June 19, 1953

Dale came up tonite & we went to the drive-in. Mom is washing tonite. They electroated the Rosenberg spys tonite at about 6:04 (our time). I think they should have had life sentences but not killed.

They sure are frequenting the drive-in a lot! But I guess it got her out of helping with the wash this time.

Hazel is apparently not among the majority in thinking that the Rosenbergs should have only had life sentences. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were accused and convicted of heading up a spy ring that gave information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. Most Americans at the time believed that they got the punishment they deserved, although the Rosenbergs maintained their innocence until the very end.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower refused to grant them clemency, stating: “I can only say that, by immeasurably increasing the chances of atomic war, the Rosenbergs may have condemned to death tens of millions of innocent people all over the world. The execution of two human beings is a grave matter. But even graver is the thought of the millions of dead whose deaths may be directly attributable to what these spies have done.”

At the Sing Sing prison in New York, Julius Rosenberg was executed in the electric chair on the evening of June 19, 1953, followed immediately by the execution of his wife, Ethel, in the same manner.

If you’re interested, you can read a bit more about the Rosenbergs HERE, and see a picture of them.