Heir To An Execution

1h 39m

Documentary History

6.9

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.

Cast

Michael Meeropol

Self - International News Service

Sally Kanter Bruin

Self - friend of Ethel Rosenberg

Self - Union Activist

J. Edgar Hoover

Self (archive footage)

Self - Vice President (archive footage)

David Greenglass

Self - Ethel Rosenberg's brother

Self - the Rosenbergs' attorney

Self - grandson of the Rosenbergs

Robert Meeropol

Self - younger son of the Rosenbergs

Miriam Moskowitz

Self - friend of Ethel Rosenberg

Joseph McCarthy

Rachel Meeropol

Self - Robert's daughter

Self - granddaughter of the Rosenbergs

Crew