Varian Fry
After the fall of France in the June of 1940, France was ordered to hand over all the Jews they had. Unable to resist, France was forced to comply. Varian Fry, a classicist who worked as an editor for the Foreign Policy Association, was dispatched to Marseilles, France in order to help renowned figures and intellectuals who were in danger of being arrested. His main job was to find a way for them to escape. After intervention from Eleanor Roosevelt, the U.S. State Department decided to create entry visas for the refugees. However, Fry was given a limit of two hundred entry visas for only two hundred refugees.
Word spread of Fry and the salvation he offered and soon he was surrounded by hundreds of people pleading for help. But the aid Fry was able to offer ran out, for the American Consulate refused to help him rescue people any longer. Fry had to work independently in order to continue his work. Desperate to help the refugees, Fry began to look towards others for aid, whether they were legal or illegal in their methods, to smuggle those who were in immediate danger out of German hands. Fry and his associates, whom were recruited to aid with the mass of people, had to interview people in order to determine who was in the most danger and who was not. Per day, between 60-70 people were interviewed.
Together, Fry and his associates established the American Rescue Center, or the Centre Americain de Secours. Even with the lack of underground work experience, a manifold operation was put into place. After running out of U.S. visas, the center tried to obtain visas from other countries, had false documents forged, and smuggled refugees on French troopships to Africa disguised as soldiers while others were spread out over French land. With all this activity, the center began having trouble keeping their action in secret. Once the French police decided to take action against him, Fry’s offices were raided and Fry was arrested in the December of 1940. However, this did not hinder his work. He continued to work even after his passport expired, but was ultimately arrested in August of 1941 where his expulsion was ordered by the French Ministry or Interior. He was escorted to the Spanish border and cast out of France.
According to estimation, Fry and his office had dealt with 15,000 cases by the May of 1941. Approximately 4,000 people received assistance, however, 1,000 of these were smuggled from France. A number of well-known Jews, like Hanna Ardent, were among those who were smuggled. After Fry returned to the United States, sadly, he was not treated as a hero, but rather like a leper. His former colleagues and friends avoided him and the FBI kept him surveillance. In 1967, Varian Fry died at the age 59, but not before he was awarded with the Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur by the French government. In 1994, Yad Vashem awarded him the title of Righteous Among the Nations. At the ceremony, the U.S. State Secretary Warren Christopher attended in order to apologize for the State Department’s abusive treatment during the war.
Source: http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/righteous/stories/fry.asp
Word spread of Fry and the salvation he offered and soon he was surrounded by hundreds of people pleading for help. But the aid Fry was able to offer ran out, for the American Consulate refused to help him rescue people any longer. Fry had to work independently in order to continue his work. Desperate to help the refugees, Fry began to look towards others for aid, whether they were legal or illegal in their methods, to smuggle those who were in immediate danger out of German hands. Fry and his associates, whom were recruited to aid with the mass of people, had to interview people in order to determine who was in the most danger and who was not. Per day, between 60-70 people were interviewed.
Together, Fry and his associates established the American Rescue Center, or the Centre Americain de Secours. Even with the lack of underground work experience, a manifold operation was put into place. After running out of U.S. visas, the center tried to obtain visas from other countries, had false documents forged, and smuggled refugees on French troopships to Africa disguised as soldiers while others were spread out over French land. With all this activity, the center began having trouble keeping their action in secret. Once the French police decided to take action against him, Fry’s offices were raided and Fry was arrested in the December of 1940. However, this did not hinder his work. He continued to work even after his passport expired, but was ultimately arrested in August of 1941 where his expulsion was ordered by the French Ministry or Interior. He was escorted to the Spanish border and cast out of France.
According to estimation, Fry and his office had dealt with 15,000 cases by the May of 1941. Approximately 4,000 people received assistance, however, 1,000 of these were smuggled from France. A number of well-known Jews, like Hanna Ardent, were among those who were smuggled. After Fry returned to the United States, sadly, he was not treated as a hero, but rather like a leper. His former colleagues and friends avoided him and the FBI kept him surveillance. In 1967, Varian Fry died at the age 59, but not before he was awarded with the Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur by the French government. In 1994, Yad Vashem awarded him the title of Righteous Among the Nations. At the ceremony, the U.S. State Secretary Warren Christopher attended in order to apologize for the State Department’s abusive treatment during the war.
Source: http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/righteous/stories/fry.asp