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 intellec-
tuals from the Nazis in Europe and the greatly detrimen-
tal treatment he received at the hands of the United
States Government as a result.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Varian Fry Gold Medal Act’’.
(b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) In 1935, Varian Fry, an American scholar
and editor, traveled to Germany to witness the Third
Reich.
(2) Varian Fry returned from Germany greatly
concerned about the plight of refugees.
(3) After Germany invaded Poland in 1939,
Mr. Fry raised funds to bring refugees from Nazism
to America but he was particularly concerned about
the fate of thousands of artists, writers, and intellec-
tuals who were trapped in France after the estab-
lishment of the collaborationist Vichy government.
(4) Determined to help these trapped artists,
writers, and intellectuals, in 1940 Mr. Fry secured
a passport and 200 visas from a reluctant United
States Department of State and traveled to Mar-
seilles, France.
(5) Mr. Fry’s mission, which was expected to
last only a few weeks, was to help no more than 200
endangered Jewish intellectuals escape the Nazi re-
gime.
(6) Posing as a relief worker, Mr. Fry secured
passports and visas for almost 4,000 Jews and inge-
niously smuggled them out of France.
(7) 14 months later Mr. Fry was forced to leave
France when the United States Department of
State, furious that he had countermanded his orders
to help only a small number of people, revoked his
passport.
(8) After Mr. Fry’s return to the United States,
he condemned the restrictive immigration policies of
the United States which were greatly hindering the
effort to help the victims of the Nazis escape from
Europe.
(9) His dissent with regard to these policies
prompted the Federal Bureau of Investigation to
open a file on Mr. Fry which virtually prevented him
from ever again working for the United States Gov-
ernment.
(10) Unable to secure a good position, and
largely ignored by those whose lives he had saved,
Varian Fry died in 1967 while writing a book about
his wartime experiences.
(11) Shortly before his death, Mr. Fry was
awarded the Croix de Chevalier de la Legion
d’Honneur by the French Government which was
the only recognition he received before his death.
(12) Varian Fry was posthumously honored by
Yad Vasham as one of the ‘‘righteous among na-
tions’’ in a ceremony attended by Secretary of State
Warren Christopher and Mr. Fry’s life has been the
subject of an exhibition at the Holocaust Museum in
Washington, DC.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The President is
authorized to present, on behalf of the Congress, to the
representatives of the late Varian Fry a gold medal of ap-
propriate design, in recognition of the tremendous effort
he made at great personal risk to secure the escape of
thousands of trapped Jewish artists, writers, and intellec-
tuals from the Nazis in Europe.
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the
presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary
of the Treasury shall strike a gold medal with suitable em-
blems, devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the
Secretary.
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—Effective
October 1, 1996, there are authorized to be appropriated
not to exceed $25,000 to carry out this section.