At Age 91, Convicted Spy Figure Admits Guilt, Implicates Julius Rosenberg
Convicted espionage figure Morton Sobell has admitted his guilt for the first time in a New York Times interview and implicated his fellow defendant Julius Rosenberg.
Sobell, now 91, was convicted on espionage charges along with Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and served more than 18 years in prison for the crime. A Times reporter asked Sobell in an interview if he turned over military secrets to the Soviet Union during World War II and if he was in fact a spy.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, call it that,” he said. “I never thought of it as that in those terms.” Sobell said he stole information about radar and artillery devices for the Russians, “only defensive stuff.”
Sobell said Rosenberg’s wife, Ethel, was aware of her husband’s espionage but did not actively participate. “She knew what he was doing,” he said, “but what was she guilty of? Of being Julius’ wife.” Both Ethel and Julius were executed.
Sobell said details about the atomic bomb that Julius Rosenberg passed to the Soviets merely corroborated information they already had. “What he gave them was junk,” he told the Times.
Sobell spoke with the newspaper yesterday, the same day that the National Archives released most of the grand jury testimony in the case in response to a lawsuit by the National Security Archive. The testimony of Ethel Rosenberg’s brother, David Greenglass, was not released because of his objection.
Greenglass had alleged that Ethel Rosenberg had typed some of his spy notes but later recanted the accusation. Testimony released yesterday of Greenglass’ wife, Ruth, said she transcribed his notes in longhand on one occasion and never mentioned any typing by Ethel Rosenberg. The National Security Archive website summarizes testimony by Ruth Greenglass this way: “Grand jury records describe Greenglass handwriting, not Ethyl typing.”
Archive director Thomas Blanton said the grand jury testimony by Ruth Greenglass “directly contradicts the charge against Ethel Rosenberg that put her in the electric chair.”
