In new twist in Rosenberg spy saga, sons seek mother’s exoneration
EASTHAMPTON – The decades-long saga of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, executed in 1953 on charges of being Soviet spies, is taking a new turn, with their sons asking President Obama to formally exonerate their mother, citing recently disclosed proof she was framed.
Brothers Michael and Robert Meeropol plan to submit their request to Obama after the election, detailing how the prosecution faked evidence that sent her to the electric chair. It is their hope that Obama will act on the case, one of the numerous requests for pardons and clemency on his desk before he leaves office.
The effort is part of the brothers’ four-decade quest to uncover the truth about their parents’ sensational case that occurred at the height of the Cold War, anti-Communist hysteria.
“It is an object lesson in government misconduct. It is a perversion of the judicial process for political purposes and that’s incompatible with a functioning democracy,” Robert Meeropol said in an interview Tuesday in the Easthampton offices of the family’s Rosenberg Fund for Children.
The brothers’ efforts received a large audience Sunday with a “60 Minutes” story that resulted from a exhaustive review of historical documents that all but prove Ethel Rosenberg was not a spy. The family aims to capitalize on publicity generated by the two-part television segment to mobilize supporters.
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