    -2-
                                                  Wy
To understand the various changes in the Coflditi()n5 or Iorton Sobell'5
imprisor~ent, it is necessary to understand that the Ro~eiiber~~3ebell case was
to have become the basis far a series of s0nsational so-called "espionage!?
trials,  These  trials were to prove that the country was honoyccmbod with
spies, with persons ~`:hose alle~:cd sjmpathy for another form of ~ovornment
had turned then into enemies of the United States, and v.-~cn our ~overr~ent -
must execute as well as imprison in ordor to survive,

It is a fact of history that these trials did not take place,  The I?osenbcrgs
were executed, Sobell was imprisoned, but their courage and the cam~'aign in
their behalf guarantted, for a period at least, that there could be only
one--and only 0fl~~~R05enberg~job~~~ Trial,

                                       2.

After Julius Rosenberg was arrested, the Attorney rjoneral?s office and the
Federal' Bure~ of Investigation int~rvievod virtually e~ory living person
who had graduated from New York's City Coile~e `dith ,~r. P,osenber~.  They were
seeking scrn~one who could be pcrsuaded or coerced into testifying falsely
against him.  In the course of this search for a false `:~itness, the prose-
cution came across the name of j:orton Soboll,  `rTh~ther it was boy Cohn or
some other unscrupulous nember of the prosecution staff who first realized
the potential importance of ivorton~Sobell is not ~~o'v~, but the fact t~iat he
was a classmate of Julius ~osenborg, a scientist, and that he was  vacationing'
in Mexico City with his family, ~nade hiw, in 50meone's eyes, an excellent
target for sensational ??i.,~TER SP~'1 and' ??CAUGjT PLE~1NG1,  headlines.

Lest L'r, Sobell foil these headlines by returning to the United States as he'
planned, it was arranged with~L'e,:ican underworld elements t~iat he be beaten,
kidnapped and bro~g'ht over the Te7as border in a blaze of ne':'spaper prints
Undoubtedly, some members of the prosecdtion staff felt t~~t J-o~'ton ~obell's
very innocence of the sensational charges aganst him `:,`ould frighten him into
      ?1
utter  cooperation".  Their error made history.

The first period of Lr. Sobell's imp'risor:~ent was ~ar-~d by' a~\ious and unre-
lenting attcmpts to compel him to testip7 in the case being pre~ar~d against
the Rosenbergs,  It is a matter of record that it `:`ps not until 43 days after
his arrest that the prosecutIon drew up its indictn,nt ag~i'nst him-  ife was
subjected to every conceivable barrassrnent in his rclatidns with his attorneys
and family.  But; by the time the trial opened it beci~e clear that ffiorton
Sobell~~ declara,tion of innocence would become part of t','e court record and
of history,

Just as the death sentcnce a~'ainst L'thel and Julius ~osenberg was correctly
understood, in part, as an attempt to ??~~~ird deurec" ti~em into a false con-
fession, so the 30-year sentence a~ain,t :`~orton ~obell arose from the same
motives,  In effect, the Attorney (~enernlis Office said, to the:a: ??These
sentenccs should tell you t~~t we rnur~i "-usinos,~,  You are lieldiiig up our time-
table of espionage trials,. We need, your cooperation, and we can pay for it
with leniency,'1  -

~he'Rose?~~''erg~
              `and": Sob'~l1 cor~e'ot1'y interpreted this to ::iean that they were
being called upon to denounce innocent men and wcmen, to place these people
in prison and death houses, to Purchase their lives a-A liberties wit~i t,'~
lives and liberties of `other decent A:nericans,
