THURSDAY, MAY 28, 1953
THE MlCHIG.AN I ILY
PAGE NMN
THURSDAY, MAY 28, 195S THE MICHIGAN 1~AILY PAGF ~
(Paid Advertisement),
S
GS
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On Monday, May 25, 1953, the Supreme Court refused to grant a hearing to ETHEL
and JULIUS ROSENBERG sentenced to die for the crime of CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT
ESPIONAGE ... (there was no charge that espionage was actually committed). Justices
Black and Douglas dissented. At this point the ROSENBERGS' stay of execution has been
invalidated and ... THEY MAY DIE AT ANY TIME.
Government officials say that if the ROSENBERGS care to give any information
concerning espionage to the Government, such action would be taken into consideration
in future clemency pleas.
ON THIS QUESTION
THE ROSENBERGS
"We are innocent, as we have proclaimed and
maintained from the time of our arrest. This
is the whole truth.
To forsake this truth is to
HAVE SPOKEN:
pay too high a price even for the priceless
gift of life... for life thus purchased we could
not live in dignity and self respect."
NEVER BEFORE IN THE HISTORY OF THE
UNITED STATES has a civil court, either in peace
or war, decreed a sentence of death for the crime
of espionage. For that most grave of all crimes,
TREASON, only two death sentences have been
imposed since the adoption of the Constitution
and ... NO EXECUTION HAS TAKEN PLACE.
0 0 r
YET IN THE ROSENBERG CASE COUNT-
LESSPEOPLENTHROUGHOUT THE
WORLD ARE NOT ONLY IN OPPOSI-
TION TO THE DEATH SENTENCE BUT
ARE - NOT CONVINCED THAT THE
ROSENBERGS ARE GUILTY. The follow-
ing letter is an illustrative example.
w From DR. HAROLD C. UREY to
JUDGE KAUFMAN:
"I am writing to urge you to change the sen-
tence of death imposed on ETHEL and JULIUS
ROSENBERG to a lesser punishment. . . I found
the testimony of the ROSENBERGS more believ-
able than that of the Greenglasses . . . I am
amazed and completely outraged by the unequal
punishment which has been given. For the same
crime Ruth Greenglass is never brought to trial,
though she admitted her guilt under oath; David
Greenglass gets fifteen years imprisonment; Mor-
ton Sobell and Harold Gold get 30 years imprison-
ment; and ETHEL and JULIUS ROSENBERG GET
DEATH. Only the last two took the witness-stand
and maintained that they were innocent, and
they were convicted on testimony which I do not
believe is conclusive beyond a reasonable doubt
. . . I strongly urge a careful reconsideration of
this sentence."
prompted by the some reasons which were set
forth so convincingly by my distinguished col-
league, HAROLD C. UREY."
* REV. HENRY HITT CRANE, Central Methodist
Church, Detroit:
"Dear Mr. President:
... May God give you the wisdom and strength
to make the courageous decision to commute
the DEATH SENTENCE to life imprisonment,
that there may later be opportunity to deter-
mine finally the question of guilt and that
JUSTICE AND MERCY MAY NOT FAIL."
" POPE PIUS XII - (via Msgr. Biovanni Cicog-
nano, apostolic Delegate to Washington):
"The HOLY FATHER received numerous and
urgent appeals for intervention which out of
motives of charity proper to his apostolic office,
without being able to enter into the merits of
the case, his Holiness felt appropriate to bring
the attention of the U.S. civil authorities."
* JEAN-PAUL SARTRE, French writer:
"The ROSENBERGS must be saved for their
sakes and for our own; in defending them we
are defending ourselves . . . I am united with
you in asking Clemency for the ROSENBERGS
because their cause is in the cause of liberty
and peace."
THE DEFENSE CLAIMS:
. -There is new evidence to be submitted.
THE PROSECUTION MAINTAINED:
".. That a "certain expensive table", which
allegedly had a secret compartment, was
given to the ROSENBERGS by the Soviet
Union.
In short there is much about the case that
deserves serious scrutiny by the American public.
We have the right to know all the facts. We have
the right to ask that no precedent with regard to
the DEATH SENTENCE be established in a case
in which there is DOUBT OF GUILT.
MORE THAN THE
LIVES OF TWO PEOPLE
AND THE FUTURE OF
THEIR TWO CHILDREN
ARE AT STAKE
If we in America give up our traditional spirit of
justice, we shall be shamed in our own eyes and
throughout the world. Where there is NO JUS-
TICE FOR ONE PERSON, THE SAFETY OF ALL
IS ENDANGERED. Many forward looking men
and women throughout the world are deeply con-
cerned lest the DEATH SENTENCE FOR THE
ROSENBERGS represent a retreat by our nation
from our lofty principles of democracy to the stan-
dards of barbarism.
JUSTICE CAN BE SERVED FOR ALL .. . ONLY
WHILE THERE IS LIFE ... WE-HAVE THE POW-
ER TO SAVE THE ROSENGERGS BY A CONCERT.
ED EFFORT. WRITE PRESIDENT EISENHOWER
Y O U R SENTIMENTS FOR CLEMENCY NOW.
WE THANK THE MANY STUDENTS AND FAC.
ULTY WHO HAVE SO GENEROUSLY CONTRIB-
UTED FOR HIS AD.
OTHERS WHO HAVE LENT THEIR VOICES
TO THE APPEAL FOR THE ROSENBERGS IN-
CLUDE.
* DR. ALBERT EINSTEIN, Physicist:
"Dear Mr. President:
My conscience compels me to urge you to
commute the death sentence of ETHEL and
II , iC nleCK lo n -
THE DEFENSE HAS ESTABLISHED:
.". That the table is an inexpensive model
obtained at R. H. Macy's Department
e4s- - iK . V eYrz i .
Additional Information:
Including the transcripts of the case can be
gotten by writing to the NATIONAL COMMIT-
TEE TO SECURE JUSTICE IN THE ROSENBERG
rAC r 1n01C i+kAvo N Y 1 R NY Rr 9-9694.
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