An Execution in the Family: One Son's JourneyRobert Meeropol was six years old in 1953 when his parents, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, were executed after being convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union at the height of the McCarthy era. Just before they were put to death, the Rosenbergs wrote a letter to their two sons saying they were “secure in the knowledge that others would carry on after them.” The Rosenbergs left their young sons a legacy that was both a burden and a gift, as well as an aching emotional void. Robert Meeropol grew up torn between the need to pursue his political values and his intense fear that personal exposure might subject him and his family to violence or even death. An Execution in the Family details Robert Meeropol’s political odyssey from being the Rosenbergs’son to becoming a prominent political activist in his own right, and it chronicles a very personal journey of self-discovery. This is the story of how he tried to balance a strong desire to live a normal life and raise a family with a growing need to create something useful out of his childhood nightmare. It is also a poignant account of how, at age forty-three, he finally found a way to honor his parents and be true to himself. |
Contents
1 Losing at Monopoly | 1 |
2 New Name New Life | 23 |
3 Disguised as a MildMannered Liberal | 45 |
4 MushHead | 73 |
5 Rosenberg Son | 115 |
6 Denial and Defeat | 155 |
7 Realizing the Dream | 185 |
8 On David Greenglasss Doorstep | 207 |
9 Defeating Death | 227 |
10 Constructive Revenge | 245 |
Epilogue | 267 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Abel and Anne Abel Meeropol activism activists adults Anne and Abel anti-capital arrest asked atom bomb atomic spies attended attorney became began believe brother camp campus capital punishment Communist Court David and Ruth David Greenglass death penalty didn’t dozen Earlham Elli Elli’s ents Ethel and Julius execution father felt files friends fund-raising funds government’s Greensboro Massacre guilty happened Harry Gold Hernán high school innocence Julius Rosenberg kids killed knew learned left-wing lives Manny Meeropol meeting Michael months mother movement Mudpie Mumia Mumia Abu-Jamal NCRRC never Nizer organizing parents Party Perlin police political prison progressive Randy Rayna remember reopening effort RFC’s Robert Meeropol Ruth Greenglass secret social someone Soviet Union Springfield summer talk thought tion told took transcriptions trial Venona wanted week weekend York City