the rosenbergs be poster child for the black and white horror of what become know a the mccarthy era and the communist witch hunt and of the early 50 . their face and especially ethel and be as recognizable to u a mccarthy himself . ivy meeropol and their granddaughter and grow up with an activist father who believe that his parent be and a they say repeatedly and even at their death in the electric chair and innocent . her home be fill with their image and from newspaper account and book and and newsreel footage still and to piece of art create by the like of picasso . but this film only make pass reference and i feel and to the fact of ethel and julius rosenberg . what it do do be present u with a granddaughter rather guileless investigation of who her family be . her own name be change by her father adoption by another family since his own grandparent and aunt and and uncle on both side greenglass and rosenberg would not take the two orphan boy in . her cousin ( one of whom she meet for the first time and who weep with shame at how his own father julius brother change their name to robert and refuse to even see his two nephew ) be complete stranger to her . what do she find out . do she know her grandparent well . i doubt it . she can not know why the rosenbergs choose to die rather than betray political belief and friend and and their nearly religious conviction that socialism be humankind only hope . what she can see be what shame and fear and cowardice and infamy and and love do to a family . i think lillian hellman title for her memoir of the same period name it best represent scoundrel time . after all and the rosenbergs conviction and execution make roy cohn into a celebrity . god help u .