Presidential Announcement about the Opening of a U.S. Camp for European War Refugees President Franklin Roosevelt sent a message to Congress on 12 June 1944 regarding the establishment of a camp at Fort Ontario, New York, for about one thousand European refugees. The President and Congress, aware of the public's concerns about security, appealed to the American spirit of GERMANS SLAY-NINE LYON TERRORISTS compassion and sense of humanity to welcome this special group of people who had already suffered so much. Sensitivity to Americans' attitude of concern is reflected in the following advertisement and editorial, printed in PM, 13 June 1944. For a full text of the President's message, see the Congressional Record 78th Cong., 2d Sess., 1944, 90, pt. 4: 5748. 30 GERMAN SHELLS 2,000,000 MURDERS FDR: Urgent Action Necessary' Partial text of President Roosevelt: message to Congress yesterday on the plight of minorities in Europe: Congress has repeatedly manifested its deep concern with the pitiful plight of the persecuted minorities in Europe whose lives are each day being offered in sacrifice on the altar of Nazi tyranny. To us the unprovoked murder of innocent people simply because of race, religion or political creed is the blackest of all possible crimes. As the hour of the final defeat of the Hitlerite forces draws closer, the fury of their insane desire to wipe out the Jewish race in Europe continues undiminished. This is but one example: many Christian groups also are being murdered. "Knowing that they have lost the war. the Nazis are determined to complete their program of mass extermination. This program is but one manifestation of Hitler's aim to salvage from military defeat victory for Nazi principles-the very principles which this war must destroy unless we shall have fought in vain. To the Hitlerites, their subordinates and functionaries and satellites, to the German people and to all other peoples under the Nazi yoke, we have made olear our determination to punish all participants in these acts of savagery. "Notwithstanding this Government's unremitting efforts, which are continuing, the numbers actually rescued from the jaws of death have been small This is due principally to the fact that our enemies persist in their fiendish extermination campaign and actively prevent the intended victims from escaping to safety. "In the face of this attitude of our enemies we must not fail to take full advantage of any opportunity, however limited, for the rescue of Hitler's victims We are confronted with a most urgent situation. Therefore; I wish to report to you today concerning a step which I have just taken in an effort to save additional lives and which I am certain will meet with your approval You will ! am sure, appreciate that this measure is not only consistent with the successful prosecution of the war, but that it was essential to take action without delay "Recently the facilities for the care of refugees in southern Italy have become overtaxed.... Many of the refugees in south ern Italy have been and are being moved to temporary refuges in the territory of other United and friendly nations. "Accordingly, arrangements have been made to bring imme diately to this country approximately 1000 refugees who have fed from their homelands to southern Italy. Upon the termination of the war they will be sent back to their homelands. These refugees are predominantly women and children. They will be placed on their arrival in a vacated army camp on the Atlantic coast where they will remain under appropriate security restrictions." An Editorial Why Not Many More? FDR s creation of a refugee asylum camp is an act of simple Humanity. He is giving no more than what you would give, and perhaps have given, to the stranger from the next town rendered homeless by flood or high wind, or a neighbor visited by personal tragedy, a meal, a root, a bit of rest. And on the mor -row, when the stranger's hoine has been rebuilt, Godspeed for the return journey The plan is as simple as that, and it will cost us, as American taxpayers, no more than a few pennies fot the feeding and housing of the homeless, and the loan of a little ground. There is no immigration law involved here, no change is necessary, for the purposes of the plan, in your attitude or mine toward the fundamental question of the open vs. the closed gate FDR is merely setting apart a little ground, surrounded by a tall fence, whence men, women and children can come to rest until the floods subside On that basis it is not asking too much of the American people that they should consider 1000 refugees as only a beginning It cannot possibly make any difference to vou, or to me, if we have not one camp for 1000 persons in the country, but perhaps ten camps each with 5000 or 10,000. The only difference lies in the measure of our own generosity Sign the coupon below and send it along at once' -VICTOR H BERNSTEIN The Criteria for Choosing the Fort Ontario On 14 June 1944 John Pehle, the Executive Director of the that Ackermann was to observe in selecting the refugees for inclusion in the transport to Fort Ontario. Reprinted from Karen J. Greenberg, ed., Columbia University Library, New York, The Varian Fry Papers and the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter Papers, vol. 5 of Archives of the Holocaust, ed. Henry Friedlander and Sybil Milton (New York: Garland Publishing, 1990), 143-44. COPY June 14, 1944 Dear Len: You are familiar with the President's cablegram to Ambassador Murphy and other messages relative to the emergency refugee shelter for 1,000 refugees to be established at Fort Ontario, New York. Time is essential in handling this matter, and we are counting on you to assist Ambassador Murphy in every way possible in the carrying out of the President's wishes. You are at the scene of action and will know best how to proceed but, in our preliminary discussions, we have considered the following points. A miniature community should be kept in mind in making your selection and in as far as possible (consistent with speed) might include: The reference in the President's cable to selecting refugees for whom other havens of refuge were not immediately available of course related primarily to the Jewish refugees in southern Italy. You should also note that the President has stated that he would like a reasonable proportion of various categories of persecuted peoples who have fled to Italy to be included. Doc. 58 143 144 Avoid all unnecessary security screening which will entail delays. A thorough screening will be given upon arrival at the emergery refugee shelter. While care must be exercised to avoid sending persons with loathsome, dangerous, or contagious diseases, additional elaborate health checks should not be gone into since a complete immunization program will be carried out for the community population upon arrival. Refugees should be permitted to bring their personal belongings and any tools necessary for their work or profession. Since the project is designed for the rescue of real refugees, it is not contemplated that Italian refugees, Jews or non-Jews, are to be included. At the time of their sailing, the following information should be cabled: Number of families and size of family groups and their sex, number of single persons and their sex, the mumber of orphans and their sex, and any other quickly available information which will be helpful in planning their reception and care. Care should be used not to oversell the project. Refugees should be instructed only that they will be offered safety, security, and shelter for the duration. We cannot urge too strongly the need for quick action in compliance with the President's wishes. It is important that the thousand refugees be selected and on their way within two weeks after the receipt of this letter. Although we want you to bear in mind the suggestions mentioned above, it is not necessary that you follow them literally if this will mean delay. We are all pleased at the grand job you have done thus far and are confident that, on this assignment, too, you will maintain your record for speed and efficiency. Statement Acknowledging Conditions of The Fort Ontario refugees, representing eighteen nationali- Reprinted from Karen J. Greenberg, ed., Columbia University Library, New York: The Varian Fry Papers and the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter Papers, vol. 5 of Archives of the Holocaust, ed. Henry Friedlander and Sybil Milton (New York: Garland Publishing, 1990), p. 157. Copy of Statement signed in Italy by Refugees who arrived in the United States Departure for the United States of America I declare that I have fully understood the following conditions of the offer of the United States Government and that I have accepted them: A. I. I shall be brought to a reception center in Fort Ontario in the State of New York, where I shall remain as a guest of the United States until the end of the war. Then I must return to my home land. II. There I shall live under the restrictions imposed by the American security officials. III. No promise of any kind was given to me either in regard to a possibility of working or permission to work outside the reception center, or in regard to the possibility of remaining in the United States after the war. B. - I declare further, since I cannot take along any valuta under existing laws, that I shall accept in exchange for my valuta the same amount in dollars, which the authorities of the United States will eventually pay me after my arrival in America. Doc. 62 157 Refugees Arrive from Europe The magazine Life published an outstanding article that detailed the first days in the United States for the European refugees interned at Fort Ontario. The following text and photographs are reprinted from "Refugees Arrive from Europe," Life, 21 August 1944, 25-27. Once Mrs. Eva Bass was a nightclub singer in Paris. Before the war she lived happily in Milan with her husband and small son. When war came she and her little boy were thrown into prison because they were Swiss Jews. Later they were sent to a concentration camp and then to "free confinement" at Potenza. There she gave birth to her baby girl. When the Allies landed in Italy she set out on foot with her two children on a 60-kilometer trip through the fighting lines. She carried the baby in one arm, the boy in the other. Sometimes for days they had no food. On Aug. 3 Mrs. Eva Bass and about 980 other refugees from Europe, arrived in the U.S. A motley, shabby group of men, women, and children from 17 countries, they were chosen to come here from Allied relief camps in Italy because they were virtually destitute and had no means of support. To Americans they gave a firsthand look at the limitless personal tragedies brought on by five years of Europe's war. They will remain at Fort Ontario, Oswego, N.Y., for the duration of the war as wards of the U.S. under the supervision of the War Relocation Authority. Since they entered the U.S. outside the immigration quotas, they will have to leave when the war is over. REFUGEES ARE REGISTERED AND THEN ASSIGNED TO NEW From Hoboken to Oswego the refugees sat up all night in old Delaware & Lackawanna coaches, arriving at 7:30 in the morning. They were so tired there was little excitement. One woman threw her arms around a government representative, saying, "This is more beautiful than anything in Europe. Now I have a villa on the Lake Ontario." A rabbi wanted to send a telegram right away to President Roosevelt thanking him personally. On arrival, they were first identified and registered by interpreters. This was done by the number on the tag attached to their clothing, marked "U.S. Army, Casual Baggage." Then they were sent up the road to a customs depot on the lawn where they left their luggage, ranging all the way from broken shoe boxes tied together with string to expensive leather suitcases plastered with labels of hotels in Paris and Nice. Later they were given breakfast and shown to their partitioned apartments in Army barracks. In the afternoon they rested, only a few of them walking out to look at the lake and pick wild flowers for their bare rooms. |