An Execution in the Family

Robert Meeropol, Vice-Chair of the MVFHR Board of Directors, is in Germany this week on a speaking tour to promote the German translation of his book An Execution in the Family. Over the next couple of days he'll be at the Leipzig Book Fair, a huge gathering of publishers, authors, booksellers, and readers.

Robby's book is a powerful reflection on his experience as the younger son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed by the U.S. government in 1953. Here at MVFHR we're glad to see that the book is attracting attention not only within the U.S. but in other countries, and we look forward to hearing about how German audiences responded to Robby's message.

Here's an excerpt from Robert Meeropol's page in MVFHR's Gallery of Victims' Stories:

An attorney and long-time activist, Robert founded the Rosenberg Fund for Children in 1990 to provide support to children of parents who have been harassed, jailed, or otherwise targeted for their progressive beliefs. He is the author of the book An Execution in the Family and has spoken against the death penalty throughout the United States and in Puerto Rico and Japan.

“As far as I know, no one has studied how the execution of an immediate family member impacts children. We don’t even know how many children have an immediate family member on death row in the United States today. Worse, we don’t know the effect that having a parent executed will have upon their impressionable lives, and the cost society may pay for that impact. As far as I can tell, no one has bothered to study this even though these children are all innocent victims of the state’s efforts to kill their loved ones.”