Heir To An Execution

Overview

When Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were put to death in 1953 for selling atomic secrets to the USSR, their two children were orphaned after every family member refused to take them in. Documentarian Ivy Meeropol, raised to believe in her grandparents' innocence, begins investigating what actually happened, interviewing family members and friends. With declassified papers indicating Julius was participating in espionage in some capacity, Ivy tries to understand the beliefs that drove the couple.

Directed by Ivy Meeropol

Top cast

M

Morton Sobell

Self

M

Michael Meeropol

Self

B

Bob Considine

Self - International News Service

S

Sally Kanter Bruin

Self - friend of Ethel Rosenberg

A

Abe Osheroff

Self - Union Activist

J. Edgar Hoover

Self (archive footage)

Richard Nixon

Self - Vice President (archive footage)

D

David Greenglass

Self - Ethel Rosenberg's brother

E

Emanuel Bloch

Self - the Rosenbergs' attorney

G

Greg Meeropol

Self - grandson of the Rosenbergs

R

Robert Meeropol

Self - younger son of the Rosenbergs

M

Miriam Moskowitz

Self - friend of Ethel Rosenberg

Joseph McCarthy

Self - Senator

R

Rachel Meeropol

Self - Robert's daughter

J

Jenny Meeropol

Self - granddaughter of the Rosenbergs

Julius Rosenberg

Self - archival footages

Ethel Rosenberg

Self - archival footages

Details