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Varian Fry. VARIAN FRY The forgotten hero who displayed extraordinary courage .
. . SUSAN M. LAPHAM HISTORY OF THE HOLOCAUST SPRING ...
Submitted by guccigirl on May 3, 2006
Category: History Other
Words: 1080 | Pages: 5
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VARIAN FRY
The forgotten hero who displayed extraordinary courage . . .
SUSAN M. LAPHAM
HISTORY OF THE HOLOCAUST
SPRING SEMESTER 2006
MARCH 23, 2006
Germany invaded Poland in 1939. When that occurred, France and England declared war on Germany. The fighting reached the borders of France in May 1940 when the German's attacked France out of the blue. Within weeks, the Germans had occupied Paris and the government surrendered. France was divided into two zones. The Germans took over the northern portion and the entire Atlantic coast. The French government kept control of the southern portion and Vichy.
Thousands of people fled southward. People thought that because France had always been considered liberal it would still be that way. They were sadly mistaken for the French and Germans had signed something called an armistice. Within that armistice, there was a pact called Article 19. This article stated that the French government in Vichy was required to surrender any German individual that the Nazis demanded. In English, that meant that any refugees fleeing from a country that Germany had control of (Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Austria)would be caught, returned to Germany, and most likely be sent to a concentration camp.
By this time, the news had reached the United States. New Yorkers were concerned over the fate of these people. A group called the Emergency Rescue Committee met in New York and raised money to help those caught in France. The money would help the people who were referred to as the Nazi's most wanted refugees. With the help of the Americans familiar with the current events in Germany and the Germans who were now in America, a list replicating those people in the gravest danger was put together.
Working desperately to get the United States to open their doors to these people the committee approached First...
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