Evening star., 1951-01-14
How Senate Handled
Red Charges Against
Mrs. Anna Rosenberg
By Cecil HoIIond

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in charge of manpower problems.
Behind that vote and behind
two previous unanimous votes Of
the Senate Armed Services Com
mittee favoring confirmation were
thoroughly exploded charges that
Mrs. Rosenberg. if not a Com
munist herself, had associated
with Communist-front groups in
New York Is years ago.
During the Senate committees
hearings, Senator Morse. Republic
can, of Oregon, committee men,
ber. described the charges as "a
very vicious and unwarranted
smear"
Another Republican committee
member, Senator Cain of Wash
ington, charged after the con-
firmation that witnesses against
Mrs. Rosenberg were "cowardly,
dishonest and .traitorous in their
conduct and testimony" He
added he was urging the commit
tee to prefer perjury charges
against these individuals"
How the charges came about
against Mrs. Rosenberg, a high
salaried labor and personnel con-
sultant for the Rockefellers, Whit
neys and others, who made them
and how they were discredited
by the committees painstaking
work are contained in 381 pages
of testimony taken in closed COM
mittee hearings.
Men Behind the CHARGES
The Star, in this article, pre-
sents the gist of that testimony.
It does so in the belief of a pub
lie interest in such matters-and
as a tribute to the way the Senate
Armed Services Committee con-
Quoted the investigation.
Behind the charges were two
men:
Benjamin H. Freedman of New
York, retired co-owner of the
Woodbury. Laboratories, a self
styled ''non-sectarian" of the
Jewish faith.
Ralph De Sola of New York, an
admitted former Communist, who
insisted in spite of evidence of
misidentiflcation that he had seen
Mrs. Rosenberg at meetings of
the Communistic John Reed Club
in New York in the 1930s.
Associated in the charges in one
way or another, in the committees
published record, were:
Representative Rankin, Demo-
crat, of Mississippi; Representa-
tive Gossett. Democrat, Of Texas:
Gerald L. K. Smith, J. D. Mat
thews, onetime research director
for the House Committee on Un-
American Activities and now re-
searcher for the Hearst press;
Donald Surine, investigator for
Senator Mccarthy. Republican,
of Wisconsin, and Edward K. Nell
lor, reporter for Radio Commen-
tator Fulton Lewis, jr.
After a hearing November %,
at which Mrs. Rosenberg was the
principal witness, the committee
voted, 9 to 0, to send her nominal
ton to the Senate with a favor
able recommendation.
Before the Senate could act.
however. new charges were made.
They revolved around whether
Mrs. Rosenberg had attended
meetings of John Reed Club
charges which Mrs. Rosenberg
had denied earlier and put down
as case of mistaken identity
since there were 40 or more "Anna
Rosenbergs" listed as living in
New York.
On December /, Mr.. Freedman
was in Washington at the Office
of Representative Rankin. While
there. according to his testimony
before the committee, Mr.. Freed
man heard Mr.. Rankin telephone
"Mr. Smith" at the Congress
sional Hotel.
Filed Statement
Later, according to the Freed
man testimony, Mr.. Freedman
went to the hotel and saw Gerald
L. K. Smith to see if he could
throw any light upon the associa-
tions of Mrs. Rosenberg" After
seeing Mr.. Smith and others Mr..
Freedman returned to New York
On Saturday, December 2. Mr..
Freedman testified, he called on
Mr.. Matthews at his apartment in
New York to discuss the appoint
ment. That night he had dinner
with his lawyer, Hallam Richard
son. According to Mr.. Freed
mans testimony, the lawyer told
him he thought he could put him
in touch with a man who would
be able to say whether Mrs.
Rosenberg had ever attended
meetings of a John Reed Club.
He said Mr.. Richardson left his
apartment for a little while and
came back saying that the man
was not at home, but that he had
left a note under his apartment
door for him to call Mr.. Freed
man.
The man, as it turned out, was
Mr.. De Sola. He called Mr..
Freedman later that night, the
testimony showed. and on Sunday,
December 8, they conferred "for