ABSTRACT
The entry offers an equally distorted version of the Rosenbergs' trial, portraying the evidence against them as weak and probably perjured. For scholars who know the Rosenberg case, the American National Biography entry is either a source of amusement, embarrassment, or irritation, but no reputable scholar can take it seriously as an accurate summary of what is known about the Rosenbergs or their case. For example, it has been common knowledge for years that both Rosenbergs were Communists and that Julius was an active figure among student Communists at CCNY. In contrast, upholding the innocence of the Rosenbergs was "the most significant expression of resistance to the spread of the domestic Cold War in the United States" by "radicals and anti-Cold War liberals." Those who have concluded that the Rosenbergs committed espionage are denounced as "conservative writers" and "conservatives and Anti-Communist or Cold War liberals" for whom their "unquestioning belief in the Rosenbergs' guilt" was "a kind of loyalty oath.".
