The National Committee to Secure Justice for the Rosenbergs and Morton Sobell
The National Committee to Secure Justice for the Rosenbergs and Morton Sobell
Introduction: History
The Communist Party created a front concerning the trial, conviction and execution for espionage of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, and the long term jail sentence of Morton Sobell. It was known as The Committee to Secure Justice for the Rosenbergs and Morton Sobell.[1]
Additional information on this committee and The Committee to Secure Justice for Morton Sobell was found in two earlier HCUA hearings[2]
Sobell, in 2008, came out in a "New York Times" article and admitted that he was a Soviet spy as charged, but tried to downplay its significance and his acts of treason.[3]
These "Committees continued on in existence in one form or another into the early 2000's but lost a lot of influence due to the scholarly research of Ron Radosh, John Earl Haynes, Harvey Khehr and others, as well as the publication of the "Venona Papers", the latter being US intelligence intercepts of Soviet messages during and after WW2, which revealed Julius Rosenberg to have been the head of a Soviet spy ring, and his wife Ethel, as his assistant.
A comprehensive study of Soviet espionage can be found in the book "The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's traitors,", Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel, Regnery, 2000.
Personnel
As of June 14, 1953, the following were members or sponsors of the Committee:[4]
Committee Members
- Joseph Brainin, Chairman
- David Alman, Executive Secretary - Took the 5th Amendment when asked about him being a member of the CPUSA
- Aaron Schneider, Organizational Secretary
Sponsors
- Nelson Algren, id. CPUSA member
- Emily Alman- Took the 5th Amendment when asked if she were a member of the CPUSA
- Dr. Herbert Aptheker, id. CPUSA member, theoretician of the CPUSA
Ads, newspapers and other publications
New York Times, 1971
Daily World
National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case - (An early appearance of a new CPUSA front, the National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case
A notice appeared in the May 22, 1976 edition of the Daily World DW, Page 10, which read as follows (with to Picasso drawings of Ethel Rosenberg and Julius Rosenberg:
"Open All the Files Now! Join the Fight Against Government Frame-Ups and Cover-Ups! Pay Tribute to Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, Fighters for Freedom and Justice, on the 23rs Anniversary of Their Execution Carnegie Hall, Tues. June 15, 8 p.m.
- Michael Meeropol - son of the Rosenbergs
- Robert Meeropol - sons of the Rosenbergs
- Morton Sobell - convicted Soviet spy
- Helen Sobell - wife of convicted Soviet spy Morton Sobell
- Pete Seeger - admitted former CPUSA member and lifelong supporter of communist fronts and causes
- Howard Da Silva - actor and identified member of the CPUSA
- John Randolph - actor and id. CPUSA, one of the top Party activists in Hollywood
- Tony Randall - actor and supporter of some communist fronts
- Vinie Burrows - actress/performer and key supporter of CPUSA fronts, including WREE and the Soviet women's front [{WIDF]]
- Jack Gilford - actor and id. member of the CPUSA
- Sarah Cunningham - actress, id. member of the CPUSA, and wife of id. CP member John Randolph
"in a dramatic program, "Progress Report on the Reopening of the Rosenberg-Sobell Case."
They lied to us about Vietnam. They lied to us about Watergate. They lied to us about the Rosenberg-Sobell case. Let the truth come out!
(notice about buying seats for the performance, or making a contribution to): National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case, Room 606, 250 West 57th Street, New York City, NY, 10019
end of notice
The CPUSA newspaper, Daily World, June 2, 1976, in an article entitled "Tribute to Rosenbergs June 15 to demand opening all files", listed the following as supporters of this "Tribute to Ethel and Julius Rosenberg" to be held at Carnegie Hall.
- Morton Sobell - convicted and later admitted Soviet spy, to lead a torchlite march to FBI Headquarters in NYC.
- Helen Sobell - wife of convicted and admitted Soviet spy, Morton Sobell. Active in some CPUSA fronts
- Robert Meeropol - son of the Rosenbergs
- Michael Meeropol - son of the Rosenbergs - active in CPUSA fronts
- Sen. Lee Metcalf D-Ill, also a supporter of CPUSA member Angela Davis who had been indicted on aiding a jailbreak in which several guards and a judge were killed
- Rep. Michael Harrington - D-Mass, a hardcore leftist who once leaked government secrets at a congressional hearing
- Tony Randall - an actor who supported leftist causes
- Howard DaSilva - an actor who was identified before Congress as a member of the CPUSA
- Jack Gilford - an actor who was id. as a member of the CPUSA
- Vinnie Burrows - a singer who had a decades long record of supporting CPUSA fronts and causes including WREE
- John Randolph - an actor, who along with his wife, Sara Cunningham, have been identified as key CPUSA members in Hollywood
- Martin Sostre - a leftist who supported several communist groups causes
- Allen Garfield - an actor
- Frances Chaney
- Cynthia Harris
The CPUSA newspaper, "Daily World", June 11, 1976, in an article entitled "Probe of Rosenberg judge urged", the existence of a group known as Attorneys to Reopen the Rosenberg Case" was announced. Among its members were:
- Marshall Perlin - chief counsel to the organization and longtime CPUSA fronts supporter
- Michael Meeropol- spoke at the press conference
- National Lawyers Guild NLG - cited by Congress as "the legal bulwark of the Communist Party"[5]
- National Conference of Black Lawyers NCBL, a radical organization openly affiliated with the Soviet Union legal front, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers IADL as cited in both the HCUA report on the NLG, 1944, p. 13 and the SISS "Handbook", 1956, p. 59. Also associated with the Cuban-affiliated American Association of Jurists AAJ.
- National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee NECLC, cited as a CPUSA front in HCUA, Annual Report for 1958, House Report 187, March 9, 1959, pp. 34 & 35, as well as in the SISS "Handbook", 1956.
- Center for Constitutional Rights CCR, a creation of the cited CPUSA legal front the NLG.[6]
Additional Rosenberg/Sobell Related CPUSA Fronts Over the Years
In the CPUSA newspaper, the "Daily World", June 11, 1976 (June 10th dateline), by CPUSA member Mike Giocondo and entitled "Probe of Rosenberg Judge Urged", a new CPUSA-front was announced. Named "Attorneys to Reopen the Rosenberg Case", and led by veteran CPUSA-sympathizer Marshall Perlin, the group's goal was to call "for an independent committee of inquiry to investigate these documents and others concerning Judge Kaufman's conduct in the Rosenberg-Sobell case." (Re: "these documents" i.e. those released under the Freedom of Information Act in response to a lawsuit "filed by Michael Meeropol and Robert Meeropol, sons of the executed Julius and Ethel Rosenberg)."
"Michael Meeropol, in a brief statement at the press conference, that (sic) the new disclosures 'speak directly to the guilt or innocence of my parents'."
"Among those at the press conference were members of "the"
- National Lawyers Guild NLG- long-cited CPUSA legal front
- National Conference of Black Lawyers NCBL - a marxist-oriented organization affiliated with Castro's Cuba AAJ
- National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee NECLC - a cited CPUSA front
- Center for Constitutional Rights CCR - a marxist/communist created offshoot of the NLG
Memorial for Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, June 17, 1974, Carnegie Hall
A notice/flier appeared announcing that a 21st Anniversary Memorial "for Ethel and Julius Rosenberg" was going to be held on June 17 (1974), to mark their execution as Soviet spies.
Among those listed as participants were:
- Michael Meeropol - son of the Rosenbergs
- Robert Meeropol - son of the Rosenbergs
- Morton Sobell and his wife Helen Sobell
- Helen Sobell
- Pete Seeger
- Ossie Davis
- Martha Schlamme
- Rip Torn
- Sarah Cunningham
- Vinie Burrows
- John Randolph
- Frances Chaney
- Big Black - an Attica Prison riot Indictee
- Ring Lardner, Jr.
Of those listed Morton Sobell, Seeger, Cunningham, Randolph and Lardner Jr. were either identified or open members of the CPUSA. Entertainrs Davis, Schlamme, Torn, and Burrows all had long records of support for CPUSA fronts and causes. Helen Sobell, being married to a Soviet spy, was undoubtedly a covert supporter or member of the CPUSA.
References
- ↑ "Trial By Treason: The National Committee to Secure Justice for the Rosenbergs and Morton Sobell", House Document No. 206, August 25, 1956, House Committee on Un-American Activities, Page 1
- ↑ "Investigation of Communist Activities (The Committee to Secure Justice in the Rosenberg Case and Affiliates - Part I and Part II, August 2-4, 1955, hearings.
- ↑ New York Times, "Figure in Rosenberg Case Admits to Soviet Spying", Sam Roberts, Sept. 12, 2008;"Los Angeles Times", "Case Closed on the Rosenbergs", Ron Radosh, Sept. 17, 2008, column
- ↑ Trial By Treason: The National Committee to Secure Justice for the Rosenbergs and Morton Sobell, House Document No. 206, August 25, 1956, House Committee on Un-American Activities, Page 54
- ↑ House Report 3123, National Lawyers Guild, HCUA, September 21, 1950, House Report 1311 on "CIO Political Action Committee", March 29, 1944, p. 149, Special Committee on Un-American Activities; Internal Security Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee, "Handbook for Americans", S. Doc. 11, April 23, 1956, p. 91
- ↑ Congressional Records of Rep. Larry McDonald, Extension of Remarks, 1976, CCR Citation