PART 3

SUMMER-FALL 1945

 

VE–DAY—HOORAY! BUT WHAT NEXT FOR FT. ONTARIO?

OSWEGO N.Y.—Perhaps no single group of people was more delighted to hear the news of the unconditional surrender in Europe than the residents of Fort Ontario in upstate New York. There nearly a thousand refugees have resided for nine long months, awaiting the end of the war.

They danced, they cheered, they studied newspapers in their native languages to be sure the story was the same. And when they finally came to the full understanding that indeed their war was over, they were faced with a new dilemma: Now What?

There should really be no question. After all, part of the cost of coming here last August was that they promise—in writing—to return to their homes once the war ended. But a lot has changed in those nine months.

For many if not most of them, home no longer exists. The dwellings they once occupied have been either destroyed or given to someone else—perhaps as a reward for turning in the refugee. In many cases their villages and towns have been bombed beyond recognition. Beyond housing, they have no jobs waiting, and with the tens—perhaps hundreds—of thousands of displaced people wandering through Europe, they will have to get in line for housing, for food, for the basics of everyday life.

And there is another line these residents of Fort Ontario will need to join—the line to apply for the chance to legally return to the United States. That’s right—these same men, women and children who have lived here for the last nine months, who have proven their willingness to play by the rules, who have made the best of their situation and shown nothing but gratitude for the opportunity given as guests of the president.

They have earned the respect and support of civic leaders in the town of Oswego. Several national charities and nonprofit agencies have also sent letters in support of allowing the refugees to now enter the United States legally as part of the normal immigration quotas.

But the president who extended the original invitation (and set the guidelines for coming and refused to change those rules during his tenure) is dead. His successor has remained silent on the fate of these guests, and for now the original terms stand. They are expected to return to their country of origin.

Put yourself in the shoes of any one of them—people who before they were forced to run or were taken prisoner were talented performers, professionals, heads of businesses. Imagine you are a mother and that your baby was born last month in the fort. Is that child an American by birthright? And if so must the mother and child still go back?

The future for the residents of Fort Ontario is not a case of black and white. It is—for now—a palette of murky grays.

The answers remain with the powers that be in Washington. It is certain that the Fort Ontario Emergency Relief Shelter will close. It is certain that the community created behind that fence will disperse. What is not yet certain is where nearly a thousand displaced people will go to begin yet again.