EVERYTHING IN VARIAN’S LIFE BEFORE MARSEILLES seemed to prepare him for the work he did there. Everything in Varian’s life after Marseilles seemed to stand in the shadow of it. But for thirteen months in France, it all came together for Varian fry. It was the perfect mix of the job, the challenge, and the man.
While most people chose to ignore what was happening to the Jews in Europe, Varian chose to do something about it. He went to Marseilles when others would not go. He stayed in Marseilles when others would not stay. He defied Hitler’s plan to annihilate every Jew by arranging for the escape of many.
The nation of Israel acknowledged Varian’s achievement by giving him its highest honor at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. In 1996 Varian Fry was named “Righteous Among the Nations,” an accolade given to non-Jews who helped Jews during the Holocaust. He was the first American to receive this recognition.
Because of Varian, the lives of more than two thousand people did not end in concentration camps. Because of Varian, society would benefit from many of his protégés as they created art, music, photographs, movies, scientific theories, and books of fiction, history, and poetry. Because of Varian, these men and women could raise their children in a world without Hitler or his Gestapo.
Varian Fry knew it was impossible to rescue every Jew in Europe. But he knew it was possible to rescue some.
And he did.