VARIAN FRY
USA
(1907-1967)
Was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations on July 21, 1994, for helping Jewish refugees flee from France. Fry was sent to France in the summer of 1940 as the representative of the American Emergency Rescue Committee, a non-governmental organization established to help intellectuals and renowned persons stranded in France. Arriving in Marseilles, Fry soon deviated from the original mission of distributing a limited number of visas. He established the American Rescue Center, created an elaborate network to screen visa applicants, and devised legal and illegal ways to get refugees out of the country. Fry was put under surveillance by the French police and finally was arrested, taken to the Spanish border, and expelled.