Heir to an Execution: A Granddaughter's Story

Director: Ivy Meeropol
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Description

The trial and execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg during the height of The Cold War shook America to its core. And in light of the stranglehold Senator Joe McCarthy's red scare propaganda had on the nation, a true reflection of Julius and Ethel never surfaced during this volatile period. Now fifty years later, their granddaughter, Ivy Meeropol, goes on an exhaustive quest to find the "true" Rosenbergs, and to also answer the question that has haunted her family to this day: What drove the Rosenbergs to sacrifice their lives and jeopardize the future of their children?

Customer Reviews:

"Heir to Greatness".......2007-06-20

An absolutely GREAT Documentary. The title of my review does not refer to the Rosenberg's actions in Julius's spying for the Soviet Union, But the integrity of the Rosenberg's in not naming names and the way the Rosenbergs two sons have dealt with the tragedy. There are also great interviews with survivors. I remember the name Sobel from the Newspaper Headlines of the day. Ivy Meeropol interviews Sobel along with a Female who was also arrested.
In one of the previous reviews the Cemetery where the Rosenbergs were buried were buried is declared to not want to help in finding the Grave site. I asssume that the reviewer is not a veteran in finding graves. My Father and I had a harder time than Ivy did of finding Josh Gibson's Grave in the Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh.
One thing that I find curious in both the film AND the comments is that no one mentioned that Abe Meeropol (who adopted the Rosenberg boys) wrote the Anti-Lynching anthem "Strange Fruit". (No, Billie just sang it. She didn't even understand the lyrics when she first read them.)
I have had tears in my eyes EACH time that I have watched this film. And if the film was on again I would watch it. Great job, Ivy Meeropol!!!

History as Family.......2007-06-13

Ivy Meeropol bravely tells a the story of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg not as leftist martyrs or scheming traitors, they are simply, powerfully two human beings caught up in the wars of their time. They are her mythic, unknown grandparents and as she speaks to those who knew them they and their tragedy come alive for us. Especially heartbreaking is how they were in essence abandoned by so many friends and family members.

By way of bias: Like other reviewers here I doubt that Ethel Rosenberg was guilty of espionage. While I believe Julius Rosenberg did engage in espionage I do not believe that his punishment was justified.

Family warmth and Cold War history.......2007-01-23

The execution of the Rosenbergs in 1953 for conspiracy to commit espionage remains controversial to this day. The Rosenberg's grand-daughter, Ivy Meeropol, has made a tender documentary which traces the family's reaction to having such controversy in its recent history. She talks to her father and uncle, the Rosenberg's sons who were orphaned by the execution, and to people who knew the Rosenbergs. It's sad and moving, but also expertly made and relatively even-handed about the guilt or innocence of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

A fortunate daughter shares her quest........2006-06-12

Ivy Meeropol takes us behind the scenes into the lives of the children of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing prison for treason in June of 1953. This extraordinary documentary focuses primarily on the impact of this tragic miscarriage of justice on Ivy and her family. Viewers who expect to learn about the facts of Rosenberg case are advised to look elsewhere; this is Ivy's story primarly, although we do learn enough about Ethel Rosenberg to appreciate that this was a woman of remarkable integrity and courage. She could easily have saved her life by betraying her friends and family. She chose death before dishonor.

Ivy's father Michael and her uncle Robert were young children abandoned by their relatives who did not want to be associated with anyone connected with the notorious Rosenberg trial. Ann and Abel Meeropol adopted the two boys; Michael became a college professor and Robert a lawyer. Both men have spent much of their adult lives attempting to learn the true facts of the case against their parents.

Ivy discovers that Ethel Rosenberg's brother, David Greenglass, by his own admission, gave false testimony against his sister. In one scene of the film she drives by the home of Greenglass, but decides against interviewing him. Greenglass has worked hard to disappear from the public view and has, for the most part, been successful. Ivy is not ready to question Greenglass about his false testimony. We respect her reticence in this sensitive matter.

Ivy does visit other relatives, some of whom are now ashamed that they did not have the courage to support the innocent children of the Rosenbergs. Ivy's purpose is to reestablish family ties; accusation and blame are not on her agenda.

The fact that Ivy comes from a loving family helps us to understand her strength as she confronts the bigotry and lies she tries to dispel with openness and truth. She is supported completely by her father Michael, her mother Ann, and her brother Gregg.

Heir to an Execution is, perhaps, the wrong title for this moving documentary. This title suggests an unhappy ending for Ivy and nothing could be more mistaken. Ivy's journey reveals to her that she is the fortunate daughter of a family that has survived misfortune and become stronger, not by disappearing as David Greenglass has attempted to do, but instead by going public and seeking the truth. We, the viewers, are fortunate that Ivy has decided to share her quest with us. Highly recommended!

Complicated Case Told From Another Perspective.......2006-06-06

This documentary is well done but it is very narrow in scope. Granddaughter/filmmaker Ivy Meeropol focuses her effort on trying to understand the grandparents she never knew through the eyes of her father Michael, eldest son of the Rosenbergs, his younger brother Robert, and through some of the Rosenberg's closest surviving friends. A key element is the distance created by all other family members including distant relatives, even to this day.

This documentary assumes the viewer is intimate with the Rosenberg case, the fervor of McCarthyism, and the red scare -at least from the perspective of what the official story was. With that assumption in place she tells the story from the inside out. This is a moving side of the story to tell and at times a tough film to watch; however, it is not filled with the saccharine sentiment one may expect.

While this documentary is expectedly one-sided, surprisingly it is not totally absent scrutiny. Ivy explores tough questions: Was Julius a communist? Yes. Was he a spy? Yes. Did he ever trade any secrets that compromised our national security or resulted in the death of any American? Very hard to tell, but probably not. Was Ethel a communist? Well, yes but mostly by association. Was she a dedicated wife and mother? My take is that she was more of a dedicated wife then mother, but I may be completely wrong. She was put in a very tough position where every choice was a lose/lose. All the government ever really had on her was being loyal to her husband.

This documentary may well upset supporters who view the Rosenbergs as leftist martyrs, as well as detractors who condemn them as agents of Stalin. I think it is clear that without Ethel's brother, David Greenglass as a key liar on the stand, a rabid call for the heads of communists, and a very politically charged case, the Rosenbergs would not have been executed. A long prison sentence may well have been more appropriate. As one political commentator pointed out, they died because they refused to confess and name others. Someday, that may well turn out to be the truth.

There is no doubt that Communism -especially any Marxist based communism like Soviet Communism, is quite an atrocity against humanity; dare I say, it may have even been evil. That said, should the Rosenbergs have died for their actions, or lack of action in the case of Ethel? This documentary will not help one make the decision either way any easier. It will, however, tell the lost story of those most intimately impacted by these executions. I am a strong advocate for the death penalty. However, my position is mostly philosophical because it should be reserved for only the most heinous of violent criminals and under specific conditions. It is cases like the Rosenberg's that creates murky confusion, not clarity, for the arguments for and against the death penalty.

For those familiar with the case, this is a great added dimension to understanding a complex and uncertain time in our history.

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