Elizabeth Bentley's Roles During The Cold War

The period before, during, and after World War II called the Cold War lasting from the 1930s to the 1970s was a period of suspicion for American citizens. People began to perceive a communist threat everywhere, from Hollywood to the State Department. The many high-profile cases of individuals spying for the Soviet union in the United States both fueled and reflected the extreme paranoia of society during the Cold War by creating and reflecting the concern of a communist threat in American society.

The exposure of the soviet spy Elizabeth Bentley was an extremely prominent case that greatly fueled the anti-Communist paranoia of society. Bentley headed a major spy ring, but later defected from the Communist Party and became an informant …show more content…
Hiss went to Harvard and Johns Hopkins, graduating to become a consultant to the Department of Justice (“Alger Hiss.” 413) His successful career was cut short when ex-Communist and senior editor of Time Magazine Whittaker Chambers accused Hiss of being a member of the Communist party (“Alger Hiss.” 414) He identified him as being a part of a Communist cell which had been organized in Washington D.C. in the mid-1930s (“Alger Hiss.” 414) Chambers went on to claim that Hiss's role was to encourage Communist penetration of the federal bureaucracy to further advance Communist policies (“Alger Hiss.” 414). Alger Hiss denied Chambers’ accusations, and sued him for libel (“Alger Hiss.” 414). Chambers repeated his previous accusations about Hiss's Communist behaviors to Assistant Secretary of State Adolf Berle and to the FBI (“Alger Hiss.” 414). The trial took place on May 31, 1949, but resulted in a hung jury, so a second trial was scheduled (“Alger Hiss.” 415). The second trial resulted in a guilty verdict for perjury (“Alger Hiss.” 415). Hiss was sentenced to 44 months in a federal penitentiary need citation. Chambers had little evidence to defend his claim against Hiss, yet he received over three years of jail in a federal prison (“Alger Hiss.” 415). This reflects how willing the public was to rid communists from society, even if they posed no direct threat to them or …show more content…
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage of U.S. atomic bomb secrets in 1951 ("Rosenbergs Trial." 401; “Rosenbergs Executed”). David Greenglass, Ethel’s brother, provided the main testimony for the prosecution (“Rosenberg Trial” 403). Greenglass worked with Julius in a machine shop, but was later given a job working on the Manhattan Project (“Rosenberg Trial” 401). Greenglass provided Julius with drawings of the atomic bomb and a description of the facilities at Los Alamos (“Rosenberg Trial 401). Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death by electric chair in 1953 ("Rosenbergs Trial." 402; “Rosenbergs executed”). Many historians believe that the Rosenbergs’ defense attorney, Emanuel Bloch, purposely lost the trial (“Rosenbergs Trial.” 404-405). There were many glaring mistakes that he made as the lead defense attorney, such as not questioning Greenglass’ ability to explain the complicated technology behind the atomic bomb (“Rosenbergs Trial.” 404). Bloch even had the courtroom cleared of spectators when Greenglass’ sketches of the atomic bomb were about to be shown (“Rosenbergs Trial.” 404). This led the jurors to believe that they were going to learn “the secret of the atomic bomb” (“Rosenbergs Trial.” 404). One physicist named Harold Urey attempted to gain executive clemency from President Eisenhower for the