 |
HEIR TO AN EXECUTION captures the personal story of the Rosenbergs, deftly setting up the political backdrop of the prevalent anti-communist mood of the country at the time and shows how the fifty-year-old event still reverberates with the relatives they left behind and their descendants.
HEIR TO AN EXECUTION is the story of a family torn apart on June 19th, 1953 when Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for
"conspiracy to commit espionage." When their names were seared into history that day, as both martyrs and "Atom Spies," the young Jewish couple left behind two orphaned boys - Michael, ten years old and Robert, six years old. Ivy Meeropol, the eldest granddaughter of the Rosenbergs, and Michael's daughter, embarks on a remarkable journey into her family's past that sheds new light on a chapter in American history and provides a personal perspective on the iconic event.
"Before they were immortalized by the strange machinations of history, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg belonged only to their families and friends," commented Ivy Meeropol. "This film is an attempt to reclaim them as such and challenge the simplistic definition that's allowed them to go down in history as 'The Atom Spies.'"
The filmmaker explores the events and ramifications of the execution on the Rosenberg family, particularly their two orphaned sons. In spite of an extended family of siblings, no one would step forward to take in the two boys. In fact, Ethel Rosenberg's brother, David Greenglass testified against her and his brother-in-law, providing the main evidence the government had to convict them. Michael and Robert were eventually adopted by complete strangers to the Rosenbergs, a couple named Ann and Abel Meeropol. The Rosenbergs' sons grew up believing in their parents' innocence and as adults they aggressively pursued the truth about their case. In the film they reflect on the circumstances of this event in a new, more personal, way.
Included in this documentary are little-seen archival footage from the early 1950's, interviews with the Rosenberg contemporaries still living today and the few family members willing to speak on camera. Also included is a striking conversation with Harry Steingart, aged 103, who admits to the filmmaker that he would not be alive today if not for the steadfast integrity of the Rosenbergs, an integrity which would not allow them to accuse others to save themselves. This interview is sharply contrasted with footage from a 60 Minutes II broadcast of the only interview David Greenglass ever gave, in which he admits lying to the government about his sister Ethel to save his own family. The film also includes excerpts from documents used in the trial which are now housed in the National Archives in Washington D.C.
HEIR TO AN EXECUTION is an HBO Documentary Film, directed by Ivy Meeropol and produced by Marc Levin, Daphne Pinkerson, Ivy Meeropol and Sheila Nevins. The film was edited by Ken Eluto, A.C.E. and Eric Seuel Davies, Matthew Akers and Ivy Meeropol are the Directors of Photography and music was composed by Human. Nancy Abraham is the Supervising Producer and Shelia Nevins is the Executive Producer.
|
|
|
  |
