Petition Seeks Release Of Rosenberg Testimony

Several historical associations are asking for the release of the grand jury testimony that led to indictments against Julius and Ethel Rosenberg on espionage charges.

The petition was filed yesterday in federal court in Manhattan, a block away from the courthouse where the Rosenbergs stood trial 57 years ago. Among those making the request is a son of the Rosenbergs, Robert Meeropol, whose declaration states that he is making the request on other descendants of his parents. Several historians at universities including Yale and Yeshiva, as well as a reporter at the New York Times are also requesting the release of the records.

Grand jury records are presumed sealed, although in 1999, a judge in Manhattan did order the release of testimony from the grand jury investigating Alger Hiss. That judge, Peter Leisure, cited the historical importance of the case in ordering the release over the objections of federal prosecutors here.

Yesterday, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan declined to comment on the recent petition in the Rosenberg case. The Rosenbergs were executed in 1953 for passing on atomic secrets to the Russians during World War II.

The judge who handled the Rosenberg trial, and ordered the death penalty, Irving Kaufman, is dead. The bulk of the Rosenberg case file is housed at the National Archives regional facility in Manhattan on Varick Street, although confirmation was not immediately available that the grand jury records are kept there as well.