"... an American had arrived, like an angel from heaven, with his pocket full of passports ..." [Isenberg, Sheila. A Hero of Our Own. New York, NY: Random House Inc, 2001; p.17].

(1907 - 1967)
"In all we saved some two thousand human beings.
We ought to have saved many times that number.
But we did what we could."   Varian Fry
  

An American Hero of Our Times:
A Tribute to Varian Fry

 

	1. Who was Varian Fry? Varian Fry -- An American Hero ... Posthumous Recognition Worldwide ... Varian Fry and the Emergency Rescue Committee: A Resource Guide for Teachers Varian Fry's Extraordinary Rescue of Jews in World War II A Small Tribute to Varian Fry by Professor Patrick Henry of Whitman College and a Speaker for the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous in New York A Rescuer of Intellectuals From Vichy France America's Schindler A Candid Biographical View of Varian Fray 's Life and Heroism: "Hero and Oddball" by Christopher Caldwell of the Weekly Standard More on Varian Fry at our Section II: "Heroes and Heroines of the Holovaust Some of the 2,000 people assisted by Varian Fry and the Emergency Rescue Committee (ERC)                2. Varian Fry Book Exhibit "Surrender on Demand" by Varian Fry A Quiet American: The Secret War of Varian Fry by Andy Marino, Andrew A. Marino A Hero of Our Own: The Story of Varian Fry by Sheila Isenberg
The United States Secretary of State Warren Christopher plants a tree in honor of Varian Fry at Yad Vashem on February 4, 1996.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, Jerusalem, Israel. "Remember yesterday, educate today, preserve tomorrow, for our children"

• Varian Fry in Marseille by Pierre Sauvage
  
• Andy Marino author of "A Quiet American: The Secret War of Varian Fry"
  interviewed by Pierre Sauvage
  
• Bibliographies on Varian Fry
  
  

.3. A Selected Photo Gallery with Varian Fry

"Varian Fry: Assignment Rescue, 1940-1941" Exhibit Discovering an Unsung Hero -- the Story of Varian Fry

"He didn't have to go to France; everybody else was trying to get the hell out, but he went there..." Mark Kritz, Chairman of the Varian Fry exhibit at the Albert L. Schultz Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto, USA.

• Varian Fry with Marc Chagall
  
• Nighttime Staff Meeting
  
• Assignment: Rescue
  

At Villa Air Bel on the outskirts of Marseilles, France

4. Commercial Videos and Movie on Varian Fry

• And Crown Thy Good -- Varian Fry in Marseille
  (the story of the most successful private American-led rescue effort during World War II ), a documentary by Pierre Sauvage
  -- a Chambon Foundation production
  
• Varian Fry: The Artist's Schindler (1997)
  [Chagall, Duchamp, Ernst...these were but a few of the over 2,000 people, including dozens of noted artists, writers and intellectuals, who escaped Nazi persecution thanks to the efforts of American teacher/journalist Varian Fry. Learn about his dangerous missions inside occupied Europe in this amazing real-life tale of heroism and intrigue. 50 min. Category: Documentary]
  
• Varian's War --a movie about the heroic acts of Varian Fry
  

5. Varian Fry Exhibits:

• Varian Fry Museum and Exhibit Sponsored by the Michigan Humanities Council and the Michigan Jewish Community
  
• Varian Fry Exhibit: Assignment Rescue
  
• Chicago Honors an American Hero, Varian Fry, at its Filed Museum

6. The Most Recent Honor Bestowed to Varian Fry by the United States:

• The American Consulate General in Marseille, France, one of the United State's oldest overseas posts, on October 2000 --the birthday month of Varian Fry, honors him by naming the plaza in front of the consulate the "Varian Fray Plaza" :
  

  F R O M : The Consulate's workload was stretched to the limit shortly before the Second World War as a result of the massive influx into Marseille of refugees from all over Europe fleeing Nazi persecution. Perhaps tens of thousands (exact numbers are not known) of them came to the Consulate General seeking asylum in the United States; the consulate was forced to move its visa operations to larger facilities in a nearby suburb. The consulate's current address is "Place Varian Fry" in honor of the American citizen who lived in Marseille from 1940-1941, saving hundreds of refugees from the gas chambers. Many famous Europeans, including Hannah Arendt, Max Ernst, Marc Chagall, André Breton, Heinrich Mann and Nobel Prize winner Otto Meyerhof, lived in Marseille while Fry, a discreet intellectual sometimes referred to as "the American Oskar Schindler," helped with lodging and arranged for exit visas, transit visas and visas to the United States. Fry complained that consulate officials at the time did not do enough to help these refugees. In October 2000, the small plaza in front of the consulate was named for Fry in recognition of his heroic efforts. .

7. Notable Readings:

• Trapped in France: A Case Study of Five German Jewish Intellectuals by Helmut F. Pfanner, Simon Wiesenthal Center
  
• No Longer A Haven: Varian Fry and the Refugees of France
  
• Franz Werfel --one of the Many Rescued by Varian Fry tells the story in his own words
  
• "On Resistance to Evil, Conspiracies of Goodness and Uncommon Decency and Courage"
  by Rev. Lone I. Jensen of the Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, Chandler, Arizona, USA.
  
• The Eleanor Roosevelt and Human Rights Project: Emergency Rescue Committee
  
  • The Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, Hyde Park, New York: Emergency Rescue Committee
    
• Marcel Verzeano who worked with Varian Fry in Marseille

 

 

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