Secrets, Lies and Atomic Spies is a documentary film which premiered on US television (PBS) in 2002.
It is an episode of the long-running program NOVA which is devoted to the history of science and technology (season 29 episode 04).
This episode covers two topics which are closely connected with each other:
(1) How to make and break a secret system of communication. Specifically, how to break the secret system of communication used by the Soviet Union.
(2) The case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who were arrested in 1950, convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage in 1951 and executed in 1953.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Writer, producer and director: Tug Yourgrau
** Principal advisor: Stephen Budiansky
** Narrator: Liev Schreiber
** Run time: 56 minutes
Several persons are interviewed in this film. Here are the names of the participants (listed in alphabetical order):
** Joseph Albright – journalist – co-author of the book Bombshell (1997)
** Robert Louis Benson – historian (NSA)
** Stephen Budiansky – historian – co-author of the book Battle of the Witts (2000)
** Samuel “Sam” Cohen (1921-2010) – nuclear physicist (Los Alamos)
** Michael Dobbs – journalist (Washington Post)
** Meredith Gardner (1912-2002) – US code-breaker
** Joan Hall (1929-2023) – wife of Theodore “Ted” Hall
** Theodore “Ted” Hall (1925-1999) – scientist (his statement was recorded in 1997)
** John Haynes – historian (Library of Congress)
** Harvey Klehr – historian (Emory University)
** Marcia Kunstel – journalist – co-author of the book Bombshell (1997)
** Robert Lamphere (1918-2002) – retired FBI agent
** Robert McQueen (1920-2017) – former FBI agent
** Michael Meerepol (born 1943) – son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
** Boria Sax – son of Saville Sax (1924-1980)
** Alexander Vassiliev (born 1962) – former KGB agent
Archive footage is used between the talking heads. Archive footage is used to support and supplement the statements made by the participants. Archive footage is also used when the narrator is talking.
In July 1945, the US tested the first nuclear bomb. The test was successful. Two nuclear bombs were used on Japan in August 1945. At the time, no other country in the world had this type of weapon in its arsenal.
The US had a monopoly on nuclear weapons.
American politicians cherished this position.
They realized that other nations might eventually develop such a weapon, but they hoped it would take a long time for any other government to catch up with the US.
In 1949, only four years later, the Soviet Union was able to test its first atomic bomb. The US monopoly on nuclear weapons had been broken. American politicians did not like this.
They felt this was far too soon. They felt that somebody must have stolen the secret of how to build a nuclear bomb and somebody must have given it to the USSR. They regarded this as a crime (even though it was in fact just a matter of understanding physics).
They were angry. Who had committed this crime? Who were the perpetrators? Somebody had to be blamed for this. Somebody had to pay for this.
It did not take long for the US system to find somebody who could be blamed for this situation. Somebody who would have to pay for this.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were arrested in 1950. They were not charged with espionage. They were charged with conspiracy to commit espionage. The difference is significant.
** If you are charged with espionage, the government must prove that you actually did it (which may be difficult or impossible).
** If you are charged with conspiracy to commit espionage, the government only says that you wanted to do it (which is much easier to prove).
According to the prosecution, Julius and Ethel had somehow acquired top-secret information about how to make a nuclear bomb and they had handed this information over to agents of the USSR.
In 1951, they were tried in a court of law where they were found guilty. The sentence for both was death by electrocution. In 1953, both sentences were carried out. Julius and Ethel were executed in the electric chair.
The evidence presented against them was not impressive; it was limited and seemed to be of dubious quality, but they were still found guilty. Why?
The answer is that the trial took place in a tense moment: it was during the Cold War (1945-1990); during the Second Red Scare (1947-1957); and during the Korean War (1950-1953).
It was a high-profile case; a symbol of the global conflict between east and west.
Many people on the left wing of politics were convinced that the Rosenbergs were innocent and that they had been framed by the US government, because the evidence against them was limited and seemed to be of dubious quality.
Many people on the right wing of politics were convinced that the Rosenbergs were guilty, because the US government said so and because it was important to show the world that the US government was not soft on communism.
After the end of the Cold War in 1990, new evidence about the old case became available. Scholars were allowed to study secret archives of the former Soviet government. In addition, the US government decided to release numerous documents which had been classified during the Cold War.
This film looks at the old case against Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, using new evidence and new information which has become available after the end of the Cold War.
What about Julius? Was he a Soviet spy or not? What about his wife Ethel? Was she a Soviet spy or not?
The answer to the first question is yes: Julius Rosenberg was a Soviet spy; he was active; he was part of a secret network.
The answer to the second question is no: Ethel Rosenberg was not a Soviet spy. While she knew what her husband was doing, she was not active and she was not part of a secret network.
During the trial, the US government claimed Julius was a Soviet spy. At the time, they were actually able to prove this claim, but they never presented the proof in court. Why not? They did not want to reveal the source. They did not want to reveal how and why they knew it.
This film explains how and why they knew it. The US government was able to read all messages sent between the Soviet embassy in Washington, DC, and the Soviet government in Moscow.
The Soviets knew this but did not worry about it, because all messages were sent in a secret code which was regarded as impossible to break.
What the American code-breakers were reading was merely a bunch of letters and numbers which did not make any sense at all.
The US attempt to break the secret Soviet code is known as the Venona Project. Information about this project was a deep secret for many years. It was not released by the US government until 1995.
The secret code was impossible to break. But as explained in the film, the American code-breakers managed to decipher some secret messages, because the Soviets sometimes made a mistake when a message was entered into the secret code.
In the film, American code-breaker Meredith Gardner explains how he was able to break the code and decipher some secret messages. He also explains that one of his colleagues was looking over his shoulder while he was working on the secret documents.
The name of this colleague was William Weisband who was later exposed as a Soviet spy. He warned the Soviets that the Americans were close to breaking the secret Soviet code, and therefore it was time to be careful.
The US government knew that Julius was a Soviet spy. They also knew that his wife Ethel was not a Soviet spy. Why was she arrested and charged, when the US government knew she was not a Soviet spy?
She was arrested and charged in order to put pressure on her husband. The US government wanted him to name names. They told him that if he was ready to co-operate, if he was ready to name names, they would go easy on his wife.
However, Julius refused. He did not wish to name any names, and therefore there was no deal: Ethel was charged in the same way as Julius. And in the end, she suffered the same fate as her husband.
How much did Julius know about the atomic bomb? As explained in the film, Julius did not know much. His knowledge was limited. Even if he had told the Soviets everything he knew, it would not help them build an atomic bomb. It might tell them that they were on the right track, but his contribution was not substantial; not significant.
When the Americans were working on the atomic bomb, the workers were divided into separate groups. The members of each group only knew what was going on in their own group. They had no knowledge about the work done in other groups. Very few people knew the whole story. Very few people knew everything.
This division of labour was done on purpose. The workers were divided into separate groups in order to minimize the risk of a leak.
If there was a leak from one group, the damage would be minor, because a leak from one group was not enough for an enemy to build a bomb.
Julius was not the only Soviet spy. There were other Soviet spies among the people who were working on the atomic bomb. There were other spies who knew much more than Julius. In the film, two names are mentioned:
** Theodore “Ted” Hall
** Klaus Fuchs
What happened to them? They were never arrested, never charged and never convicted by the US government.
Theodore Hall was interrogated by the FBI. When the interrogation ended, he was allowed to go home. Nothing happened to him. No arrest. No charge. No prosecution and no conviction.
Klaus Fuchs moved to the UK where he was charged and convicted. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison. He served nine years and four months. He was released in 1959.
Ted Hall and Klaus Fuchs knew more than Julius. But they were not executed. Klaus Fuchs served prison time in the UK, while nothing happened to Ted Hall.
Julius was a small fish with limited knowledge. His wife Ethel was not even a spy. But Julius and Ethel were both executed. They were the first and the only American citizens to be executed for the crime called conspiracy to commit espionage.
When we compare the cases of these four persons, we can see a clear pattern. This pattern is the reason why some people say that Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were not given a fair trial.
What do reviewers say about NOVA? What do reviewers say about this episode of NOVA?
On IMDb, NOVA has a rating of 87 percent, which is a high rating for a long-running program. On IMDb, this episode of NOVA has a rating of 75 percent.
On Amazon, there is only one review of this episode which is based on the transcript of the program and not the actual film. This review offers a rating of five stars (100 percent).
Having watched this episode of NOVA, I find that it has positive and negative elements. Let me explain.
THE POSITIVE ELEMENTS
** The film presents the Venona Project in great detail.
** The film explains how and why US code-breakers were able to decipher some secret Soviet messages.
** Klaus Fuchs (1911-1988) is named. His role is explained. We learn that he played an important role.
** Ted Hall and his friend Saville Sax are mentioned. Their roles are explained. We learn that Ted Hall played an important role, while Saville Sax played a minor role.
** William Weisband (1908-1972) is mentioned. He was the Soviet spy who warned the Soviets that US code-breakers were on the verge of cracking the secret Soviet code system. He served one year in prison. He was never prosecuted for espionage.
THE NEGATIVE ELEMENTS
** The film focuses so much on Venona and how to break the Soviet secret system of communication that there is not much time left to focus on the trial against Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and how it was conducted.
** David Greenglass (1922-2014) (Ethel’s brother) is mentioned but only briefly. He played an important role during the trial against his sister and her husband, but this is not explained.
He made a deal with the government. He gave false evidence against his sister in order to save his wife Ruth and to avoid the death sentence, but this is not mentioned.
** Harry Gold (1910-1972) is not mentioned. His role is not explained. He was a government witness during the trial against Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, but this is not explained.
** Roy Cohn (who was one of four prosecutors in the trial against Julius and Ethel Rosenberg) is not mentioned.
After winning a high-profile case such as this, Cohn was suddenly an important lawyer and an influential person. His role in the trial is not explained.
** Irving R. Kaufman (1910-1992) (who was the federal judge in the case against Julius and Ethel Rosenberg) is not mentioned.
As a judge he was supposed to be neutral and impartial, but his words and his actions showed that he sided with the prosecution from the beginning to the end.
In his statement upon sentencing the defendants, he claims that they had given the Soviets the atomic bomb, he blames them for the outbreak of the Korean war and for the casualties which the US army had suffered during this war, which had not yet ended when he spoke:
“I believe your conduct in putting into the hands of the Russians the A-bomb years before our best scientists predicted Russia would perfect the bomb has already caused, in my opinion, the Communist aggression in Korea, with the resultant casualties exceeding 50,000 and who knows but that millions more of innocent people may pay the price of your treason.”
CONCLUSION
Obviously, there is a limit to how much information you can present in a documentary film which runs for less than one hour, but I cannot ignore the fact that this film has some flaws.
As you can see, my complaint is not so much about mistakes; it is more about omissions. About important information which could and should have been included.
As stated above, the film covers two topics which are closely connected with each other. It seems the director focused so much on the first topic that there was not enough time left to cover the second topic in proper way.
I like this film and I want to give it a good rating. But as you can see, there are some flaws which cannot be overlooked.
I have to remove one star because of these flaws. Therefore, I think it deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).
REFERENCES
# 1. Books
** To Win a Nuclear War: The Pentagon's Secret War Plans by Daniel Axelrod and Michio Kaku (1987)
** Bombshell: The Secret Story of America’s Unknown Atomic Spy Conspiracy by Joseph Albright & Marcia Kunstel (1997)
** The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America by Allen Weinstein & Alexander Vassiliev (2000)
** Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America by Harvey Klehr & John Earl Haynes (2000)
** Battle of Witts: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II by Stephen Budiansky (2000)
** Final Verdict: What Really Happened in the Rosenberg Case by Walter Schneir (2010)
** The Invisible Harry Gold: The Man Who Gave the Soviets the Atom Bomb by Allen M. Hornblum (2010)
** The Venona Secrets: The Definitive Exposé of Soviet Espionage in America by Herbert Romerstein & Eric Breindel (2014)
** The Brother: The Untold Story of the Rosenberg Case by Sam Roberts (first edition 2001) (second edition 2014)
# 2. Documentary films
** The Unquiet Death of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (1974); an extended version of this film was shown on US television (PBS) in 1978 (25 years after the execution took place) (it was released on DVD in 2010)
** Heir to an Execution: A Granddaughter’s Story (2004)
** Where’s My Roy Cohn? (2019)
** Bully. Coward. Victim. The story of Roy Cohn (2019)
** The Compassionate Spy (2022)
*****
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
arrested in 1950
convicted in 1951
executed in 1953
*****
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg executed
San Antonio Express, 19 June 1953
*****
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