Ethel Rosenberg's Politics

versified, rhyming, & sympathetic poem about the Rosenbergs, focusing on Ethel's politics

Ethel Rosenberg liked to sing

And in a non-oppressive world

She might have been a singer

With few politics unfurled

But around her was injustice

and not much time for song

So she organized at her job

To make her union strong

The shipping clerks went on strike

To wring concessions from the boss

But the delivery drivers said

The picket lines they'd  cross

So Ethel and the other clerks

Laid their bodies on the roads

And kept the trucks from crossing

With their two ton scabbing loads

Later the boss fired Ethel

For her influence at his place

But she took it to he Labor Board

And she won that early case

She was loyal to the masses

And identified with the working classes

We might never have learned her name

But the U.S.A. needed some folks to blame

When Russia acquired an atom bomb of its own

And America's red scare became full blown

Ethel and Julius Rosenberg

Were executed as atomic spies

On June 19, 1953

Framed by right-wing lies

The Rosenbergs were Jewish leftists

Punished for their background and their beliefs

They practiced international solidarity

But they were not atomic thieves

But people said: those commie Jews

Gave Russia the secret key

To build its own atomic bomb

And threaten U.S. supremacy

The judge said Ethel had caused the deaths

Which in the Korean war occurred

But only hysteria can explain

A lie so blatant and absurd

Ethel identified with the masses

And was dedicated to the working classes

We might never have learned her name

But the U.S.A. needed some folks to blame

When Russia acquired an atom bomb of its own

And America's red scare became full blown

Ethel entertained her cell block

With moving musical renditions

And expressed the prisoners' complaints

With a poem about the conditions

She wrote letters to her children

Filled with love and caring

But she knew they might be orphaned

And so her heart was tearing

She and Julius corresponded

And it helped to keep them sane

But they weren't allowed to see each other

Which added to their pain

Ethel's own brother had accused her

And some liberals let her down

But inside herself was the courage

In adversity to stand her ground

She was loyal to the masses

And overthrowing of the ruling classes

We might never have learned her name

But the U.S.A. needed some folks to blame

When Russia acquired an atom bomb of its own

And America's red scare became full blown

One day a government agent 

Visited Ethel in her cell

She could save their precious lives

If a certain story she would tell

If she would confess as accused

To having been an atomic spy

Thus contributing to the red scare

Then they wouldn't have to die

But Ethel said no to that offer

Although she loved to live

But a confession that would hurt her cause

Was something she could not give

The state could never break their spirits

Though it fried their blood and breath

If either had compromised their politics

They might have escaped that gruesome death

The Rosenbergs always said they were innocent

Of the charges for which they died

From death row they called for justice

Against the fascist tide

The innocence of Ethel

Has stood the test of time

The murder of the Rosenbergs

Was an horrific crime

How innocent was Julius

May be subject to debate

But their execution

remains a crime of hate