We Are Your Sons: The Legacy of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg

by Michael Meeropol, Robert Meeropol

In 1950, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg lived with their two sons on New York’s Lower East side. The boys visited their father’s machine shop on Houston Street, rode subways to the Bronx Zoo, were avid Brooklyn Dodger fans. Abruptly one day their life together dissolved – Julius was arrested, then Ethel. They were accused of “The Crime of the Century” and ultimately sent to the electric chair. Their sons were shunted between reluctant relatives and children’s shelters. Eventually, they were adopted and protected from the public eye.

Woven with the letters Ethel and Julius wrote while in prison – many of them previously unpublished – Robert and Michael discuss their memories of that turbulent time. They write about their adoptive parents, Anne and Abel Meeropol, who provided them with security and emotional stability in a culturally rich environment (Abel Meeropol wrote “Strange Fruit,” the anti-lynching anthem made famous by Billie Holiday.) And they talk about their own growth in the politically explosive 1960’s.

This books is a vital social document, told simply yet intensely and persuasively. It is a story the reader will not be able to ignore, both politically compelling and personally moving.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Memoir, American History

433 pages, Hardcover

First published May 8, 1975

Reviews

[Jean Marie Angelo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met Robert Meeropol when he came to Ossining, N.Y., to speak at an anti-death penalty rally. Given that he lost both parents when he was only three, he has dedicated his life to helping children whose parents have been incarcerated. Interviewing him was the high point of my career. This book is the true, sometimes tragic story of what Robert and his brother went through after their parents were executed.

[Bern · Rating 3 out of 5]

Soğuk Savaş ve McCarthy dönemiyle ilgili; Arthur Miller'ın bilfiil içinde olduğu durumu yansıtan Cadı Kazanı'nı, Elia Kazan'ın anılarını okumuş, en sevdiği filmlerden biri The Way We Were olan biri olarak bu kitabı okumamak benim için eksiklik olurdu. Dönem itibariyle biri 8, diğeriyse 4 yaşında olan iki erkek çocuğun yaşadıkları, ebeveynlerinin yaşadıklarından daha fazla yaktı canımı. Anneannelerinin onlara sahip çıkmayışı, ebeveynlerinin bizzat öz dayıları tarafından suçlanması.... Anne-babalarını onların mektuplarıyla aklama çabaları ve seneler sonra benzer durumda olan çocuklar için bir girişim kurmaları, hatta küçük olanın 35'inden sonra hukuk okuması içimi dağladı. İki kardeşin seneler sonra babalarının gerçekten casus olduğunu, ancak atom bombası casusluğuyla ilgili olmadığını delillerle ortaya koyması da işin ayrı bir düşündürücü ve üzücü tarafı. Dediğim gibi, o anne-babadansa beni asıl üzen o iki çocuk oldu, beni asıl etkileyen anne-babanın birbirlerine-avukatlarına-yakınlarına-çocuklarına yazıkları mektuplardansa o iki çocuğun çocukluklarını yaşayamadan avukat kimliğine soyunması, ebeveynleri nedeniyle dışlanması-soyutlanması oldu.

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

NO ONE lost more during the McCarthy era than the sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. A sad sad thing. Hysteria, hatred and ignorance.

[Sonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the evidence remains disputed, it appears that the Rosenberg’s were spies, but not atomic spies. Was the death penalty really called for in this case? They did not get a fair trial. Even Roy Cohn said the government had manufactured evidence against them. So while they probably did break a law that was passed amid the McCarthy hysteria, by far the greater crime was to kill husband and wife on June 19, 1953. Their execution is the true crime of the century that casts an ineradicable black mark on the American criminal justice system and on the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower whose own crime was a failure to grant mercy. They were the first and only to be put to death for their “crime,” while war criminals and profiteers go free and convicted traitors live. Not only the prosecutor’s office was party to misusing its power but the judge and other agencies of government as well had decided before the trial had even begun to impose the Death Sentence, regardless of guilt or innocence, and to use the entire judicial process as an instrument of coercion to extort a false confession to obtain further indictments and political objectives due in part to the excesses of Joseph McCarthy. Cold War hysteria, militarism, and the willingness to fight for anti-communism had served it purposes.

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Memoir of the Rosenberg case from their sons, Michael and Robert Meeropol, reflecting on its devastating impact on their lives. The Meeropols recount their youth, painfully cognizant of their parents' political activism and prosecution for espionage without fully understanding what it meant, in sections of narrative interspersed with letters from their parents in prison, trying their best to buoy their children's spirits. Meanwhile, Michael and Robert bounce from uncaring relatives to an unpleasant aid home to, fortunately, supportive foster parents, who do their best to shield the boys from trauma and world scrutiny. It's interesting to read this book after revisiting E.L. Doctorow's The Book of Daniel; while there are broad similarities between the Meeropols and their fictional counterparts the Isaacsons, it's also hard to avoid that the real people seem much more well-adjusted than the Isaacsons. Michael went on to become an economics professor while Robert become a well-respected political activist. Since the book was written in the mid-'70s, the authors have no doubt of their parents' innocence, a position they've felt compelled to revise (at least regarding Julius). But that's not really the point of the book: even through modern eyes, it's still valuable as a portrait of a family torn apart by their father's crimes and an uncaring System who viewed them as collateral damage.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quotable:

Michael - One of my more unfortunate trademarks developing at this time was a incredible stubbornness and arrogant self-confidence that would drive anyone with a different answer or point of view into a rage.

Julius - You can understand how desolate and barren our existence is since we have been forcibly torn from our boys. We can't hear the sound of our sons. The shouts, the joy, the cry of pain when hurt, the quizzical seeking questions, the thin singing voices, the even breathing when they slept in the stillness of the night all gave richness and warmth to our home.

[Jesse Whitehead · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book will make you feel ill. I don’t know what to think about Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. The truth of that particular trial has been so obscured that it’s not clear what really happened there. It’s clear to their sons that they loved their parents and missed them and being denied contact with them for years damaged them in many ways that took them years to overcome.

Were the Rosenbergs really spies? Were they innocent as they claimed until they died — and their sons continue to claim in this book? It’s easy to see how they might have been accused falsely when you see the perspective of these two boys. There was a great deal of paranoia in the United States at the time and many secrets were sold to hostile governments.

What this book gives is a perspective that I didn’t expect to get. This is the account of two young boys who lost their parents over night and were passed around to foster parents for years while they waited for their parents to be sentenced to death.

If the Rosenbergs were traitors then they deserved the sentence they got. But their sons, Robert and Michael didn’t deserve to be raised by other people. They didn’t deserve to have children told not to play with them because their parents were afraid of associating with communists. They didn’t deserve to go to their parents trial and hear them sentenced to death. They didn’t deserve to read about it in the newspaper. They didn’t deserve the calumny they had to live with for years as children.

The first half of the book is written by Robert and it has short accounts of his experiences followed by copies of letters that his parents wrote back and forth to themselves while in prison. Many of the letters are repetitive and add little to the book, in fact they are probably only there because of what they meant to Robert. Quotes would have worked better.

However, the second half of the book is written by Michael and is really his autobiography of growing up after his parents were killed. It’s fascinating to see how his life was affected, even into adulthood, by his parents and their trial and sentencing.

Both brothers tell a story that is compelling and powerful. You should read this book, if you can find it. Unfortunately it is no longer in print but it’s worth hunting it down.

[Emily Hewitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d give this book 3.5 stars. It was hard to read some sections or take certain sections seriously knowing now that it has come out publicly that Julius Rosenberg was indeed guilty to some extent. That being said, at the time this book was written, the Meeropols (the Rosenbergs’ sons) had no real proof of their parents’ involvement and therefore naturally assumed their innocence. Regardless I definitely don’t think the Rosenbergs deserved the death penalty. I agree with the Meeropols that they were used as an example by the US government to dissuade communists and communist sympathizers. I think it was selfish of the Rosenbergs though to not confess and leave their children as orphans. I would love to know why they refused to speak about their involvement. The letters they wrote to each other in jail (which are featured in this book) are interesting but also seem very scripted. It’s as if they were trying too hard to seem innocent in some of their communications. It is remarkable that the Meeropols turned out as normal as they did with such a traumatic childhood. It was also not a surprise to read that they both have more radical left-leaning political views.

[Barrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book as I am trying to learn more about Abel Meeropol, the writer who adopted these two boys following the trial and execution of their parents. It wasn't very fulfilling in this regard as there aren't many segments which talk about Abel in substantial depth, but I was still drawn into this book at times. Worthwhile if you want to understand left perspectives and the temperature of the US at that time. If you're looking for a detailed account of the Rosenberg trial, Michael acknowledges in the beginning that there are better resources than this book.

[James Christensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by their children Robert and Michael Meeropol (1975) (Hist) '00 - proclaims the innocence of their parents which "The Rosenberg File" by Radosh and Milton (1983) puts to rest as a fairytale. Understandably vitriolic. Interesting for insights into what they, as the Rosenberg children, endured so far as public exploitation and manipulation are concerned. Skimmed the book on account of its clear bias.

[Sara Goldenberg · Rating 1 out of 5]

I heard the author speak and read all I could about the situation. He admits that he has changed his mind since this book came out, so many of its points are moot.

I'm still glad I read most of it, however.

[Chad Montabon · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a few poignant moments, particularly in the final chapter, but overall it is just letters and commentary.

[Panthère Rousse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nous sommes vos fils (j'ai lu la traduction française), de Robert et Michael Meeropol, est l'histoire du couple Rosenberg, des Américains exécutés en 1953 pour «conspiration en vue d'espionner». Au fil des années, j'avais lu des bribes d'histoire et j'étais curieuse d'en savoir plus. Ce livre est écrit par les deux fils de Julius et Ethel, qui avaient respectivement 10 ans et 6 ans au moment de la mort de leurs parents. Il comprend plus de cent lettres écrites par les époux Rosenberg, dans leur intégralité (un autre auteur avait utilisé des extraits de certaines de ces lettres, hors contexte, pour leur faire dire autre chose).

J'ai lu l'édition de 1975, peut-être la seule traduite, mais Robert et Michael (ils s'appellent Meeropol parce qu'ils ont été adoptés, une fois devenus orphelins – leur parenté, côté maternel et paternel, ne voulait pas se charger d'eux) ont publié une édition augmentée en 1986. Ils y réfutent notamment les arguments d'autres auteurs. Un des chapitres supplémentaires, «The Attempted Reconviction of Our Parents: Toward a New Cold War» est une réponse détaillée au livre The Rosenberg File, de Ronald Radosh et Joyce Milton.

Une histoire très intéressante et bien triste...