Meet Varian Fry.

Meet Varian Fry.

Varian Fry was an American journalist who saved over 2,000 anti-Nazi and Jewish refugees, including many of the most distinguished artists and intellectuals of Europe.

Born to a wealthy Protestant family in New York, Varian attended Harvard University, where he founded the influential literary magazine Hound & Horn in 1927. After graduating, Varian began working in Europe as a foreign correspondent.

In 1935, Varian was at a popular cafe in Berlin when he witnessed an event that would change the course of his life. Two Nazi thugs approached a Jewish-looking man quietly enjoying a beer. As the man put out his hand to lift his mug, the Nazis gleefully nailed his hand to the table with a knife.

Horrified, Varian immediately wrote an article for the New York Times detailing the brutal Nazi treatment of Jews. He went on to pen several books about the worsening political situation in Europe, and raised money to support anti-Nazi activity.

Varian was deeply frustrated by the staggering apathy of American leaders and the general public. The problem was not that nobody knew the Jews of Europe were in danger; the problem was that nobody cared.

Along with other New York intellectuals, Varian created the Emergency Rescue Committee, a shoestring operation dedicated to saving European…