Ils Ont Électrocuté Deux Innocents Ethel et Julius Rosenberg
Mitel Berg
Paris: Imprimerie Spéciale du P.C.F., 1953
Lithographic poster on paper - 47 x 31¾ inches 
 
A striking Cold War protest poster issued by the French Communist Party following the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted in the United States of passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. Electrocuted at Sing Sing Prison on June 19, 1953, the case provoked intense international controversy and widespread demonstrations across Europe.
 
The design centers on a grotesque caricature of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose refusal to grant clemency became a focal point for criticism among leftist and Communist organizations abroad. Rendered with a distorted grin revealing rows of electric chairs, the image is set against a vivid red ground—an unmistakable visual indictment of American justice. The headline reads: “Ils ont électrocuté deux innocents — Ethel et Julius Rosenberg,” while the closing declaration, “Que les assassins soient maudits à jamais,” translates roughly as “May the assassins be cursed forever.”
 
Printed in Paris by the Imprimerie Spéciale du P.C.F., the official press of the French Communist Party, the poster stands as a vivid example of early Cold War propaganda and the global political reaction to one of the most controversial espionage trials of the twentieth century.
 
A visually arresting and unapologetically confrontational example of mid-century political poster art.
 
Condition: repaired tears and minor restoration at edges and along vertical and horizontal folds; foxing spots in background.