#venona

DID YOU KNOW that the Rosenberg Grand Jury testimony (opened in 2008) mentions Hanukkah?

Fourth in our first-ever 8 days of Hanukkah Tumblr series featuring surprising Hanukkah-related National Archives records. By Miriam Kleiman, Program Director for Public Affairs.

In her Grand Jury testimony, Helene Elitcher (wife of Max, who cooperated with the gov’t to escape a perjury sentence) described a Dec. 1946 visit to Ethel and Julius (”Julie”) Rosenberg’s Knickerbocker Village apartment on the Lower East Side. She noted the presence of a Christmas tree.

Helene Elitcher’s Grand Jury testimony, released pursuant to a court order in the case In re Petition of National Security Archive (S.D.N.Y. 2008). NARA ID 2364117. All related transcripts and evidence are held by the National Archives at New York.

Here’s what the Rosenberg’s older son Michael (Meeropol) wrote about that visit and subsequent testimony (emphasis added).

My parents’ Christmas tree sparked a heated controversy about what to tell your children about Christmas and Chanukah. The women with children were very concerned about what to say, but the bachelors with no child-rearing experience or concerns, were adamant that you could tell the children whatever you wanted and it wouldn’t make any difference.

I was fascinated by these glimpses into my parents’ lives. But you might wonder, what does this have to do with stealing the secret of the atomic bomb?

FYI - the final Rosenberg Grand Jury testimony was released in March 2017.

Letter from Michael Rosenberg (age 9) to President Eisenhower, 2/16/53, NARA ID 7861671. Displayed in the National Archives “Making Their Mark: Stories through Signatures” exhibit.

Telegram from Michael Rosenberg (age 10), 6/17/53, to President Eisenhower, NARA ID 12608528. 

Additional Rosenberg-related records at the National Archives:

Universal News Clip, 4/5/1951, announcing the death penalty verdict.

Jell-O Box exhibit used in the espionage trial. See related Pieces of History post about this unusual piece of evidence.

Records from the Eisenhower Presidential Library detailing his decision whether or not to grant executive clemency.

Ethel’s appeal to Ike to “take counsel with your good wife...” 

Julius’s mother reached out to Mamie directly: “I beg of you to act… for an old woman whose days are spent weeping.”

Facsimile Jell-O Box exhibit used in the espionage trial. NARA 278774. Introduced by the prosecution to represent the recognition signal supposedly devised by Julius Rosenberg for David and Ruth Greenglass and Harry Gold. 

ICYMI:

1st Night: 1956 patent application for an unusual menorah with cowboys, horses, tassels, and perhaps mistletoe. 

2nd Night: 1926 Sefer Sipur Nes Hanukkah from Baghdad

3rd Night: the White House Hanukkah party invite with a Xmas tree!