Talk:Varian Fry

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As a member of the International Rescue Committee, at the time named Emergency Rescue Committee, I find that this article requires further correcting.

First of all, Fry's death is rather questionable. After falling into a sort of obscurity, he was long suffering of a deep depression. It is a common opinion that his death is attributable to suicide, via overdose of medication.

There is also some doubt as to the extent to which these rescues can be solely attributed to his direct effort. During this time there was also a more thorough and aggressive effort put forth by other organizations that led, in a more direct manner, to the preservation of these lives. These organizations include, but are not limited to, the Quakers(American Friends Service Committee), the Unitarian Service Committee, and various Jewish organizations both religious and secular. This is in no way meant to diminish the reputation of Varian Fry, or to insinuate that his effort was not highly commendable. This is just to make note that the public myth has become rather overblown, to the detriment of organizations that also deserve a portion of this glory.

Justus Rosenberg (justus.rosenberg@gmail.com) ("Gussie" of the Emergency Rescue Committee- Marseilles 1940-41 and French Maquis 1941-1945) Emeritus Professor of Languages and Literature, Bard College
 * — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.32.71.97 (talk • contribs) 2006-06-13 22:48:20 (UTC)

More pedestrianly, there is something missing in the sentence that seems to beging "quarterly . . ."
 * — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.8.50.10 (talk • contribs) 2006-10-05 19:41:20 (UTC)

Made some fixes to broken sentences (including the aforementioned quarterly... sentence) by looking at previous incarnations of the page and restoring missing text.
 * — Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.109.252.188 (talk • contribs) 2006-10-07 17:55:15 (UTC)


 * I would like to emphasize Professor Rosenberg's point that the success of the Emergency Rescue Committee is not attributable to Varian Fry alone. The ERC should have a page of its own and should not redirect to Varian Fry. For an account of the political origins of the ERC, see my article-in-progress This Is Our Dunkirk: Karl B. Frank and the Politics of the Emergency Rescue Committee. I am also working on an English Wiki article for Karl B. Frank (it already exists in German, although they've spelled his middle name incorrectly).


 * Terence Renaud (renaud.t@berkeley.edu) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Trrenaud (talk • contribs) 19:23, 13 December 2009 (UTC)

I agree there should be a separate ERC page. Even if hypothetically he were solely responsible, unless the organization and the individual are the same entity, they should be separate pages. eahiv (talk) 20:37, 14 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Just a note--the sentence which says "Some later confessed...." is problematic. The quote comes from his secretary, who herself was impressed that he cared about Jewish people.  It was not Jewish people who found the appearance of a WASP helping them a miracle (perhaps they did but not specifically for his WASP background).  Go to the reference cited and this becomes clear.    — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.204.29.135 (talk) 18:24, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

A couple of questionable names
The text indicates that Fry was responsible for rescue of "de Castro"; the link goes to an article about the de Castro family in general, and no one discussed there seems to have any connection to Fry. The article on Wols indicates that he spent the war years unsuccessfully attempting to emmigrate to the United States, possibly becoming an alcoholic out of the resultant frustration, a claim that, if accurate, would suggest that he did not benefit from intercession by Fry, or at least that any such intercession failed to achieve its intended goal. If no one can come up with better information, I'd suggest that we should remove these two names from the list. Drhoehl (talk) 03:37, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Hannah Arendt?
Hello, I have not seen any documentation to support the idea that Fry or ERC helped Hannah Arendt. Her name is not on Fry's long list of clients and I've not come across any evidence in the archives that she was a client. Short lists of who Fry helped are often alphabetized, so it is disconcerting to see her name so promiennt displayed. Suggest this be deleted but if someone has evidence, they could offer that. Susan Subak 2600:1700:5650:AD50:DDE1:8B65:59:1290 (talk) 18:05, 17 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Did you follow the source listed in this article, which includes her name? It's also not "prominently" displayed. It's displayed with the same prominence as every other name in a rather long list of names. --OuroborosCobra (talk) 18:13, 17 March 2023 (UTC)
 * The source listed, currently footnote 28 as the Varian Fry Institute is a secondary source, a website maintained by Pierre Sauvage, and this list does not have further documentation. Because Hannah Arendt's name begins with A, we see it first, but I believe that it is the least substantiated name on the short list. Susan Subak 45.24.213.139 (talk) 22:16, 21 March 2023 (UTC)
 * OK, and? As you pointed out, her place on the list has nothing to do with prominence, and a source has been provided. --OuroborosCobra (talk) 14:17, 22 March 2023 (UTC)
 * And...her name should be deletedl 2600:1700:5650:AD50:253B:F0A:FA23:D41B (talk) 11:55, 23 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Just corresponded with Sauvage and he found her name in the Fry list under Bluecher so I accept it. Sorry about the diversion.  SES 2600:1700:5650:AD50:3CBF:E8DD:9F1B:1AE5 (talk) 15:12, 25 March 2023 (UTC)