F26-02 Connecticut Holocaust Rescuers
Class | Available (Membership Required)
Our course will study the relatively unknown efforts of Varian Fry, representative of the Emergency Rescue Committee, and Hiram Bingham IV, Vice Consul in charge of Visas, to rescue predominantly Jewish refugees in Marseille, 1940-41. Among those rescued were Marc Chagall, Hannah Arendt, Max Ernst, and Jacques Lipchitz. We will consider Fry’s and Bingham’s dedication to preserving human rights and saving lives in the face of opposition from the US State Department. Fry was eventually expelled from France by the French Police and Bingham was reassigned to Buenos Aires. Both Fry and Bingham died in relative anonymity but were posthumously recognized by Yad Vashem – Fry as the first American to be named Righteous Among the Nations, and Bingham received a letter of commendation. What lessons can be drawn from Fry’s and Bingham’s courage to resist the antisemitism and xenophobia of their time?
David Pettigrew, Ph.D.
David Pettigrew, Ph.D., is a CSU Professor and Chair, Philosophy Department, Southern Connecticut State University. Pettigrew has taught at SCSU since 1987 and he created a Holocaust and Genocide Studies course in 2013. In 2019, he was appointed to the Connecticut Holocaust and Genocide Education Advisory Committee.