Date: Tue, 25 Jul 1995 09:26:30 -0700
Subject: Michael Meeropol Statement on Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
PLEASE NOTE: THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT WAS ISSUED BY ROBERT AND MICHAEL MEEROPOL, SONS OF JULIUS AND ETHEL ROSENBERG, AS AN INITIAL REACTION TO THE RELEASE BY THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY OF THE "VENONA" DOCUMENTS PURPORTING TO PROVE THAT THEIR PARENTS WERE INDEED SOVIET SPIES. THE STATEMENT WAS ISSUED JULY 17 and AS FAR AS WE KNOW, HAS NOT BEEN REPORTED BY THE MAINSTREAM PRESS.
ROSENBERG FUND FOR CHILDREN 1145 Main Street Suite 408 Springfield, Ma. 01103 (413) 739 - 9020 FAX: (413) 746-5767
RELEASED "VENONA" DOCUMENTS DEMONSTRATE GOVERNMENT DUPLICITY.
Nothing in the 49 VENONA documents released by the National Security Agency and the CIA (The Agencies) on July 11 cause us to alter our positions that: 1. our parents Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were not guilty as charged; 2. their conviction was based upon perjured testimony and fabricated evidence; 3. that government agents and agencies orchestrated our parents' frame-up which resulted in their execution.
We have sought the release of these documents since 1975. The Agencies explanation that they were not used at our parents' trial for national security reasons does not explain why they have refused to release them to us for the last 20 years. It is much more plausible that the documents were only released now because they prove nothing and do not help justify our parents' execution.
The documents' nature and contents explain why they Agencies kept them secret for over 40 years. The Agencies have released no physical evidence to support their claims. The public is asked to accept just upon their say that the documents really are translations of encrypted Soviet diplomatic communications that the translations faithful reflect those communications, and that the individuals referred to in code in the documents are the people The Agencies say they are. None of this should be taken for granted. The Agencies are some of the major architects of our parents' legally sanctioned murder and so have a tremendous stake in justifying their execution.
The booklet The Agences released to "explain" the documents ("Introductory History of VENONA and Guide to the Trnaslations), demonstrates that they have even lied about the contents of these documents in this carefully staged effort to misinform the public. For example the following statements appear on page 10 of the Guide:
"These messages disclose some of the clandestine activities of
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg ..." and "KGB officer Leonid
Kvasnikov ... like the Rosenbergs ... had many other high-tech
espionage targets..." (emphasis added)
Our mother is barefly mentioned in the 49 documents The Agencies claim are KGB transmissions, and nowhere in them is it stated that she engaged in clandestine activities. The major reference to her states: "Knows about her husband's work and the role of METR and NIL. In view of delicate health does not work. Is characterized positively and as a devoted person."
Our father's name never appears in any of the documents.
The Agencies would have us believe that they identified many spies long before our parents' arrests and did nothing about it but give the FBI a few tips while the vast majority of them either disappeared or were never prosecuted. They can not explain why neither the CIA nor the FBI acted as if it had this information prior to our parents' arrests. Therefore, we suspect that The Agencies "cooked" whatever information they had after the arrests and trial to bolster the government's scenario. While we can't prove this, The Agencies certainly had the motive, means and opportunity to do so. This helps explain why the "Guide" is so vague about the timing of the "decoding" of these "transmissions."
The Federal Judiciary, the FBI, the Department of Justice, the CIA and other government agencies have engaged in a course of misconduct concerning our parents' case for over 40 years. Unlike the Agencies, we, as private citizens have not had the media access necessary to present our side.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, contact: Robert Meeropol: 413 - 739 - 9020.