Julius (May 12, 1918 - June 19, 1953) and Ethel (September 28, 1915 - June 19, 1953) Rosenberg were United States citizens who spied for the Soviet Union and were tried, convicted, and executed for conspiracy to commit espionage. They were instrumental in the transmission of information about top-secret military technology and prototypes of mechanisms related to the atomic bomb, which were of value to the Soviet nuclear weapons program. Defenders of the Rosenbergs, including their sons, maintained that they were innocent and victims of Cold war paranoia. After the fall of the USSR, information concerning the case was declassified, including a decoded Soviet cables, which detailed Julius's role as a courier and recruiter for the Soviets and Ethel's role as an accessory. The Rosenbergs' sons' believe that he did not deserve the death penalty and that she was wrongly convicted.