An Execution in the Family: One Son's Journey

by Robert Meeropol

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 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.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, History, Autobiography, Biography, Politics

298 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Larry Bassett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly because I am of a particular political persuasion, I have known about Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for many years. They are martyrs in the cause of justice denied in the McCarthy years of the early 1950s. The Rosenbergs were executed in 1953 for allegedly being communist spies for the Soviet Union. They could have avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty. They had two young sons, age 6 and 10, when they were killed by the government. The boys'last name was changed when they were adopted and became part of another family. But they knew from whence they came and it affected their lives. An Execution in the Family is told by the younger of the sons, Robert, looking back at his life from the vantage point of being in his fifties. The book was published on the 50th anniversary of the execution.

The book begins by following the daily life of Robert as he grows up, marries, makes career decisions and has children. It can be downright mundane, noting for example the death of a pet cat by being frozen to death. It is not a “deep” book unless you examine it at an anthropological level and even at that it is merely one example of life for a person touched by notoriety and struggling not to be consumed by that notoriety. If Robert was not a son of the Rosenbergs, you would not be likely to be reading this book. Probably it would never have been published. The first forty percent of the book is the story of a man trying to live his life anonymously, and succeeding. Not much to write home about other than musings about daily life and occasionally about going public. There were personally significant life events as there would be with anyone. Then a book The Implosion Conspriacy is published in 1973 that becomes a best seller and forces his hand about being public about his identity as one of the Rosenberg boys.

On page 117, An Execution in the Family changed, for me, from a three to a four star book. The book became one about being an issue organizer, one of my major life experiences. The middle third of the book deals with Meeropol’s conceptualization and work of the RFC, the Rosenberg Fund for Children. The RFC provides benefits and services for children who are suffering as a result of the activism of a parent.

The RFC celebrated my parents’ resistance; it did not proclaim their innocence. This focus was consistent with the RFC support for the children of targeted activists. We never claimed that the parents of our beneficiaries were either innocent or completely virtuous.

The book concludes with the author’s expansion into working against the death penalty and how he tries to combine that with the RFC work.
The book includes some self congratulation and second guessing from Robert Meeropol about his past decisions and actions. The use of the benefit of hindsight humanizes the book as Robert goes through his evolving beliefs about the guilt or innocence of his parents as well as his strategic decisions impacting the still strong legacy of his parents’ trial and execution.

An Execution in the Family is the story of one person’s journey to activism. He gets attention and draws an audience because of what happened very publicly to his parents almost sixty years ago. While the book is readable it is not that well written. Too much mundane detail takes away from the human drama. However, because it resonates with my life, I give it four stars and recommend it to progressive social activists and anyone with an interest in the Rosenberg case.

[Shawna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was full of interesting information that really made me rethink how my government operates. I struggled to try and understand how, in particular, Ethel Rosenberg could have been sent to the electric chair. I have read other sources about the Rosenbergs, and they agree that Ethel was executed as means to leverage information from Julius. Imagining my mother killed by the government would have turned me into the Unabomber. I admire both Michael and Robert for becoming such produductive, socially responsible, family men. The book did drag a bit when Robert got into the minute details of his activism and his bouncing from college to college and his post college ramblings. There definitely could have been some editing of the middle chapters.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by the son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. I found it riveting. I found him to be so honest both with what happened to him as a child, but especially his nuanced understanding of what his parents did. Were they innocent? He was open to new information over the years and did not hide behind a "pat" answer.I also like the way he laid out the "old left" and the "new left." And I appreciated the fact that he was an activist from a young age, trying to live into the legacy left by his parents. He has started the Rosenberg Fund for Children which is his life's work and which is doing great work. Inspiring!

[Sybelle van Erven · Rating 1 out of 5]

See, I thought this subject would interest me. The story of what happens to the son of a couple that was executed for espionage in the McCarthy era (he was only 4 yrs. old, I belive). It should have been fascinating, but it was written in such a boring fashion that I gave up on it after a few chapters. I still think I'd like to read a first person account of something like that, but I need to find a different author.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haunting and fascinating... this book opened my eyes to the kind of persecution that still takes place in our country and how it effects the children of people with views that are not mainstream.

[Michele · Rating 1 out of 5]

I give up. This book wasn't what I thought it was. What this book is a giant yawn fest of a middle class kid growing up in the mid 1960s. The adopted parents did a great thing by taking in the kids and educating them and loving them and giving them a stable home. But this book never should have been published. It offers no substantial addition to the Rosenberg saga, which I think needs to be explored more, especially in our current time. Were the parents guilty? Maybe both? Maybe just Julius? I don't know. But if you want any information on the case and the wide spread ramifications to our society at large, especially now, this book isn't for you. If you are interested in what happened to the children, then sure go ahead. You can probably get less fluff on the wikipedia pages for Robert and his brother Michael however. In my opinion, don't waste your money on this book.

[Marygrace Antkowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Meeropol is an intelligent, caring individual who took what life gave him and made the very best of it. I applaud the courageous way he met all of life's challenges and pays homage to his birth parents and adoptive parents and all the people who supported him and rallied to his parents defense throughout the years.

Mr. Meeropol's story is compelling, sweet, sensitive and honest. I enjoying learning about him and his parents.

[Sharon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although I find the story of what happened to the Rosenberg's tragic and feel strongly that there was a miscarriage of justice, this book is painful to read. Being the son of the Rosenberg's does not make you a writer. I thought that the book would be about the case and the trial, but rather it was like a long, boring, self-congratulatory journal entry.

[Roger Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A black mark on our history

I think what was done to the Rosenbergs was terrible. Robert's story is certainly sad. Where were those groups that should have challenged what was done to these children. I hope we never see this type of government behavior sanctioned again.

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not sure what I expected when I picked this book up from bookoutlet. As a history major in University, I knew about the Rosenburg case. I also watched a few documentaries on their story which always ask the same questions; were they guilty or not? Or, worse yet, was Julius guilty, and Ethel was an innocent person sent to execution? It is really possible that two innocent people were sent to the electric chair by their own government? After all this, I could not resist a book written by the youngest son of the Rosenburg's.

If you pick this book up expecting a "poor me" story from Robert, you will be very disappointed. From the first page of this book, I could not put it down. Robert, given the fact that he was six when his parents were executed, does not have much to share about his life with them. He adds what he can but, the majority of this story is about Robert's life after the execution of his biological parents. Of any first hand account I have read of someone losing their parents in any way, Robert's story is one that I will always remember. The biggest lesson I took from his story was that of resilience. Robert and his older brother, Michael, could have hid for their entire lives behind their adoptive name, Meeropol. They could have stormed the government as young men to demand answers for their parents. They could have gotten involved in substance use and/or criminal activity as a way of "coping" with what happened to them. They did none of those things though, despite Robert's one arrest as a young man for demonstrations. Instead, they both worked hard, explored their own interests in life, and went down their own paths. They both chose the world of academics, and then further their reach into to philanthropy as a way to honor their parents. They turned what happened to them as young children into something positive moving forward. Perhaps one day the name Rosenburg will not be linked to the Communist party and espionage. Maybe one day it will be associated with helping children to overcome their own challenges in life.

You have to embrace yours past in order to move forward with your future. 5 stars for a book I could not put down.

[Derek Kreider · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always like to take a look at the 1-2 star reviews before I rate a book to see if I missed something about a book that I really enjoyed. Usually I think the lower reviews are skewed, but this time, I really do understand where they're coming from. If you're coming to this book in order to get an action-packed look at espionage and execution, then this is definitely not going to fulfill that expectation. The book is long, slow, and filled with a lot of information that you probably don't care at all about.

For me, however, I love history. I came to this book because I'm doing research in regard to propaganda. So hearing Robert's story and getting a deeper look at what most view as mundane was exactly what I was looking for. While I strongly disagree with Robert's religious views (his secular humanism vs. my Christianity) and his politics (his Leftism vs. my Anarchism), he is an extremely thoughtful person who lays his life bare here.

[Lauren Wallpe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read but towards the end I just found it repeating the same thoughts a little bit.

[Lady · Rating 2 out of 5]

The beginning/first 2/3rds of the book where very enjoyable and interesting. But the last third was very drawn out. I actually DNF it with about 50 pages to go.

[Olivia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book knowing nothing about the Rosenberg case except that they were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage and executed. That was all. So I went into this book with a completely open mind. One thing throughout the entire book that had me a bit turned off was his never-ending politicking, and in the latter half as he gets older his constant politicking but this time making a point and then taking it right back. He constantly refers to himself and his ideals as in the middle but slightly to the left. I consider mine to be dead in the middle with strong beliefs on both sides but frankly, I had a hard time believing that any of his beliefs were "in the middle". Overall, I would have given this book three stars if it weren't for his epilogue. Once you've read the epilogue, you feel as if the first two hundred and sixty-five pages were just being sickeningly politically correct to get you to read all the way until he lets loose his real views and release his judgements on the world and the people in it in those last few pages. And it was those last few pages that dropped my rating from three stars to one.

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

In 1953 the US government executed Robert Meeropol’s parents for the conspiracy to sell the secret of the atomic bomb to the Soviets. Although the case is ever present in the book, it’s by no means a complete representation of the events that lead to his parents execution nor is it the point of the book. This book is about the son’s life. It’s a very personal story at times interesting at time ordinary. Overall you get a sense of how murder causes a ripple effect through families regardless of whether the murder was state sanctioned or not. (5.5/10)

[Sarah Funke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Still reading it, though it goes at quite a clip and is a fairly interesting portrait of the time and place. It's by the younger son of Julius and Ethel Ros enberg, who was three when his parents were incarcertaed and six when they wereexecuted.

[Shootsie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book accidentally when researching the song "Strange Fruit". The connection to this book and the song is not worth mentioning, however I am certainly glad to have found this read since it exposed me to history that I was not aware of in depth.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great follow up to Doctrorow's The Book of Daniel.

[Regina Tabor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A memoir about one sons memory of the life and death of his "communist" parents and the people who raised him after their execution in the USA.

[Chad Montabon · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want a 'blow by blow' account of the Rosenberg affair, this isn't it. It is, however, a good look into the life of a 'Red Diaper Baby' and his life.