Sophie Rosenberg Appeals to Mamie Eisenhower for Mercy for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (1953)

Date: June 16, 1953

Created By: Sophie Rosenberg

Original or Replica: Original

Era: The Presidency, The Rosenberg Case

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: DDE’s Records as President, Alphabetical File, Box 2672, The Rosenbergs (1); NAID #12608527

This June 1953 telegram from Sophie Rosenberg appeals directly to First Lady Mamie Eisenhower for help in preventing the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Writing as a grieving mother, Rosenberg asks Mamie to intercede with President Dwight D. Eisenhower and persuade him to grant mercy to her children. Rather than addressing the evidence or legal arguments surrounding the espionage case, she makes an intensely personal appeal centered on compassion, family, and a mother’s fear of losing her children.

Rosenberg describes herself as an elderly woman whose days were consumed by grief and asks Mamie to act out of the “charity of your heart.” She also invokes Pope Pius XII, noting that the pope had expressed compassion and appealed for mercy for the Rosenbergs. Rosenberg concludes by promising to pray in gratitude for Mamie if she provides compassionate assistance. The telegram demonstrates how supporters and family members sought to reach President Eisenhower through the First Lady as the executions approached. It also illustrates the emotional and international dimensions of the Rosenberg controversy, showing how appeals for presidential clemency extended beyond legal arguments to emphasize mercy and the human consequences of allowing the death sentences to proceed.