Born in the eye of the FBI (The Guardian)

[Jim Farmelant <farmelantj@xxxxxxxx>]

Born in the eye of the FBI
It is 50 years since Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were executed
as spies. Their son Robert was just one of the 'red diaper'
babies - children of communists, targets of McCarthy.
Gary Younge tracks them down
Thursday June 05 2003
The Guardian


On the evening of June 19 1953, Robert Meeropol was sent out
to play while his parents were being executed. He was six years' old,
and while he had only a vague idea of what was happening,
he knew that whatever was going on did not bode well for his
future. "We were watching a ball game at a friend's house
when this newsflash crawled across the bottom of the screen,"
says Meeropol, "but I didn't know what it said." His brother
Michael, however, who was 10, knew only too well what it meant
and what was about to happen: "That's it, goodbye, goodbye," he said.

With the whole drama unfolding on the cusp of his infant
consciousness, Robert's experience was more impressionistic.
"I didn't know what was going on, but I must have sensed the
essence of Michael's reaction," says Meeropol, now 56, who was
adopted by Abel and Anne Meeropol, friends of his parents, after
the execution. "The only way to get away from it was to be sent
outside to play ball. It was never difficult to get me to go outside and
play ball, or to get adults to distract me, because I wanted to be
distracted. I wanted to get away from whatever was causing the trouble.
When it got too dark, they called us in. They sent me to bed and I went
to sleep. I wanted to avoid the situation."

More:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,970822,00.html

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