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Kaufman, Irving R. → Global Index  → Persons Index
From 1949 to 1961, judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Presided over the Rosenberg Trial (United States of America vs. Julius Rosenberg, Ethel Rosenberg, Anatoli A. Yakovlev, also known as 'John', David Greenglass and Morton Sobell), March 6 to April 5, 1951.
Statement Following the Jury's Verdict, March 29, 1951
→ 24.2-24.6 [2390],

Statement Upon Sentencing the Rosenbergs, April 5, 1951
→ 24.25-24.30 [2450-2451 & 2453],
→ 24.38-24.39 [2451],
→ 25.3-25.12 [2451-2452],
→ 25.18-25.21 [2454-2455]
Statement Following the Jury's Verdict, March 29, 1951
(Cit. The Rosenberg Trial Transcript, pp. 2390):
My own opinion is that your verdict is a correct verdict. . . . , and what I was particularly pleased about was the time which you took to deliberate in this case. I must say that as an individual I cannot be happy because it is a sad day for America. The thought that citizens of our country would lend themselves to [the] destruction of their own country by the most destructive weapon known to man is so shocking that I can't find words to describe this loathsome offense!.
Statement Upon Sentencing the Rosenbergs, April 5, 1951
(Cit. The Rosenberg Trial Transcript, pp. 2450-2451):
It is ironic that the very country which t[T]hese defendants betrayed and sought to destroy placed every safeguard around them for obtaining a fair and impartial trial, a trial which consumed three weeks in this court. [...] Yet, they made a choice of devoting themselves to the Russian ideology of denial of God, denial of the sanctity of the individual and aggression against free men everywhere[!] instead of serving the cause of liberty and freedom.
(Cit. The Rosenberg Trial Transcript, pp. 2451):    (Cf. Time April 16, 1951, "Worse Than Murder")
I consider your crime worse than murder. Plain[,] deliberate[,] contemplated murder is dwarfed in magnitude by comparison with the crime you have committed[!]. [...]
(Cit. The Rosenberg Trial Transcript, pp. 2451-2452):
[...] I believe your conduct in putting into the hands of the Russians the A-bomb years before our best
[S]scientists predicted Russia would perfect the bomb has already
[C]caused, in my opinion, the Communist
[A]aggression in Korea, with the
[R]resultant casualties exceeding 50,000fifty thousand and who knows but that millions more of
[I]innocent people may pay the price
[O]of your treason. Indeed, by your betrayal you undoubtedly have altered
[T]the course of history to the disadvantage of our country[!].
(Cit. The Rosenberg Trial Transcript, pp. 2453):
In the light of the circumstances, I feel that I must pass such sentence upon the principals in this diabolical conspiracy to destroy a God-fearing nation, which will demonstrate with finality that this nation's security must remain inviolate[!]; that traffic in military secrets, whether promoted by slavish devotion to a foreign ideology or by a desire for monetary gains must cease.
(Cit. The Rosenberg Trial Transcript, pp. 2454-2455):
[...] I have deliberated! for hours, days and nights. [...]
It is not in my power, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, to forgive you. O —[o]nly the Lord can find mercy for what you have done!.
The sentence of the Court upon Julius and Ethel Rosenberg is [that], for the[ir] crime for which you have been convicted, you are hereby [they are] sentenced to the punishment of death[!], and it is ordered upon some day within the week beginning with Monday, May 21st, you shall be executed according to the law.
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