This story chronicles Varian Fry’s heroic efforts to help political and intellectual refugees escape Nazi-controlled Vichy France in 1940 and 1941. An urbane Harvard graduate working as an editor in New York, Fry volunteered for the Emergency Rescue Committee’s project to bring 200 individuals from the French port city of Marseille to safety. Unable to gain cooperation from the French government or the American Consulate in Marseille, Fry established a clandestine operation by which artists, writers, philosophers, and their families—Jews and non-Jews alike—were spirited away to safety. By the time the French expelled Fry in September 1941, he and his colleagues had managed to save some 2,000 refugees, including Max Ernst, Marcel Duchamp, Hannah Arendt, and Andre Breton.
When Fry returned to New York, he recounted his story, but few listened. Fry died unexpectedly in 1967 with the pages of his memoirs scattered about him; the police officer who discovered them dismissed them as an apparent "work of fiction." Not until 1991 did an American institution recognize Fry’s work when the United States Holocaust Memorial Council posthumously awarded him its Eisenhower Liberation Medal. In 1994, Yad Vashem honored Varian Fry as the first American "Righteous Among the Nations."
"Fry's life is a vivid reminder that one person can make a difference."
—Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Illinois), 1999
More Information
Varian Fry (Holocaust Encyclopedia article)
Rescue (Holocaust Encyclopedia article)
Past venues
Varian Fry: Assignment Rescue 1940–1941 appeared in the following venues:
2010
Mahwah, NJ
September 1, 2010 through October 8, 2010
Ramapo College of New Jersey
Berrie Center Art Galleries
Albuquerque, NM
March 1, 2010 through April 30, 2010
Holocaust and Intolerance Museum of New Mexico
2009
Spartanburg, SC
February 2, 2009 through March 5, 2009
University of South Carolina Upstate
2008
Rochester, NY
October 16, 2008 through November 9, 2008
Jewish Community Center of Greater Rochester
Baltimore, MD
April 29, 2008 through May 9, 2008
University of Baltimore Law School
Aurora, CO
January 8, 2008 through April 27, 2008
Aurora History Museum
2007
Terre Haute, IN
October 4, 2007 through October 31, 2007
CANDLES
Minneapolis, MN
October 1, 2007 through November 1, 2007
The American Swedish Institute
Niceville, FL
January 15, 2007 through February 25, 2007
Okaloosa-Walton College Arts Center Galleries
2006
Monmouth, IL
August 25, 2006 through October 26, 2006
Buchanan Center for the Arts
La Jolla, CA
May 12, 2006 through June 4, 2006
Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center
with the International Rescue Committee
Tucson, AZ
April 3, 2006 through May 2, 2006
Southwestern Fair Commission, Inc.
at the Pima County Fairgrounds
Topeka, KS
April 1, 2006 through April 30, 2006
Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site
Pittsburgh, PA
March 6, 2006 through May 8, 2006
American Jewish Museum of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh
2005
Roswell, NM
August 30, 2005 through September 30, 2005
New Mexico Military Institute
Martin, TN
August 16, 2005 through October 7, 2005
University of Tennessee at Martin, University Museum
Richmond, IN
July 17, 2005 through August 19, 2005
Indiana University East Library
Waterloo, IA
June 17, 2005 through September 3, 2005
Grout Museum of History and Science
Tulsa, OK
April 17, 2005 through June 5, 2005
The Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art
Muskegon, MI
April 17, 2005 through May 12, 2005
Muskegon Museum of Art
Point Lookout, MO
March 1, 2005 through April 3, 2005
Ralph Foster Museum, College of the Ozarks
Salem, OR
February 4, 2005 through April 16, 2005
Mission Mill Museum
2004
Fort Morgan, CO
September 1, 2004 through November 30, 2004
Fort Morgan Museum
Portsmouth, VA
July 23, 2004 through October 3, 2004
Portsmouth Museum–Courthouse Galleries
Scottsdale, AZ
March 28, 2004 through June 30, 2004
Sylvia Plotkin Judaica Museum
Checotah, OK
January 22, 2004 through February 10, 2004
Jim Lucas Checotah Public Library
2003
Atlanta, GA
September 15, 2003 through December 28, 2003
William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum
Houston, TX
April 3, 2003 through August 17, 2003
Holocaust Museum Houston
Syracuse, NY
March 7, 2003 through March 27, 2003
Atonement Lutheran Church
with Appleseed Productions
2002
East Lansing, MI
November 15, 2002 through June 15, 2003
Michigan State University Museum
Huntington, WV
June 5, 2002 through June 21, 2002
Marshall University
South Charleston, WV
May 20, 2002 through June 1, 2002
South Charleston Public Library
with the West Virginia Holocaust Education Commission
Wheeling, WV
May 6, 2002 through May 16, 2002
Ohio County Public Library
with the West Virginia Holocaust Education Commission
Detroit, MI
May 2, 2002 through June 27, 2002
Janice Charach Epstein Gallery/Jewish Community Center of Greater Detroit
Morgantown, WV
April 22, 2002 through May 1, 2002
Morgantown Public Library
with the West Virginia Holocaust Education Commission
Fort Wayne, IN
April 10, 2002 through April 30, 2002
Allen County Ft. Wayne Historical Society
with the Jewish Federation
Princeton, WV
April 9, 2002 through April 19, 2002
Congregation Ahavat Sholom
with the West Virginia Holocaust Education Commission
Pocatello, ID
March 25, 2002 through April 18, 2002
Idaho State University
Clarksburg, WV
March 12, 2002 through April 5, 2002
Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library
with the West Virginia Holocaust Education Commission
2001
Ridgewood, NJ
November 3, 2001 through December 14, 2001
Ridgewood Public Library
North York, ONT, Canada
September 30, 2001 through November 11, 2001
Koffler Art Center
Mansfield, OH
May 1, 2001 through May 31, 2001
Mansfield/Richland County Public Library
St. Louis, MO
April 11, 2001 through April 27, 2001
AR-PERSCOM (Army Reserve Base)
El Paso, TX
March 1, 2001 through April 1, 2001
Centennial Museum, U Texas at El Paso
Dallas, TX
January 1, 2001 through March 31, 2001
Biblical Arts Center
with the Dallas Memorial Center For Holocaust Studies
2000
Davie, FL
October 25, 2000 through November 30, 2000
David Posnack Jewish Community Center
St. Louis, MO
October 1, 2000 through December 1, 2000
St. Louis Holocaust Museum and Learning Center
Lawrence, KS
September 4, 2000 through September 29, 2000
University of Kansas
Johnstown, PA
August 10, 2000 through September 18, 2000
Beth Sholom Congregation
Encino, CA
May 11, 2000 through May 21, 2000
Valley Beth Sholom Congregation
Norfolk, VA
April 9, 2000 through July 20, 2000
Jewish Community Center, Tidewater
Chico, CA
April 2, 2000 through May 3, 2000
California State University, Chico
Lexington, KY
April 1, 2000 through April 28, 2000
University of Kentucky at Lexington
Ann Arbor, MI
March 12, 2000 through April 2, 2000
University of Michigan Hillel
West Plains, MO
February 16, 2000 through March 2, 2000
Southwest Missouri State University
Springfield, MO
January 18, 2000 through February 11, 2000
Southwest Missouri State University
Madison, WI
January 1, 2000 through March 1, 2000
Wisconsin War Veterans Museum
1999
Anniston, AL
November 10, 1999 through December 13, 1999
Berman Museum
Edmond, OK
October 26, 1999 through March 11, 2000
Edmond Historical Society
Charlotte, NC
September 15, 1999 through November 15, 1999
Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
Indiana, PA
September 8, 1999 through October 31, 1999
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Juneau, AK
August 23, 1999 through September 28, 1999
University of Alaska at Juneau, Egan Library
Fairbanks, AK
July 16, 1999 through August 1, 1999
Alaskaland Civic Center
with the Fairbanks Arts Association
Anchorage, AK
June 6, 1999 through July 7, 1999
Anchorage Municipal Library
Palo Alto, CA
April 11, 1999 through May 23, 1999
Schultz Jewish Community Center
Boulder, CO
April 9, 1999 through April 29, 1999
Boulder Public Library
with the University of Colorado at Boulder
Wheeling, IL
January 31, 1999 through March 28, 1999
Indian Trails Public Library District
Granville, OH
January 22, 1999 through February 19, 1999
Denison University Gallery
1998
Fairmont, WV
November 1, 1998 through November 20, 1998
Fairmont College
with the West Virginia Holocaust Education Commission
Phillipi, WV
October 8, 1998 through October 30, 1998
Daywood Gallery, Alderson-Broaddus College
Las Vegas, NV
April 22, 1998 through May 31, 1998
Las Vegas Museum of Fine Art
