June 19, 1953: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, husband and wife, Americans convicted of spying on behalf of the Soviet Union are executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, Westchester County, New York. Julius was 35 years old, Ethel was 37.
They were the 1st American civilians to be executed for treason during peacetime. The Korean War was in its final days, and North Korea was receiving aid from the Soviet Union, as well as from China. But there was not then a declaration of war between America and any nation.
Millions of people around the world wanted to believe that they were innocent. Many others believed that, even if they were guilty, they should not receive the death penalty. But many others believed that spying for the Communists deserved the death penalty. Some people suspected that the desire to believe them guilty, and worthy of execution, was motivated by anti-Semitism.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, declassified documents showed that Julius was a courier for American atomic energy secrets, and Ethel was a recruiter, including of her brother, David Greenglass, who ratted his sister and his brother-in-law out to save himself from "the chair." The real villain of the story, Greenglass served nearly 10 years in prison, and lived until 2014.
The Rosenbergs had 2 sons, left orphans. They were adopted by Abel Meeropol, a songwriter who had written Billie Holiday's anti-lynching song "Strange Fruit" and Frank Sinatra's anti-bigotry song "The House I Live In." Both sons are still alive, and retired from careers as college professors: Michael Meeropol, age 78, economics; Robert Meeropol, 74, anthropology.
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June 19, 1953 was a Friday. It was the off-season for the NFL, the NBA and the NHL. There was a full slate of Major League Baseball games, and then some:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 3-2 at the old Yankee Stadium. Gene Woodling hit a home run for the Bronx Bombers, but Bob Kuzava blew a 2-0 lead, including allowing a home run to Jim Delsing, best remembered as the St. Louis Browns player who pinch-ran for Eddie Gaedel 2 years earlier.
* The New York Giants beat the Milwaukee Braves, 15-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Though the Braves, in their 1st season in Milwaukee, were considerably improved over the year before, their last season in Boston, they got shellacked in this one. The Giants scored 6 runs in the 5th inning, including a home run by Don Mueller; and 5 in the 6th.
* The Brooklyn Dodgers split a doubleheader with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in Boston. The Cubbies won the 1st game, 11-8. George "Shotgun" Shuba hit a home run for Dem Bums, but Billy Loes got clobbered. The Brooks won the 2nd game, 7-1. Wayne Belardi homered to back the pitching of Russ Meyer, "the Mad Monk."
* The Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Browns, 4-1 at Fenway Park in Boston.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 5-2 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Washington Senators, 4-2 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-3 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The following year, with the "Red Scare" over Communism at its all-time height, the team would change its name to the Cincinnati Redlegs. They would change the name back in 1959, resulting in a 1961 World Series that produced a few laughs over the matchup of Yanks vs. Reds.
* And the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10-2 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.