By
– January 16, 2012
One man can make a difference! This edge of your seat biography about Varian Fry, a little known hero who rescued hunted people from under the nose of the Nazis in occupied France is a shining example of that truism. Fry, a young New York journalist, an average person, whose knowledge of espionage comes from movies, finds himself on a startling wartime mission. Because no one else will go, he agrees to fly to Marseilles and help famous, therefore recognizable, artists, writers and scientists escape the Germans who have closed the French borders to round up Jews. With no training, Fry sets up a front refugee organization, develops a staff he can trust, hires a cartoonist to forge papers, finds maps for crossing the Pyrenees on foot, and locates the intellectuals on his list. His two week assignment lasts over a year, ending because he is thrown out of the country. It is legal to help refugees survive, but absolutely illegal to help them leave France without proper documents. Not since The Firm has paperwork been so tense and exciting. Sent to save 200, Fry saves 2000 including famous individuals (e.g. Marc Chagall), British soldiers and frightened families. He does this in spite of the opposition of the American State Department whose officials in Marseilles and Vichy — with only one exception, a man now on a US postage stamp — hinder Fry and take away his travel papers. Fry is a hero who cannot handle a normal routine on his return to America; and the remainder of his life is sad. Near his end the French Government honors him for his important, brave war deeds. Long after his death he becomes the first American included at Yad Vashem as a Righteous Gentile. At a time when most Americans ignore the European disaster, Fry investigates rumors, understands Nazi goals, witnesses their atrocities, writes about them in US newspapers, and when asked, works tirelessly behind enemy lines to save trapped Jews and others. The author’s clear language makes the chronological story thrilling. She gives useful historical background to the individual saga and provides a lot of wonderful photos. The action in the book relies on following a paper trail and keeping many names straight. Highly recommended for readers 12 to 18 years old.
Ellen G. Cole, a retired librarian of the Levine Library of Temple Isaiah in Los Angeles, is a past judge of the Sydney Taylor Book Awards and a past chairperson of that committee. She is a co-author of the AJL guide, Excellence in Jewish Children’s Literature. Ellen is the recipient of two major awards for contribution to Judaic Librarianship, the Fanny Goldstein Merit Award from the Association of Jewish Libraries and the Dorothy Schroeder Award from the Association of Jewish Libraries of Southern California. She is on the board of AJLSC.
