On 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper interviews the sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the infamous Communist spies who were arrested in 1950 for conspiring to give atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. Their sons, Michael and Robert, were 7 and 3, at the time of their parents’ arrest. Michael Rosenberg tells Cooper: “I really hated myself…I was too scared to admit my parents were my parents.” And Roberts compares their childhood to “almost like being Osama bin Laden’s kids here after 9/11.”
After their parents were executed (electric chair, Sing-Sing, 1953), a couple adopted Michael and Robert and changed their last name to Meeropol. While Michael and Robert believe their mother was “collateral damage” and are now asking President Obama to proclaim their that their mother was wrongfully convicted and executed, historian Ron Radosh argues Ethel – while she might not have been a spy herself – helped her husband. 60 Minutes airs Sundays at 7pm.
