The Safe Haven Story1 2 3 4
The Nazi Blitzkrieg (lightning war) created refugees by the millions as it raced across Europe. Jews, because they were Jewish, and any others who ran afoul of the Nazi regime were killed outright or sent by rail to prison camps like Auschwitz to be killed or worked to death. Isolationist America tiptoed around this “European War” until shocked into it by Japan.
In 1944, with the tide of the war turning the Allies' way, President Franklin Roosevelt made a symbolic gesture. His Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes, sent Special Assistant Ruth Gruber to Italy to bring back nearly 1,000 war refugees to America. The 982 men, women and children had been specially selected for the trip. Said Gruber, "The government officials making the selection chose families and survivors with skills that could help run a camp in America. The first priority was refugees who had been in concentration camps and escaped."
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