| Edition |
First edition. |
| Description |
ix, 288 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 24 cm |
| Note |
Includes index. |
| Contents |
The free city of Danzig (1921-1937) -- A pogrom German-style (spring 1937) -- Preparing to leave Danzig (summer 1937) -- At the station (September 1937) -- Berlin (September 2-12, 1937) -- Paris (September 1937-September 3, 1939) -- "The phony war" (Paris, September 1939-June 1940) -- The debacle (Paris and Bayonne, June 1940) -- Toulouse (June and July 1940) -- To Marseille, in Marseille (August-September 1940) -- Over the Pyrenees (September 11-13, 1940) -- Walter Benjamin (late September 1940) -- Villa Air-Bel (November 1940-February 1941) -- Mafia (February-June 1941) -- Chagall (Spring 1941) -- Max and Peggy depart (July 1941) -- The expulsion of Fry; my mountain climbing adventure (August-December 1941) -- Grenoble (December 1941-August 26, 1942) -- Internment (August 27-29, 1942) -- Escape (September 6, 1942) -- Underground intelligence at Montmeyran (autumn 1942-March 1943) -- Manna from the skies (November 1943-May 1944) -- Last days on the farm (June 1944) -- Becoming a guerrilla (June 1944) -- Haute cuisine in the camp (June-July 1944) -- The ambush (July 1944) -- The 636th tank destroyer battalion (August-October 1944) -- The Teller mine incident (October 11, 1944) -- Homecoming to Paris (December 1944-February 15, 1945) -- Granville (February 15-March 8, 1945) -- Unrra (April 1945-October 1945) -- To America (October 1945-July 1946) -- Epilogue: what happened to. |
| Summary |
"In 1937, as the Nazis gained control and anti-Semitism spread in the Free City of Danzig, a majority German city on the Baltic Sea, sixteen-year-old Justus Rosenberg was sent to Paris to finish his education in safety. Three years later, France fell to the Germans. Alone and in danger, penniless, and cut off from contact with his family in Poland, Justus fled south. A chance meeting led him to Varian Fry, an American journalist in Marseille helping thousands of men and women, including many artists and intellectuals--among them Hannah Arendt, Marc Chagall, Andre Breton, and Max Ernst--escape the Nazis. With his German background, understanding of French culture, and fluency in several languages, including English, Justus became an invaluable member of Fry's refugee network as a spy and scout. The spry blond who looked even younger than his age flourished in the underground, handling counterfeit documents, secret passwords, black market currency, surveying escape routes, and dealing with avaricious gangsters. But when Fry was eventually forced to leave France, Gussie, as he was affectionately known, could not get out. For the next four years, Justus relied on his wits and skills to escape captivity, survive several close calls with death, and continue his fight against the Nazis, working with the French Resistance and later, becoming attached with the United States Army. At the war's end, Justus emigrated to America, and built a new life. Justus' story is a powerful saga of bravery, daring, adventure, and survival with the soul of a spy thriller. Reflecting on his past, Justus sees his life as a confluence of circumstances. As he writes, 'I survived the war through a rare combination of good fortune, resourcefulness, optimism, and, most important, the kindness of many good people.'" -- Publisher's description |
| Subject |
Rosenberg, Justus, 1921-
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World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- France.
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Guerrillas -- France -- Biography.
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Jews, German -- France -- Biography.
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Jews -- Poland -- Gdańsk -- Biography.
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Holocaust survivors -- Biography.
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Fry, Varian, 1907-1967.
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Bard College -- Faculty -- Biography.
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World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Jewish.
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World War, 1939-1945 -- Jews -- Rescue -- France.
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Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- France.
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| ISBN |
9780062742193 (hardcover) |
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0062742191 (hardcover) |
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9780062996053 (international edition) |
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0062996053 (international edition) |
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