Synopses & Reviews
"Inspirational . . . moving . . . engaging . . . should be required reading."
- Michael Moore
"A riveting and deeply moving human document, filled with the ache and longing of a son bereaved by history."
- Jonathan Kozol
"Heart-wrending, honest memoir . . . Meeropol's captivating memoir deserves a spot on American history bookshelves."
- Publishers Weekly
"Touchingly sincere."
- The New York Times Book Review
"What is compelling about Robert Meeropol's poignant memoir is his utter honesty in examining the question of whether his parents were guilty of espionage. Yet, this extraordinary candor does not diminish his anger at the travesty of justice that deprived him of his mother and father. His story is a personal, anguished search for truth, even while it illuminates a tragic moment in the history of our country."
- Howard Zinn
"I was intrigued by this brilliantly honest memoir in which Robert Meeropol describes his struggle to honor his heritage as the son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg while striving to create his own identity. He writes powerfully of his childhood years of self-muting, his adult years of self-searching. And he writes with a lawyer's acumen on the question of his parents' guilt or innocence of the crime for which they were executed."
- E. L. Doctorow
Synopsis
One of the sons of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg recounts the painful legacy left to him by his parents.
Synopsis
Robert Meeropol was six years old in 1953 when his parents, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, were executed. This title details Meeropol's political and personal odyssey from Rosenberg son to prominent political activist.
Synopsis
Robert 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 Meeropols political odyssey from being the Rosenbergsson 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.
Synopsis
An Execution in the Family details Robert Meeropol's political odyssey from Rosenberg son to political activist in his own right, and chronicles a very personal story of self-discovery. It 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 nightmare childhood. It is also a poignant account of how, at age forty-three, he finally found a way to honor his parents and also be true to himself.
About the Author
Robert Meeropol is the founder and executive director of the Rosenberg Fund for Children (RFC) and the younger son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. He has been a progressive activist, author, and speaker for thirty years. Since its founding in 1990, the RFC has provided for the education and emotional needs of both targeted activist youth and children in this country whose parents have been harassed, injured, jailed, lost jobs, or died in the course of their progressive activities. Robert Meeropol lives in Massachusetts with his family.