Ethel Rosenberg was 37 and the mother of two small sons when she was executed in New York in 1953. Her husband, Julius, had been executed a short time before her. They were both found guilty of the crimes of espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union.
Much has been written of Julius Rosenberg, but little about his doomed wife. She had the unhappy distinction of being the first woman in the US to be executed for a crime other than murder.
Anne Sebba’s biography of Ethel Rosenberg, a book five years in the research and writing, has just been published. Sebba, who lives in Surrey, dug into archives containing Ethel’s letters written during the three years she spent in prison, and grand jury testimony papers of the trial. She also interviewed both Michael and Robby, the Rosenberg’s sons, now in their 70s.
