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Haven
Haven: The Dramatic Story of 1,000 World War II Refugees and How They Came to America | Ruth Gruber
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Award-winning journalist Ruth Grubers powerful account of a top-secret mission to rescue one thousand European refugees in the midst of World War II In 1943, nearly one thousand European Jewish refugees from eighteen different countries were chosen by President Franklin Delano Roosevelts administration to receive asylum in the United States. All they had to do was get there. Ruth Gruber, with the support of Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, volunteered to escort them on their secret route across the Atlantic from a port in Italy to a safe haven camp in Oswego, New York. The dangerous endeavor carried the threat of Nazi capture with each passing day. While on the ship, Gruber recorded the refugees emotional stories and recounts them here in vivid detail, along with the aftermath of their arrival in the US, which involved a fight for their right to stay after the war ended. The result is a poignant and engrossing true story of suffering under Nazi persecution and incredible courage in the face of overwhelming circumstances.
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hwestfall
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This book for me was equal parts inspiring and frustrating. Inspiring because of the 1,000 refugees from WWII who came here to the United States in hopes of freedom and a better life. Ruth Gruber and her tireless efforts for these people was also inspiring. What frustrated me was the endless political red tape that these refugees faced. That aspect shouldn't have been a surprise to me though. I would highly recommend reading this book.

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hwestfall
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I had no knowledge of POWs during WWII and where they went. This little tidbit in the book lead me on a 30 minute research session. Between 1943 and 1945 about 400,000 Nazi POWs came to the United States. #learnsomethingnew

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hwestfall

“The world can no longer believe that the ghastly facts are unknown and unconfirmed,” Dr. Chaim Weizmann, the eloquent leader of the Jewish Agency, the shadow Jewish government in Palestine, declared. “At this moment expressions of sympathy without accompanying attempts to launch acts of rescue become a hollow mockery in the ears of the dying."

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