I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3352

To award a congressional gold medal to representatives of Varian Fry in

recognition of the tremendous effort he made at great personal risk

to secure the escape of thousands of trapped Jewish artists, writers,

and intellectuals from the Nazis in Europe and the greatly detrimental

treatment he received at the hands of the United States Government

as a result.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 30, 1996

Mr. HASTINGS of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to

the Committee on Banking and Financial Services

A BILL

To award a congressional gold medal to representatives of

Varian Fry in recognition of the tremendous effort he

made at great personal risk to secure the escape of

thousands of trapped Jewish artists, writers, and intellectuals from the Nazis in Europe and the greatly detrimental treatment he received at the hands of the United

States Government as a result.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

3 ‘‘Varian Fry Gold Medal Act’’.

4 (b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

5 (1) In 1935, Varian Fry, an American scholar

6 and editor, traveled to Germany to witness the Third

7 Reich.

8 (2) Varian Fry returned from Germany greatly

9 concerned about the plight of refugees.

10 (3) After Germany invaded Poland in 1939,

11 Mr. Fry raised funds to bring refugees from Nazism

12 to America but he was particularly concerned about

13 the fate of thousands of artists, writers, and intellec14 tuals who were trapped in France after the estab15 lishment of the collaborationist Vichy government.

16 (4) Determined to help these trapped artists,

17 writers, and intellectuals, in 1940 Mr. Fry secured

18 a passport and 200 visas from a reluctant United

19 States Department of State and traveled to Mar20 seilles, France.

21 (5) Mr. Fry’s mission, which was expected to

22 last only a few weeks, was to help no more than 200

23 endangered Jewish intellectuals escape the Nazi re24 gime.
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1 (6) Posing as a relief worker, Mr. Fry secured

2 passports and visas for almost 4,000 Jews and inge3 niously smuggled them out of France.

4 (7) 14 months later Mr. Fry was forced to leave

5 France when the United States Department of

6 State, furious that he had countermanded his orders

7 to help only a small number of people, revoked his

8 passport.

9 (8) After Mr. Fry’s return to the United States,

10 he condemned the restrictive immigration policies of

11 the United States which were greatly hindering the

12 effort to help the victims of the Nazis escape from

13 Europe.

14 (9) His dissent with regard to these policies

15 prompted the Federal Bureau of Investigation to

16 open a file on Mr. Fry which virtually prevented him

17 from ever again working for the United States Gov18 ernment.

19 (10) Unable to secure a good position, and

20 largely ignored by those whose lives he had saved,

21 Varian Fry died in 1967 while writing a book about

22 his wartime experiences.

23 (11) Shortly before his death, Mr. Fry was

24 awarded the Croix de Chevalier de la Legion
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1 d’Honneur by the French Government which was

2 the only recognition he received before his death.

3 (12) Varian Fry was posthumously honored by

4 Yad Vasham as one of the ‘‘righteous among na5 tions’’ in a ceremony attended by Secretary of State

6 Warren Christopher and Mr. Fry’s life has been the

7 subject of an exhibition at the Holocaust Museum in

8 Washington, DC.

9 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

10 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The President is

11 authorized to present, on behalf of the Congress, to the

12 representatives of the late Varian Fry a gold medal of ap13 propriate design, in recognition of the tremendous effort

14 he made at great personal risk to secure the escape of

15 thousands of trapped Jewish artists, writers, and intellec16 tuals from the Nazis in Europe.

17 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the

18 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary

19 of the Treasury shall strike a gold medal with suitable em20 blems, devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the

21 Secretary.

22 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—Effective

23 October 1, 1996, there are authorized to be appropriated

24 not to exceed $25,000 to carry out this section.
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1 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

2 (a) STRIKING AND SALE.—The Secretary of the

3 Treasury may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the

4 gold medal struck pursuant to section 1 under such regu5 lations as the Secretary may prescribe, at a price sufficient

6 to cover the cost thereof, including labor, materials, dies,

7 use of machinery, and overhead expenses, and the cost of

8 the gold medal.

9 (b) REIMBURSEMENT OF APPROPRIATION.—The ap10 propriation used to carry out section 2 shall be reimbursed

11 out of the proceeds of sales under subsection (a).

12 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS.

13 The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national

14 medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United

15 States Code.

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