Heir to an Execution

Perhaps one of the most polarizing events of the Cold War and the McCarthy era, the 1953 trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and their subsequent execution by electrocution on charges of espionage left many questions unanswered. Fifty years after the fact, the young married couple's eldest granddaughter, Ivy Meeropol, attempted to get to the bottom of many of the most pressing issues surrounding the case with this documentary. Through interviews with her father, Michael Meeropol, and Rosenberg allies Morty Sobell and Harry Steingart, the director seeks not only the truth behind the allegations against her grandparents but also the motivations that led their friends and family to shun them and their orphaned children. Heir to an Execution screened in competition at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.