The title is actually taken from the Italian edition of a poem, "If We Die", by Ethel Rosenberg who, together with her husband Julius, was tried and convicted in America of espionage and of passing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union.
The book also confirmed that Julius and Ethel Rosenberg had worked for Soviet intelligence, although it pointed out that their role was not very important.
Julius Caesar | Ethel Merman | Pope Julius II | William Julius Wilson | Julius Caesar (play) | Julius Rudel | Ethel Waters | Sulzbach-Rosenberg | John Julius Angerstein | Julius Francis | Julius | Carol Rosenberg | Alfred Rosenberg | Rosenberg | Julius Hemphill | Willow Rosenberg | Julius Wellhausen | Julius von Pflugk-Harttung | Julius Rosenwald | Julius Nyerere | Julius Erving | Julius Baker | Julius and Ethel Rosenberg | Jimmy Rosenberg | Isaac Rosenberg | Stochelo Rosenberg | Samuel I. Rosenberg | Otto Julius Bierbaum | Julius Wernher | Julius Weise |
The World Federation of Democratic Youth organized this festival against a background of what it described as persecution of communists, such as in West Germany, where Philipp Müller, a delegate to the 3rd WFYS had been killed during a demonstration, and in the United States, where Julius and Ethel Rosenberg had been convicted of espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union, and executed.
In a 1977 profile in The New York Times, Rabbi Rackman cited his opposition to the death penalty for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and his support for Paul Robeson as factors behind the decision.
Among the 40 authors are such well known figures as journalist Carl Bernstein, feminist writer Kim Chernin, scientist Richard Levins, and author/activist Robert Meeropol (son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg).