Carla Killough McClafferty

I met Margit Meissner who was rescued by Varian Fry while signing copies of IN DEFIANCE OF HITLER: THE SECRET MISSION OF VARIAN FRY at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM).

SEE BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT OUR MEETING, AND ABOUT MRS. MEISSNER.

When Paris fell to the Nazis, Mrs. Margit Meissner left Paris alone. She ultimately was assisted by Varian Fry.

At the USHMM: book signing for IN DEFIANCE OF HITLER: THE SECRET MISSION OF VARIAN FRY.

Book signing at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

I recently signed copies of IN DEFIANCE OF HITLER: THE SECRET MISSION OF VARIAN FRY at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) in Washington D.C.

It is an honor and privilege to sign books at the USHMM. Not only because of the place itself, but also because any book that is signed there must go through a review process by Holocaust scholars—and be approved. While many books are rejected during this process, my book was approved.

On the day of the signing, the publicist for Macmillan Publishing group joined me at the USHMM book store. Many people came by and stopped to chat with me about the book—most had never heard of Varian Fry and I shared with them the story of this American journalist who rescued more than 2000 people from Europe during 1940-41. Most of them bought the book, which I autographed for them.

Then an unexpected thing happened. A beautiful lady came by the table and said, “I am so happy that you are here today. Varian Fry rescued me and my mother.”

What a wonderful surprise! Her name is Margit Meissner and she works at the USHMM. I was thrilled to meet her, and wanted to hear her story of escape. Since she was working, she gave me permission to telephone her later so she could tell me about it. We took some photos together and I signed a book for her—purchased and given to her by the publicist at Macmillan Publishing group who was with me during the book signing.
When I returned home from DC, I telephoned Mrs. Meissner. We talked for about an hour and she shared with me many of the fascinating things about her life experiences during those days. At her family’s insistence, she wrote a book about her past titled MARGIT’S STORY. –I’ve ordered the book, but it has not arrived yet.

Her life, like many others who experienced the historic events in Europe during the 30s and 40s, sounds like a movie script. To quickly paraphrase her story, in my words, I’d describe it like this:
Margit, who was Jewish, was Austrian but grew up in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Her mother sent her to Paris to study. When Austria was taken over by Hitler, her mother went to Paris and was made to stay in Versailles because Austrians were considered enemy aliens in France. When France fell, her mother was forced to report to the police and sent to Gurs concentration camp in southern France. The day before the Nazis occupied Paris, Margit bought a bicycle and fled through France-- alone and afraid. On the journey, she once stayed at a school location and left at daybreak, then a couple of hours later, the school was bombed and destroyed. Eventually her mother was released from Gurs and they both ended up in Marseille. Varian Fry gave them some money which helped them cross over the Pyrenees Mountains. Margit does not remember how they connected with him, nor how they got the money. The only thing she knew was that he was an American and it was said that he had some “Quaker money.” (In fact, Fry did not have any money from the Quakers, his money came from the Emergency Rescue Committee in the U.S. Margit said they later paid the money back to the Quakers.) She had never known anything else about Fry until someone sent her a copy of Lisa Fittko’s book years ago. She learned more about him when she saw the USHMM exhibit about him.

Mrs. Meissner is the third person I’ve met that was rescued by Varian Fry. It has been a treat to hear their personal stories of survival from their own lips.

One of the unexpected benefits of writing nonfiction books is that I’ve met interesting people.

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