They were accused by the judge of causing the Korean war and altering the course of history. They were convicted of conspiring to steal the secrets of the atomic bomb and giving them to the Russians. They were executed on 19 June 1953.
Few trials in American history have so troubled the liberal conscience in the United States and Europe as the trial of the Rosenbergs. Was the information they passed any use? Did they in fact pass any secrets at all? Were they framed?
An American documentary re-examines the story, which began with the arrest of the British scientist Dr Klaus Fuchs , and discovers the feelings today of those who took part in it: jurors, FBI agents, prosecutors and defenders. And the two people most personally affected. The Rosenberg children.
Introduced by William Hardcastle
Produced by ALVIN H. GOLDSTEIN of NPACT for PBS Washington DC