Celia Gurevitch Jewish Community Library

64 years ago, on August 3, 1944 a ship arrived to the New York harbor with 1,000 European Jewish refugees on board. Their arrival was the culmination of the efforts of President Roosevelt (who, using his executive powers invited them to the country, acting against the US Congress, who refused to lift the quote on Jewish immigration), Harold L. Ickes (Secretary of the Interior at the time) and Ruth Gruber, who was selected to carry out this top-secret mission despite the objections of military brass who doubted the thirty-nine year old woman’s qualification. The refugees were transferred to Fort Ontario, a decommissioned army training base near Oswego, NY. The US government agencies argued about whether they should be allowed to stay or, at some point, be deported to Europe, Gruber lobbied to keep them through the end of the war. It wasn’t until January of 1946 that the decision was made to allow them to apply for American residency. This was the only attempt by the United States to shelter Jewish refugees during the war.

Ms. Gruber wrote a book about the experience, titled Haven: The Dramatic Story of 1000 World War II Refugees and How They Came to America. This richly documented volume includes 16 pages of pictures, a directory of the refugees, declassified government document and a detailed index to the book. The book itself is a great read, showing Gruber’s journalistic and writing talents. It is a true historical novel in all meanings of the word true: it is a true story, and truly a novel. Do not think that if you are familiar with the Exodus ship’s story (of which Gruber also wrote a book) you know this story as well. It is worth reading on its own, come in to the library and get it.