. The Cold War between the United States and Russia would last for several decades, bringing fear and panic with it.

News

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McCarthy takes over airwaves, newspapers Media influences senator’s rise to fame, fall from grace Kaitlin Dunn Simone Jasper “I remember watching it on TV,” said Aaron Riems, a former pilot in the United States Air Force, “It was everywhere. You couldn’t miss hearing about it.

Riems is referring to the Red Scare of the 1950s when Senator Joseph McCarthy went on a tangent, hunting out communists, especially in Hollywood.

Riems was in his mid 20s at the time, and stationed at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. He remembers watching the trials on television.

“There were only three stations back then, ABC, NBC and CBS, and they all had it on,” said Riems about the trials, “McCarthy certainly did a good job publicizing it.

The media of the time covered the hearings and made them into spectacles that the entire country watched.

Charles Patton was in elementary school at the time of the hearings. He remembered the coverage of McCarthyism quite well.

“My parents would watch the news after dinner,” said Patton, “They would always have something in the news about McCarthy. They would always have something on CBS about him accusing someone of being communist.”

Patton remembers seeing watching the evening news with Cronkite or Brinkly, and seeing information in the Call and Post (Cleveland’s weekly AfricanAmerican newspaper) and the Cleveland Post (Cleveland’s evening paper).

“The media didn’t question McCarthy about people’s general freedom’s and liberties,” said Patton.

The media was extremely powerful at the time. The newspapers and television news programs often took the view of McCarthy.

“The TV media was generally pushing McCarthy’s views out there, said Patton, “The TV emphasized that we had to defend the American way of life.”

“I don’t think there was neutrality [in the media,” said Conella Brown, a college student at the time, “I don’t remember a lot of fairness.”

Often the television media did not only take McCarthy’s point of view because they agreed with it, Riems speculated that they did not want to be accused of being communists themselves.

“McCarthy was going after notable people, people who had influence,” said Riems, “He wanted to get rid of all the liberals who might be communists, that’s why he went after Hollywood types, they were all liberals.”

According to The Media’s Role in Defining the Nation: The Active Voice by David Copeland, “Television and motion pictures, considered the most powerful of media because they combined audio and video as a means to address the public, were the most suspect media” Many people thought that filmmakers had the strongest influence on public opinion. McCarthy targeted Hollywood strongly.

The most famous incidents were the trials of the Hollywood Ten. Ten extremely popular filmmakers, producers, actors, and screenwriters were put on trial in front of the entire country.

“I remember all those actors being tried,” said Riems.

Some of the most notable people who were put investigated or put on trial include advocate Helen Keller, musicians Leonard Bernstein, Burl Ives and Pete Seeger, writer Langston Hughes, dancer Gypsy Rose Lee, and actors Charlie Chaplin, Danny Kaye, and Orson Welles.

“I’m sure there were others we didn’t even hear about,” said Riems, “But I remember thinking after that mess with Charlie Chaplin, ‘who’s going to be next?’”

Those who were suspected communists were listed in a book called Red Channels, Those in it were basically blacklisted from the industry and their careers were ruined.

However not all people let McCarthy

stop them from living their lives.

“Paul Rogerson was a black actor, who had advocated for black people’s pillages, and freedoms, “said Patton, “He was one of the people who didn’t let McCarthy bother him. He denounced McCarty and treatment of blacks when he was overseas.”

In the end, the media ended up being McCarthty’s downfall.

Reporter Edward R. Murrow did not like McCarthy and spoke out against

him. On his program, See It Now, Murrow compiled film clips that depicted McCarthy negatively. This caused some people to turn against him.

During the Army-McCarthy hearings, people saw McCarthy as unattractive and unlikable, and he lost all his public support along with the hearings.

“The media called him a hero for so long,” said Patton, “instead of saying what he really was- a psycho.”

Photo courtesy of Google images.

A propaganda posters depicts the horrors that would happen if America were to fall to the communists.

News

Monday, November 25, 2013 • page 6

Brown investigated as alleged communist supporter Kaitlin Dunn Simone Jasper In 1949, Conella Brown was admitted in the first integrated class at the University of Kansas City (now University of Missouri-Kansas City. She received a flyer urging her to join a communist organization, but she had no idea how much that organization would impact her life “I received an advertisement for me to join [an organization] and as I read the literature, I saw it as positive,” said the now 88 year old Brown.

Brown saw that the organization stood for “peace, harmony, and equity,” so she filled out the papers and sent them in.

“I saw it in a positive way,” said Brown, “I learned later that it was a part of the communist way to gain membership.”

Several years after Brown sent in her membership to the communist organization, Senator Joseph McCarthy began his purge of the communists of the country, in what would later be known as The Red

Scare.

Americans were terrified of global nuclear warfare. They saw communism as a threat because the Soviet Union, the United State’s biggest enemy at the time, was communist.

“I think the communist movement was started as a right movement, but it developed, as so many movements do, into tyranny. [In the Soviet Union], it was anti-people because the party had so much control.”

In America, many people thought that anyone with a tie to communism was associated with the Soviet Union. This led to well publicized investigations of people and mass hysteria.

Brown was one of the many people who received an investigation, due to her ties from her college group.

“I subsequently received investigation,” said Brown, “I was never charged, but investigated, yes.

While there were many “average” people who were investigated during this

time, the majority of people were either involved in Hollywood, the government, or the military, because they were the people who had the greatest power and influence in the country.

“I vividly remember the movement in this country destroyed many people, including Hollywood actors,” said Brown, “It hit a large number of people, especially in the arts industry and the African American community.”

The fear spread around the country.

Nobody wanted to risk being investigated.

“There was a lot of fear. People became suspicious of people because of their political, social, and economic views,” said Brown, “If you were advocating for unions, Negros, or Jews, you were viewed as suspicious.”

Brown remembered McCarthy also advocating who supported Jewish and African American rights.

“McCarthy destroyed innocent people who were not Communist but who took

liberal stances against Negros and Jews,” said Brown.

Ridding the nation of communist threats often involved compromising democratic rights, such as freedom of speech. As a result, some Americans with alleged connections to communism were threatened or imprisoned. In this way, the criminal justice system acted as a deterrent for people who wanted to associate with communism.

“People had to be very careful about what they said. If their views were viewed as communistic, they were viewed as nonAmericans,” said Brown.

Eventually McCarthy lost the support he needed to keep accusing people of communism, but the people who’s lives were affected will never forget what happened.

“The government had total control of people’s lives. The Soviet Union was organizing against capitalism,” said Brown, “We had reason to be fearful.”

American Bar Association discusses teaching communism in schools Katy Canada According to the The New York Times, the American Bar Association met on July 25 (1954) in Washington to discuss the idea of teaching students the principals of Communism. It was argued that this would contribute to their understanding of the system and generate a greater degree of fear than they currently experience.

The organization proposed a resolution that states, “That the facts of the theory and practice of communism be taught in appropriate forms at all levels in all educational institutions of the United States in conjunction with the teaching of the theory and practice of Government of the United States of America under the Federal Constitution.”

The American Bar Association said that, although this is a highly sensitive and controversial topic, addressing the problem directly through the students is a viable solution. The proposal will be further discussed in the seventy-seventh annual

convention in Chicago on Aug. 16-20.

One member of the association said, “The dangers of communism could be readily understood if properly taught and it would be of great value to the youth of our country if they could be adequately shown the difference between the theory and practices of communism and the theory and practices of the Government of the United States under our Constitution.”

The ultimate goal of inserting education about communism into the curriculum is to impress upon students the perceived dangers and emphasize that the American system is a great improvement.

The committee added that it felt that “the realities of the international situation must enter with directness and rankness into the curriculum of our schools.”

Charles Patton was in elementary school at the time and remembered precautions the took.

“In school, we had air raid sirens go off all the time,” said Patton, “It wouldn’t do

anything if Soviets attacked us with nucle- ing young people about sexually transar weapons though. I remember seeing the mitted diseases, arguing that it would be atom bomb’s damage in Japan. harmful to their vulnerable minds.

It was later said that democracy implies a freedom of knowledge, thus subjecting the topic of communism to full discussion. Although, it was underscored during the meeting that teachers should underscore the desirable improvements that the American system promises.

The issue of teaching communism in schools was compared to a previous controversy Photo courtesy of Google images surrounding the dangers of educat- A cartoon depicts what would happen were communism to be taught in schools

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