About five years ago, a friend was talking to me about Varian Fry, who my friend considers a personal hero. He asked if I knew of Varian Fry, and when I admitted I did not, he sent me a copy of a book, Surrender on Demand. Once I started reading it, I realized I knew of Varian Fry, but beyond the most general information, didn’t know any details. We speak of the victims of the Holocaust, we speak of the refugees who survived, and only occasionally do some of us (me included) consider all the details of how help was provided, visas acquired, and the networks that developed to get people out of Europe.

I do a significant amount of research for families searching to find out about their relatives who were murdered during the Shoah, and who may also be searching for survivors. If you’ve read my old blog postings, you know I found my own family’s survivors and those murdered through research. Finding my cousin, who I call sister, Ella, was a result of that research.

Over the decades, more and more has been written about the rescuers, the rescued, and the victims. Heroism has come to light. Thanks to the internet, so much is easily accessible. There are so many heroes who spent their lives during and after the war providing help. Chiune Sempo Sugihara, a Japanese career diplomat serving in Kaunas, Lithuania issued thousands of transit visas allowing them to leave Europe. Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat in Hungary issued thousands of protective letters for Jews, Frank Foley working in Berlin for the British Secret Service issued thousands of visas. After the war, Father Patrick Desbois, learning his grandfather’s story embarked on work to uncover and record information about the murders of over 1.5 million Jews in Ukraine. These are of course just a few of the people who stepped up to help and make a difference.

For several years, I served on the Education Committee of the Anti-Defamation League of Arizona. One of the programs involved students writing essays about people who were heroes. I was privileged o be a reader of the essays. Many of those featured in the essays were upstanders during the Shoah. Among them was Varian Fry, who operated in Vichy France, helping people evacuate, and providing others with financial assistance or employment.

Recently, I began a project investigating someone who escaped Europe from Vichy France, by way of Lisbon. As I began thinking about the project, I realized this was exactly the work Varian Fry and his team did. I thought of him because of that long ago conversation and the book. It turns out that Fry’s papers are held at Columbia University’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library. I hope to have an appointment to review his papers in a couple of weeks. Even if I don’t find exactly what I’m looking for, I’ll probably gain more insight into how he worked and accomplished helping thousands of people leave.

While I was searching for his papers, I came across a fairly new (2023) series on Netflix about Fry’s work, called “Transatlantic.” It’s now on my “must see next list” as soon as I return from my next trip!

No matter how much I think I know, there’s still always so much more to learn.