|
JUDGE
KAUFMAN'S STATEMENT UPON
SENTENCING
THE ROSENBERGS
SEVEN
DAYS AFTERTHE
TRIAL*
(EXERPTS AND SUMMARY)
[NY
Times article]
Citizens of this country
who betray their fellow-countrymen can be under none of the delusions about
the benignity of Soviet power that they might have been prior to World
War II. The nature of Russian terrorism is now self-evident. Idealism as
a rational dissolves . . .
I consider your crime
worse than murder. Plain deliberate contemplated murder is dwarfed in magnitude
by comparison with the crime you have committed. In committing the act
of murder, the criminal kills only his victim. The immediate family is
brought to grief and when justice is meted out the chapter is closed.
But
in your case, I believe your conduct in putting into the hands of the Russians
the A-bomb years before our best scientists predicted Russia would perfect
the bomb has already caused, in my opinion, the Communist aggression in
Korea, with the resultant casualties exceeding 50,000 and who knows but
that millions more of innocent people may pay the price of your treason.
[emphasis added] Indeed, by your betrayal you undoubtedly have altered
the course of history to the disadvantage of our country.
No one can say that we
do not live in a constant state of tension. We have evidence of your treachery
all around us every day--for the civilian defense activities throughout
the nation are aimed at preparing us for an atom bomb attack. Nor can it
be said in mitigation of the offense that the power which set the conspiracy
in motion and profited from it was not openly hostile to the United States
at the time of the conspiracy. If this was your excuse the error of your
ways in setting yourselves above our properly constituted authorities and
the decision of those authorities not to share the information with Russia
must now be obvious . . .
In the light of this,
I can only conclude that the defendants entered into this most serious
conspiracy against their country with full realization of its implications
. . .
The statute of which
the defendants at the bar stand convicted is clear. I have previously stated
my view that the verdict of guilty was amply justified by the evidence.
In the light of the circumstances, I feel that I must pass such sentence
upon the principals in this diabolical conspiracy to destroy a God-fearing
nation, which will 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 evidence indicated
quite clearly that Julius Rosenberg was the prime mover in this conspiracy.
However, let no mistake be made about the role which his wife, Ethel Rosenberg,
played in this conspiracy. Instead of deterring him from pursuing his ignoble
cause, she encouraged and assisted the cause. She was a mature woman--almost
three years older than her husband and almost seven years older than her
younger brother. She was a full-fledged partner in this crime.
Indeed the defendants Julius and Ethel Rosenberg placed their devotion
to their cause above their own personal safety and were conscious that
they were sacrificing their own children, should their misdeeds be detected--all
of which did not deter them from pursuing their course. Love for their
cause dominated their lives--it was even greater than their love for their
children.
The
sentence of the Court upon Julius and Ethel Rosenberg is, for the crime
for which you have been convicted. You are hereby sentenced to the punishment
to death, and it is ordered upon some day within the week beginning with
Monday, May 21st, you shall be executed according to law.
| *NCRRC Note: we have emphasized "7 days
after the trial" to confirm the point that the Rosenbergs had no opportunity
to reply to Judge Kaufman's false charges. These charges came after
the trial was over. The Rosenbergs were
thus denied the fundamental
right of confrontation, to be apprised
of charges and afforded the opportunity to reply in a court of law. A right
guaranteed by all democratic countries. |
top of page
|
|