Varian Fry

Photograph of Varian Fry (1907-1967) taken when he was a boyWikimedia Commons [Public domain]There is trouble in France in 1940. The refugees from surrounding countries have come to France to escape the Nazis, but they are in danger again. The Emergency Rescue Committee of the U.S. needs to send someone to save those refugees, but they only have a limited number of visas. They found a volunteer who had a degree in classics from Harvard, fluent in many different languages, and had appreciation of the European culture; that man's name is Varian Fry. He was sent to save 200 people in 2 months with 200 visas and $3,000. Varian Fry is a hero because he saved so many people, but got kicked out of France and his homecoming was not welcoming.

Varian Fry was sent to save only 200 people, but he saved so many more than that. As soon as he arrived, word got out that he had come with visas, and people started coming to him for help. There were so many people that he had to rent an office and get people to work for him to be able to help so many people. His visas soon ran out, so he hired forgers to forge documents, paid off border guards, smuggled them off on ships, and many other things. The U.S. wouldn't help him since the relations between them and France might get worse. France didn't want to help either since Germany wouldn't like them if they did. Varian Fry should have just save 200 people, but he chose to save so many more.

Since he couldn't keep his work secret, it leaked, and he ended up getting kicked out of France. When the French learned about what he was doing, they arrested him. They helped him on a prison boat, but soon released him and told him to stop. Of course, he didn't stop ant the French arrested him yet again. They gave him one hour to pack his things and they would escort him to the Spanish border. On the train, he was thinking of all the people he had saved: "I thought of the faces of the thousand refuges I had sent out of France, and the faces of a thousand more I had to leave behind." According to his estimates, there were 15,000 cases, help was provided for 4,000, and 1,000 were smuggled out of France. He was asked why he did it; he said he was in Berlin in 1935 and saw a SA man assaulting a Jew, and he couldn't stay indifferent. Varian Fry ended up getting kicked out of France for what he did.

When Varian Fry got home, his homecoming was not welcoming. After he got back, the Emergency Rescue Committee dismissed him, and he had trouble finding jobs. He wrote a lot of articles about the Nazis, but they went largely unnoticed. His wife ended up divorcing him, and he died alone at the age of 59. He only received one award during his lifetime: the Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur, one of France's highest civilian honors. Some other award he received after his lifetime were 1991: Eisenhower Liberation Medal; 1993: his work was at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; and in 1996: Yad Vashem declared him as a "Righteous among nations." When Varian Fry came back to the U.S., he was not welcomed back well.

Varian Fry Street in BerlinWikimedia Commons [Public domain]Varian Fry's work makes him a hero to so many people. He should have just stayed in France three months and save 200 people, but he chose to stay 13 months and save thousands. Even though he was arrested, he still kept going to save as many people as he could. His homecoming should have been better, since he saved so many people that couldn't save themselves. Varian Fry is a hero because he save so many people, but got kicked out of France and his homecoming was not welcoming. Even though we may not get awarded for what we do, that shouldn't stop us from doing what's right.