Robert Meeropol
Encyclopedia
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. His father Julius was an electrical engineer and a member of the Communist Party
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
. His mother Ethel (née Greenglass), a union organizer, was also active in the Communist Party. When Robert was six years old, his parents were convicted and executed in 1953 for conspiracy to commit espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
, particularly, of passing secrets of the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
Early life and education
After the Rosenbergs were arrested, Robert and his older brother MichaelMichael Meeropol
Michael Meeropol is a retired professor of economics. He is the older son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Born in New York City, as Michael Rosenberg, Meeropol spent his early childhood living in New York and attending local school there. His father Julius, an electrical engineer, was a member of...
lived with their maternal grandmother, Tessie Greenglass. After three months, she was unable to continue such care and placed them in the Hebrew Children's Home. After several months, Sophie Rosenberg, their paternal grandmother, removed them from the children's home to care for the boys herself. During their stay with her, the boys were allowed to visit their parents in Sing Sing prison
Sing Sing
Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services in the town of Ossining, New York...
. After one year with Sophie, the boys were sent to New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
to live with the Bach family, friends of the Rosenbergs. They were eventually adopted by the writer and songwriter Abel Meeropol
Abel Meeropol
Abel Meeropol was an American writer and song-writer, best known under his pseudonym Lewis Allan and as the adoptive father of the young sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.-Biography:...
and his wife Anne, and took their last name.
Meeropol earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
.
Activism and career
In the 1960s and 1970s, Meeropol became active in the anti-war effortOpposition to the Vietnam War
The movement against US involvment in the in Vietnam War began in the United States with demonstrations in 1964 and grew in strength in later years. The US became polarized between those who advocated continued involvement in Vietnam, and those who wanted peace. Peace movements consisted largely of...
. After completing his master's degree, Meeropol taught anthropology at Western New England College
Western New England College
Western New England University is a private university in Springfield, Massachusetts. Academic programs are provided through its College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, College of Engineering, School of Law, and College of Pharmacy....
in Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
from 1971 to 1973.
With his brother, Meeropol sued the FBI and CIA under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), winning the release of 300,000 previously secret documents pertaining to their parents' case. Believing the documents proved their parents' innocence, the Meeropol brothers co-wrote a book about their childhood, We Are Your Sons: The Legacy of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg (1975). From 1974 to 1978, he worked actively with the National Committee to reopen the Rosenberg Case and the Fund for Open Information and Accountability.
From 1980 to 1982 he was managing editor of Socialist Review
Socialist Review (US)
Socialist Review is a left-wing political and cultural magazine published in the United States since 1970...
in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1982 Meeropol moved back to Massachusetts. He returned to college, studying at the Western New England College School of Law, from which he graduated in 1985. He was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar and began practice as an attorney.
In 1990, Meeropol started the Rosenberg Fund for Children
Rosenberg Fund for Children
The Rosenberg Fund for Children is a public foundation started in 1990 by Robert Meeropol and named in honor of his parents Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, the only two United States civilians to be executed for conspiracy to commit espionage during the Cold War.Orphaned at age 6, Robert was adopted...
, a public foundation which provides support for children in the U.S. whose parents are targeted, progressive activists. The RFC also supports youth in the U.S. who have been targeted for their own progressive activism.
He later wrote An Execution in the Family: One Son's Journey (2003), a memoir that reflected on his life and his parents' fate.
Marriage and family
Robert is married to Ellen Meeropol. They have two daughters: Jennifer and Rachel. Rachel has become a lawyer for the Center for Constitutional RightsCenter for Constitutional Rights
Al Odah v. United States:Al Odah is the latest in a series of habeas corpus petitions on behalf of people imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The case challenges the Military Commissions system’s suitability as a habeas corpus substitute and the legality, in general, of detention at...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Charges against parents
In 2008 Michael MeeropolMichael Meeropol
Michael Meeropol is a retired professor of economics. He is the older son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Born in New York City, as Michael Rosenberg, Meeropol spent his early childhood living in New York and attending local school there. His father Julius, an electrical engineer, was a member of...
and Robert Meeropol said that, given recent revelations by their parent's co-defendant Morton Sobell
Morton Sobell
Morton Sobell is a former spy for the Soviet Union. Sobell was an American engineer working for General Electric and Reeves Electronics on military and government contracts. He was found guilty of spying for the Soviets , and sentenced to 30 years in prison...
and VENONA documents released in 1995, they now believed that their father was involved in espionage with the Soviet Union. But, they said, "To this day, there is no credible evidence that he participated in obtaining or passing on… the secret of the atomic bomb, the crime for which he was executed." They also believed documents showed that witnesses had fabricated evidence against their mother, and that she was innocent of the government charges.
Books
- We Are Your Sons: The Legacy of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg (1975) ISBN 0-395-20552-2.
- An Execution in the Family: One Son's Journey (2003) ISBN 0-312-30636-9.
External links
- "Biography of Robert Meeropol", The Rosenberg Fund for Children
- "Michael and Robert Meeropol", Biographies of Key Figures in the Trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School