When Ivy Meeropol was just five years old, her father, Michael Meeropol, told her what had happened to her grandparents, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Her grandparents’ execution during the Cold War, the only peacetime execution for espionage in the United States, is a very famous example from the era of McCarthyism which illustrated the effects of the widespread paranoia throughout the country. Although she never had the chance to meet her grandparents, the story of what happened to them stuck with Ivy Meeropol, who would become a filmmaker and share their story.
In 2004, Ivy Meeropol released Heir to an Execution. The film follows the story of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, as Meeropol strives to delve deeper into what happened to her grandparents, beyond the most well-known facts. Meeropol knew that she had to face all of the myths surrounding her grandparents’ execution directly, in order to reach the truths and fulfill her goal of learning about what Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were really like as people.
Michael Meeropol, the eldest son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (Michael and his brother Robert took the last name of the couple who adopted them after their parents’ execution), who was only ten years old at the time of his parents’ death, also played a key role in the film. Although Ivy was curious about the details of what happened to her grandparents and what the situation was really like for her father and uncle, she had not asked many of her questions to her father until it was actually time to film them, to ultimately permit the public to know the answers to those questions as well. Michael stated that when it first became clear that Ivy wanted to create a film or book to share the story of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, years before she actually would do so, he had discouraged her. However, she continued to want to make a film about the matter and felt that it was what she needed to do, so he later approved and agreed to answer her questions.
“The question of guilt and innocence was never something that I felt was my role to deal with,” stated Ivy Meeropol, clarifying her intentions in making the film. She wanted to inform people of the story of her grandparents, and in order to do so as well as she could, she even reached out to some estranged family members. However, to Ivy’s initial surprise, many of them refused to be part of her film or even to have their voices heard for it. They would tell her that it was too painful, even five decades later. This really showed the extent of the sensitivity regarding the events surrounding Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and also made clear to Ivy just how many people were affected by what happened to them at the time, so strongly that it would continue to prevent them from speaking about certain topics for the rest of their lives.
In 2016, Michael and Robert Meeropol went to the White House with a letter for President Obama. Due to the “injustice done to [their] mother,” they asked for him to issue a statement to exonerate Ethel Rosenberg. The brothers asserted that perjured testimony and judicial misconduct were the reasons for their mother’s execution, striving to at least clear her name. Robert Meeropol stated, “The FBI files show that my mother was only arrested to use as a lever against her husband,” providing evidence for his and his brother’s recent request. Overall, the making of Ivy Meeropol’s film again brought up the controversy regarding the executions of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for espionage during the Cold War and has shown that this extremely significant event continues to directly impact the lives of Americans today.
Good job on your post, Brynna. I liked that you took a piece of history that was relevant to what we were learning in class and dove deeper into the details of it. Although I do know about Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, I never knew about Ivy Meeropol and her film. Her struggle in making the film was interesting, and I was surprised that most family members were reluctant about the idea of her making a film. However, it is important that we remember events like the killing of her grandparents so things like that will not occur again.
ReplyDeleteI found this article really interesting given that something so controversial is still being discussed today. This incident shows that sometimes, even our government can be wrong and their actions can have lasting repercussions. However, I was able to discover that the reasons to exonerate Ethel Rosenberg were actually false. One of the main arguments for the exoneration was that Ethel Rosenberg had only known of her husband's plan and hadn't actually participated in his schemes. However, in many states in the United States, having the knowledge of a crime falls under aiding and abetting a criminal. In turn Ethel would still be charged for treason and the grounds for the exoneration would be void.
ReplyDeleteSOURCES : https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2016/11/23/for-ethel-rosenberg-presidential-pardon/Hh7NyQed8ZIRSaueBqnadK/story.html
https://www.wklaw.com/knowing-about-a-crime-and-not-saying-anything/