In history, some things are forgotten. There are people who, like some perpetrators of the Nazi era, benefit from this circumstance. And others who are denied the recognition they deserve. Among the latter was Varian Fry. Very few are likely to know him, those he helped owe their lives to him. Among them were: Hannah Arendt, André Breton, Marc Chagall, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst and many others.
When the Germans occupied France in 1940, Fry, an American journalist, agreed to fly to Marseille and coordinate the rescue of European intellectuals and artists for the US-founded “Emergency Rescue Committee”. Because although Fry also helped other, less prominent people to escape, the aim of the committee was to save “what remains of European culture,” as Fry wrote to his then-wife Eileen. It is therefore all the more astonishing that Fry was hardly recognized during his lifetime. Not because the life of an intellectual is worth more than that of an unknown. But because it would have been easy for those he helped to draw attention to him afterwards.
Figures based on real models
This is now being done by a Netflix production. The series “Transatlantic”, written by Anna Winger and Daniel Hendler, tells the story of the Emergency Rescue Committee in seven episodes, i.e. the story of Fry and his helpers, who made it possible for more than 2000 people to escape from 1940 to 1941 and thus save their lives saved.
In addition to Fry (played by Cory Michael Smith) as the organizational head of the group, the focus of the plot is a number of other characters, in particular Mary Jayne Gold (Gillian Jacobs), a wealthy American heiress, and Albert Hirschmann (Lucas Englander), a Jewish German Refugee. These two also have real role models who were significantly involved in the rescue operation. Hirschmann became a renowned economist in the US after the war, and Gold published a book about her experiences in France.
However, the fact that most of the characters “Transatlantic” tells about actually existed does not mean that the series does not have a fictional character. The framework of the story and many details are historically documented, but the screenplay takes a few liberties based on the novel by Julie Orringer’s “The Flight Portfolio”. This is not a disadvantage, but makes “Transatlantic” an entertaining series that is suitable for the masses in the best sense of the word, apart from the historical background.
A wide range of characters
Even the first scenes show that Winger and Hendler are good storytellers. They directly introduce the characters, with their strengths and weaknesses, and hint at potential conflicts. Mary Jayne Gold, a beautiful, elegant lady, struts her dog across a small square in Marseille. She wears a spectacular dress, the yellow of which emphasizes her radiant appearance.
A few moments later she will go to the bathroom in a café and return to her meeting with the American ambassador in a dirty gray everyday dress. Shortly before, Gold saw a desperate young woman, obviously on the run. She follows her to the toilet, offers her a place as a stowaway on a departing ship and arranges for the clothes to be swapped.
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