One of the greatest peacetime spy dramas in the nation's history reaches its climax.

As Julius Rosenberg and Morton Sobel convicted of revealing atomic secrets to the Russians

enter the federal building in New York to hear their doom.

I'm Nick Capady-J.

I'm Hannah McCarthy.

And you're listening to Civics 101.

We are continuing our series on federal court trials, the landmark non-supreme court cases

that were followed by the public and the press.

These are the places where the people in the courts meet.

And today we are exploring the 1951 trial of the first ever US citizens to be executed

for espionage during peacetime.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

And Hannah, this trial has a lot in it.

It's tied to communism.

And coming as party of the United States is a fifth column if there ever was one.

McCarthyism?

Everyone knows the stance of decency.

The Manhattan Project and the Cold War.

So this is an espionage case, right?

Yeah.

So I think it would be best before we get to know who Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were

and what they did to understand what espionage actually is.

...