[Peace-discuss] Robert Meeropol responds to new Rosenberg testimony

[David Green]

Robert Meeropol is one of the orphaned sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
   
  Dear Friends,

By now many of you have heard that last week, on
September 11th, the transcript covering testimony of 43
of the 46 witnesses who appeared in front of the Grand
Jury investigating my parents in 1950-1951, was made
public. (Only a portion of the testimony of Harry Gold,
a key prosecution witness, was made available, and legal
efforts to date have failed to win the release of
testimony of three other witnesses, including Ethel
Rosenberg's brother, David Greenglass, the most crucial
player in the case.)

This historic release of information coincided with an
article that appeared on the same date in the New York
Times, interviewing Morton Sobell, my parents' co-
defendant. Ever since his arrest more than 50 years
ago, Mort has maintained his innocence. But in last
week's interview he admitted that he, along with Julius
Rosenberg, passed non-atomic military intelligence to
the Soviets during World War II in an effort to help
them defeat the Nazis.

Over the last week I have read all 930 pages of Grand
Jury testimony that have been released, and my brother
has spoken to Mort directly to clarify Mort's statement.
Many of you are wondering about my reaction to these
revelations.

Here are my initial thoughts after integrating the
information from this last week with the rest of the
historical record.

1) Since the 1980's I have maintained that it is
possible that my father engaged in non-atomic espionage,
but that he did NOT participate in ANY activities that
resulted in him obtaining or passing the "secret of the
Atomic Bomb" to the Soviets. Mort's statement moves me
to acknowledge that it is virtually certain, that Julius
did, in fact, participate with others in passing along
military information. But at the same time, I believe
the still-evolving record makes it even clearer that
Julius did not "steal" or transmit the "secret of the
Atomic Bomb," the crime for which he was executed.

2) Ruth Greenglass's Grand Jury testimony provides
several bombshells, but I will only highlight one here.
Ruth and her husband David, (my mother's sister-in-law
and brother), cooperated with the prosecution in
exchange for a comparatively light sentence for David,
and for no charges being brought against Ruth. It was
Ruth's trial testimony that provided the one, key piece
of evidence that led to my mother's conviction. Ruth
stated at trial that Ethel typed David's handwritten
notes describing the Atomic Bomb, an act that would have
made Ethel an active participant in the alleged spy
ring. However, despite being a cooperative witness
trying to remain in the prosecutor's good graces, Ruth's
Grand Jury testimony included NOTHING about Ethel ever
typing any notes; included NOTHING about Ethel even
being present at the meeting involving the notes; and in
a damning contradiction to her later trial testimony,
stated that RUTH hand-wrote the only notes and they
described the buildings at Los Alamos not the Atomic
Bomb.

3) All that I have learned in the last week, coupled
with all that I have gleaned from the information
already available, reinforces the biggest lesson to be
taken from my parents' case- that the U.S. Government
abused its power in truly dangerous ways that are still
very relevant today. Those in power who were involved
in my parents' case:

* Created and fueled anti-communist hysteria

* Capitalized on that political climate by targeting
my parents, then making them the focus of the public's
Cold War-era fear and anger

* Manufactured testimony and evidence

* Facilitated judicial misconduct

* Hounded witnesses for their political beliefs and
associations rather than about any alleged illegal
activities

* Arrested Ethel simply as leverage to try to get
Julius to cooperate with the prosecution

* Used the ultimate weapon- the threat of death-to try
extort a confession from my parents and to force them
to name and testify against others

* Created the myth that there was a key "secret" of
the Atomic Bomb, and then devised a strategy to make
it appear that Julius had sought out and passed on
that "secret"

* Executed Julius when he refused to cooperate.
despite knowing that the "secret" used to justify the
death penalty, was a prosecution- created fallacy

* Executed Ethel when she refused to cooperate,
despite knowing that she was not guilty of ANY charges
against her and was not an active participant in ANY
espionage activities.

And finally, the agencies and individuals involved in my
parents' case, systematically and emphatically covered-
up and denied all these abuses.

Ultimately, these new revelations have made me even more
steadfast in my commitment to helping those whom the
Rosenberg Fund for Children supports: today's families
experiencing similar targeting and suffering similar
personal tragedies.

I thank you all for the many messages of support and
solidarity you have sent to me and my family, and I
invite any of you who would like more information,
(including details on how to view the Grand Jury
transcripts yourselves), to visit the RFC website at
www.rfc.org.

Robert Meeropol
Executive Director
Rosenberg Fund for Children
www.rfc.org
tel: (413) 529-0063
fax: (413) 529-0802
116 Pleasant St., Suite 348
Easthampton, MA 01027

       
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