The Rosenberg Boys
The Rosenberg boys, Robby and Michael Meeropol, were left orphaned after their parents, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, were executed by the US government in 1953 for spying for the Soviet Union. The boys, who were 6 and 10 years old at the time, have spent their lives trying to make sense of what happened and clear their parents' names. They have become public figures, advocating for their parents' innocence and pressing the government for answers about its evidence and motivations for seeking their death.
- ▪Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were executed by the US government in 1953 for spying for the Soviet Union, leaving behind two young sons, Robby and Michael.
- ▪Robby and Michael were adopted after the executions and took a new last name, disappearing from the public eye before reemerging as public figures in the 1970s.
- ▪The Rosenberg brothers have maintained that their parents were not atomic spies, but were scapegoated for their political allegiances and wrongfully killed.
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CultureThe Rosenberg BoysWhen Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were executed by the U.S. government, they left behind two sons, ages 6 and 10. All these years later, Robby and Michael are still trying to make sense of what happened.By Amy Weiss-MeyerRobby and Michael Rosenberg went to the White House with a rabbi and their grandmother in June 1953 to ask President Eisenhower to spare their parents’ lives. (Hank Walker / LIFE Picture Collection / Shutterstock)July 10, 2026, 7 AM ET ShareSave For those old enough to remember, Michael and Robby Meeropol will always be the Rosenberg boys.I never knew them as such, but it’s not hard to imagine what they were like, in part because there are so many pictures.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Atlantic.
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