The Brother: The Untold Story of the Rosenberg Case [Paperback]

Mr. Roberts gives a lot of background material to provide context and to help modern-day readers capture more of the atmosphere of the time. One example that affected me was the link many made between the onset of the Korean War with Stalin having atomic weapons sooner than he would have without Fuchs, Greenglass, and the Rosenbergs. (Ted Hall played a significant role as well, but no one outside the Intelligence community knew about him until the 1990s.)

The author provides unequivocal evidence of Julius acting as an agent and spy for the Soviet Union. He also has no doubt that Ethel was aware of and approved of her husband aiding the USSR. They were naively supporting an ideal politics that did not exist. Julius also seemed to enjoy the importance he felt he attained by doing this work. He also seems to have provided other technologies to the Soviet Union including a proximity fuse.

But Roberts expresses grave concern over even charging Ethel and provides evidence that she was being used as a lever on her husband. Mr. Roberts seems to doubt that there was enough real evidence to even indict Ethel let alone convict and execute her (actual guilt being a different issue). There is no doubt that everyone involved wished that Julius would cooperate so their sentences could be commuted. But Julius and Ethel were committed to their ideology more than their own lives.

The bombshell in this book is provided in the summary of a series of interviews that Roberts had with David Greenglass (now living under a different name) wherein Greenglass says that he did say things on the stand that weren't exactly correct. He did not see the photographic table he testified to (although he knew that Julius did do photographic spy work), and, more explosively, that he had no personal recollection of the famous scene of Ethel typing the pages of atomic bomb notes. He testified to it to corroborate his wife, Ruth's. testimony. Greenglass, however, confirms and says that he has no doubt of Julius and Ethel's guilt. He also says he was shocked when they received the death penalty.

This is a story that seems to have no resolution. Those who remember it tend to be very committed to one version or another. For the rest, it is an old event that is evaporating from memory with only vague notions of what was at stake and without historical context. Mr. Roberts has done us all a great service by getting the real story with wonderful detail and good analysis. If you are interested in this story, this book is a must read. I believe that no matter what you think you know about this case, this book will give you many new insights and a greater understanding of this sad historical event.

With the war over, DG was no longer interested in helping the Soviets (p.147). The Soviet atomic research resumed in 1943 (p.182), their first atomic test occurred in 1949. This affected the political outlook in Washington (p.183). When they deciphered a message on gaseous diffusion in refining uranium, this led to its author and prime suspect - Klaus Fuchs (p.188). Another deciphered message said a spy at Los Alamos went on vacation in Jan 1945 (p.197); 100 suspects were turned up. The two prime suspects were Luis Alvarez and Edward Teller - the best friend of Klaus Fuchs.

DG's confession is on page 242. He hired O. John Rogge and cooperated with the FBI; he could not testify against his wife (p.261). Greenglass and Gold were interviewed together to harmonize their stories (p.278). The Government wanted Julius Rosenberg to confess and identify other members of the spy ring (p.282); the death penalty was the threat (p.287). David was trained as a draftsman and had surprising neat handwriting (p.297). Page 317 says his handwriting needed to be typed, and this implicated Ethel in the crime. The trial found them all guilty. The Rosenbergs got death, but they insisted on their innocence and never cracked. They were convicted on the word of the Greenglasses alone, there was no independent corroborative evidence given at their trial. I think the failure to show spending or money from their spying was a failure in the Government's case. The rule is that spies get paid for their information ("The Double-Cross System").

Some questioned the scientific value of Greenglass' atom bomb sketch. It was "valuable information" to corroborate the information given by Klaus Fuchs (p.408). The 1946 Smyth Report gave much more information on atomic energy research than given by Klaus Fuchs (p.410)! Page 425 lists the information that Julius could give to delay their execution; nothing was asked of Ethel. President Eisenhower denied clemency because they "increased the chance of atomic war and may have condemned tens of millions of innocent people to death" (p.430).

Chapter 36 has Greenglass' "final confession". He thought the worse thing he did was working on the atomic bomb because it killed a hundred thousand people (p.469). He didn't regret his spying if it prevented another war (p.479). David and Ruth now said they didn't remember Ethel typing the notes, but "that's the way it would have been done" (p.483). Without this, Ethel might not have been convicted. Why didn't Julius and Ethel save themselves? Because it would mean putting other people in their hot seat (p.493). DG's verdict: they were guilty, but they didn't deserve to die (p.496). This disproportionate punishment may explain Pope Pius XII's call for clemency. The Prosecution team never again won distinction in their careers.