Although official policy of the United States government during 1940-41 closed gates to Jewish immigration, a handful of private, volunteer-staffed organizations launched rescue operations from America. The New York-based Emergency Rescue Committee (ERC) aided 2000 Jewish refugees--Spanish, German, and Czechoslovakian--who were stranded in France. ERC provided refugees with food, clothing, lodging, and medical care, and attempted to expedite their flight from France.

The valiant efforts of Varian Fry (pictured), ERC's representative in Marseilles, France, made it possible for about 1000 Jews to escape. Among them were many of Europe's leading cultural figures, including artist Marc Chagall and writers Heinrich Mann and Walter Mehring. For one year, beginning in August 1940, Fry directed the covert escapes of hundreds of refugees. Frustrated by emigration restrictions, Fry set up clandestine operations complete with encrypted codes of communication and secret escape routes. He even established contacts with the underworld to obtain forged papers and boat passages. In one instance, more than 100 refugees--disguised as farm laborers--were smuggled across the French-Spanish border along unpatrolled paths.

Sometimes, though, plans went awry, and French authorities apprehended ships and interned their passengers. Fry was himself expelled in August 1941.