Who Are Julius & Ethel Rosenberg In Fellow Travelers? True Story Explained

The Showtime and Paramount+ series Fellow Travelers depicts the real-life espionage story of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. The major news story gained international attention during the early 1950s when the Red and Lavender Scares during the McCarthyism era of American politics was at its all-time high.

Most of the first two episodes of Fellow Travelers take place in Washington D.C. during this dark and pivotal time in American history when Senator McCarthy and Investigations Committee Leader Roy Cohn essentially hunted for any suspected communists and homosexuals within the ranks of the U.S. Federal Government.

Fellow Travellers episode 2 raises the intensity of the hidden love affair between Hawk Fuller and Tim Laughlin, two closeted gay men who had to conceal their sexual interest for the sake of their jobs in the U.S. Federal Government.

The Showtime series is not based on a true story. However, the narrative draws from many real-life historical events and contexts that shape the plot, characters, and overarching themes of the hidden romance between Hawk and Tim. The show discusses the heightened fear and paranoia surrounding communism during that time.

One of the most significant political and cultural events during that time was the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. It sent a terrifying message to the American people about concealing any part of their lives.

Julius & Ethel Rosenberg Were Convicted Of Spying For The Soviet Union in 1951

Fellow Travelers Episode 2 accurately depicts how Julis and Ehtel Rosenberg were real-life spies whose allegiance belonged to the Soviet Union. Tensions were incredibly high during the early years of the Cold War between the United States and the U.S.S.R.

The atmosphere was spread with mass suspicions about espionage activities and other types of surveillance. Julius and Ethel were proven to be confirmed agents of the U.S.S.R.

They were living in the United States and transferring critical information about American technology and military capabilities to the Soviet Union. Julius was formerly a member of the Army Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, in the 1940s and was later discharged for being a known member of the United States Communist Party.

Through his expertise and access as a prominent American engineer, Julius Rosenberg transferred thousands of classified documents on American military and technological advancements to the Soviet Union.

Julius was the person responsible for recruiting David Greenglass. David was working on the Manhattan Project and was the brother of his wife, Ethel. The main motive to recruit him was that Julius required further assistance submitting the classified documents to the U.S.S.R.

Julius & Ethel Rosenberg Were Executed By The U.S. Federal Government In 1953

Greenglass was the main reason why Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of espionage and were later executed by the U.S. Federal Government. David Greenglass was arrested on suspicion of spying by the FBI in 1950. He confessed to transferring sensitive information about the United States classified technology and military capabilities to the Soviet Union.

Greenglass entered into a plea and agreed to identify Julius as an agent of the Soviet government. Julius was arrested one month after Greenglass’s arrest and confession. David Greenglass and his wife Ruth later testified against Julius Rosenberg and reportedly went along with the United States government’s strategy to implicate Ethel as well.

David claimed in court that he had given Julius a hand-drawn sketch of one of the atomic bombs being developed for the Manhattan Project in Julius and Ethel’s living room. However, in 2001, David took a U-Turn and admitted that he provided false testimony to have all of Ruth’s charges dropped.

Under the Espionage Act of 1917, Julius and Ethel were sentenced to death and both were executed by electric shock on June 19, 1953.

How The Rosenberg Executions Affected The Lavender Scare In Fellow Travelers

The news of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg’s execution by the U.S. Federal Government sent shockwaves through American society in 1953. It sparked widespread fear and paranoia among citizens, as showcased in Fellow Travelers episode 2.

The State Department launched a ruthless campaign to root out and eradicate any suspected communist activity, leading to a purging of individuals labeled as “deviants,” including homosexuals working in the government.

Hawk, who works for the State Department, and Tim, who works under Cohn and Senator McCarthy, realize the incredible threat their secret romance poses to their lives and careers, as demonstrated by the Rosenberg executions.

About Fellow Travelers

Fellow Travelers is an American historical romance political thriller television miniseries based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Thomas Mallon. Starring Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey, it centers on the decades-long romance between two men who first meet during the height of McCarthyism in the 1950s. The series premiered on October 27, 2023, on Showtime.

After a chance encounter in Washington D.C. in the 1950s, Hawkins Fuller (Bomer) and Timothy Laughlin (Bailey) start a volatile romance that spans “the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s, the drug-fueled disco hedonism of the 1970s and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, while facing obstacles in the world and in themselves”.