1951년 4월 미국에서 줄리어스 로젠버그 부부는 소련 정보기관에게 핵무기 개발 관련 기술 정보를 제공한 혐의로 사형이 선고되어, 1953년 6월 19일 뉴욕 싱싱교도소에서 사형이 집행됐다. 미국에서 살인을 저지르지 않고 사형이 집행된 경우는 로젠버그 부부가 전무후무의 사례이다.
1990년에는 흐루시초프가 “로젠버그 부부의 도움”을 언급한 녹음 내역이 공개되었고, 1995년에는 미국이 제2차 세계대전 도중에 해독한 소련 측의 교신 내용이 공개되었는데, 거기에는 줄리어스가 실제로 소련의 스파이였음이 명확히 드러나 있었다. 다만 그가 빼돌린 기밀은 핵폭탄 정보가 아니라 전파탐지기 관련 정보였다. 즉, 사형이 선고될 만한 스파이행위가 아니었던 것이다.
재판을 담당한 어빙 카우프먼 판사는 다음과 같은 비논리적이고 논리가 비약된 판결문을 통해 피고인들에게 사형을 선고했다. 오히려 주범이라고 볼 수 있는 다른 공범들은 사형을 면했다.
< 어빙 카우프먼 판사의 판결문 요지 >
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. 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.'
'나는 피고인들의 범죄가 살인보다 더 나쁘다고 생각한다. 살인은 피해자만 죽이지만 당신들은 소련이 과학자들이 생각하던 것보다 1년 먼저 핵실험을 할 수 있도록 도왔다. 내 생각으로는 피고인들의 범죄로 인해 한국에서 공산주의자들이 침략전쟁을 벌여 5만 명 이상의 희생자가 생겼고, 백만 명 이상의 무고한 사람들이 피고인들의 반역으로 더 피해를 볼 수도 있다. 피고인들의 반역은 역사의 흐름을 우리에게 불리한 방향으로 바꿔놓았다. 우리가 핵무기 공격에 대비한 민방위 훈련을 매일 하고 있다는 사실이 피고인들의 반역에 대한 증거이다. 줄리어스 로젠버그가 주범임은 분명하나 부인 에델 로젠버그도 책임이 있다. 성년의 여자로서 남편의 추악한 범죄를 막기는 커녕 격려하고 도왔다. 피고인들은 목적달성을 위한 신념을 위하여 자신들의 안전뿐만 아니라 자녀들도 희생시켰다. 목적달성을 위한 사랑이 자녀들에 대한 사랑보다 앞섰다.'