98 Year Old Rosenberg Spy Case Defendant Seeks Justice

98 Year Old Rosenberg Spy Case Defendant Seeks Justice

The Rosenberg atomic spy trial happened a long time ago – over 60 years, in fact – but for a 98 year old retired teacher from New Jersey that hasn’t prevented her now taking legal action to have her conviction overturned. (Picture shows Julius (center) and Ethel Rosenberg, executed for espionage in 1953)

Miriam Moskowitz was found guilty of conspiring to deceive a grand jury. The retired teacher filed papers with the Manhattan federal court saying it was a miscarriage of justice “from the McCarthy era“.

The Wall Street Journal reports that federal prosecutors accused her of conspiring with her then-boss and lover Abraham Brothman, a New York chemical engineer, to persuade a KGB courier to lie to a grand jury about his spy connections. She spent two years in prison and paid a $10,000 fine.

She was convicted on the strength of testimony from the courier, Harry Gold, whose confession to the FBI proved to be instrumental in the Rosenberg case.

Mr. Gold helped authorities catch atomic spy David Greenglass and ultimately led to the arrests of Greenglass’s sister, Ethel Rosenberg, and her husband, Julius, who were convicted of supplying nuclear secrets to the Soviets and executed in 1953.

And it was Mr. Gold’s testimony that also ensnared Ms. Moskowitz, who was briefly a member of the Communist Party and had worked as Mr. Brothman’s secretary at his office in Queens.

Read more at the Wall Street Journal

Scroll to Top