Varian Fry Gay American hero WWII

After France surrendered to Nazi Germany in June 1940, the Emergency Rescue Committee, a private American relief organization, sent Fry to Marseille to aid anti-Nazi refugees who were in danger of being arrested and turned over to authorities in Nazi Germany. The man responsible for saving 200 to 4000 Jewish refugees was Varian Fry, a gay American journalist. Varian Fry was the first American to be named “Righteous Among the Nations” by Yad Vashem (Israel’s official memorial to Holocaust victims) for risking his life to rescue Jews.