Biography/History

So much has been said and written concerning the Rosenberg-Sobell trial of 1951 that history may well rank it with the trials of Dreyfus, Mooney and Billings, and Sacco and Vanzetti. Caught up in the country's fear of Communism, its concern for protecting the secret of the atomic bomb, and the hysteria created by McCarthyism, Morton Sobell was tried with Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for “conspiracy to commit espionage” dating back to 1944.

Shortly after the confession of the scientist spy Klaus Fuchs in 1950, Sobell, an electrical engineer with former ties to the Young Communist League, took his family to Mexico. He was soon “deported” to the United States, imprisoned, and brought to trial in 1951. On April 5, 1951 he was sentenced to thirty years in prison, and was sent to Alcatraz following his refusal to admit guilt or to accuse the Rosenbergs, who were executed on June 19, 1953.

Sobell, who on the advice of his counsel did not take the stand in his own defense at his trial, steadfastly asserted his innocence. His conviction resulted from evidence concerning his “flight” to Mexico and the testimony of Max Elitcher, a confessed perjurer who had known both Sobell and the Rosenbergs. One of the government's prosecutors was Roy Cohn who later became Senator Joseph McCarthy's chief assistant. As the fears of the McCarthy era waned, and as new evidence came to light, repeated appeals were made for a new hearing, but without success. Sobell was released from prison on January 14, 1969, having served nineteen years of his sentence.

Soon after their conviction, supporters of Sobell and the Rosenbergs formed the committee that was variously known as the Committee to Serve Justice in the Rosenberg Case, the Committee to Secure Justice for Morton Sobell in the Rosenberg Case, the Committee to Secure Justice for Morton Sobell, and the Committee to Free Morton Sobell. The Committee developed as the result of the widespread belief by many persons that the Rosenbergs and Sobell were innocent of the crime for which they were tried, and were victims of sentences far too harsh for their convictions. Many were convinced that Sobell should never have been tried with the Rosenbergs.

The early activities of the Committee centered on securing clemency for the Rosenbergs. After their execution, however, attention turned to the case of Morton Sobell. For the next five years the Committee tried to effect Sobell's transfer from Alcatraz. The National Committee established headquarters in New York City, and numerous city and state groups became active--all of them attempting to make Sobell's plight known and all seeking funds for expenses and legal fees. Speakers, chief of whom was Sobell's wife, Helen, appeared before many audiences carrying the Committee's message; social and fund-raising events kept alive the need for unity and aid; voluminous circular letters and mailings went out from both the National Committee and local groups explaining and pleading Sobell's case; and frequent press releases were distributed. A large clipping file attests to the interest the case engendered in the foreign press as well as in the United States. The National Committee closed its office on April 30, 1969.

Chronology

1917 April 11	Morton Sobell born in New York City to Rose and Louis Sobell
1938	Graduated from the City College of New York with a B.S. in electrical engineering
1939-1941	Worked in Bureau of Ordnance, Department of the Navy, Washington, D.C.
1941-1942	Attended University of Michigan and received Master's degree in scientific engineering
1942-1947	Worked for General Electric Corporation, Schenectady, New York
1945 March 10	Married Helen Levitov Gurewitz
1947-1950	Worked for Reeves Instrument Company, New York
1949 June	Mark Sobell born to Morton and Helen Sobell
1950 June	Morton, Helen, Mark, and Helen's daughter, Sydney flew to Mexico
1950 August 16	Morton Sobell "deported" from Mexico, taken to Laredo, Texas, and arrested; five days later taken to New York
1950 October 10	Sobell indicted along with Rosenbergs, Greenglass, and Yakovlev
1951 March 6-28	Trial - United States of America vs. Julius Rosenberg, Ethel Rosenberg, Anatoli A. Yakovlev, also known as "John," David Greenglass and Morton Sobell - held in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, C.134-245
1951 March 29	Jurors returned a verdict of guilty
1951 April 5	Judge Irving Kaufman sentenced the Rosenbergs to death, Sobell to 30 years, Greenglass to 15 years
1952 November 27	Sobell transferred to Alcatraz
1953 June 19	Rosenbergs executed at Sing Sing
1958 February 24	Sobell transferred to Atlanta Federal Penitentiary
1963 May 30	Transferred to Springfield Medical Center, Missouri
1965 January 30	Transferred to Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary, Pennsylvania
1969 January 14	Released from prison