Background
Julius Rosenberg (1918-1953) and Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg (1915-1953) were convicted of espionage in 1951 and executed in
1953. They were accused of transmitting information about nuclear weapon design to the Soviet Union. The Rosenbergs maintained
their innocence, and a grassroots campaign for clemency for the Rosenbergs arose after their sentencing. Popular appeals for
clemency in the Rosenbergs case cited anti-Semitism and anti-Communist sentiment within the United States as factors in the
outcome of the case. Prominent figures such as Albert Einstein and Jean-Paul Sartre spoke out publicly against the death sentence
in the Rosenberg case. The couple were executed on June 19, 1953, but outcry persisted. Morton Sobell (b. 1917) was also convicted
of espionage alongside the Rosenbergs. Sobell was sentenced to 30 years in prison but served less than 18.
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