Major Permanent Exhibit Tells the Story of the Holocaust

A major permanent exhibit opened in the New York State Museum here last week, telling the story of the Holocaust through the experience of the only Jews rescued by the United States government and brought to America during World War 11.

The exhibit was created by the New York State Education Department with a $190,000 grant sponsored by New York State Senate Minority Leader Manfred Ohrenstein, and $40,000 in private donations through the Greater Albany Jewish Federation.

At the official opening ceremonies, Ohrenstein, himself a refugee from Nazi Germany and founding chairman of the exhibit, told the audience of more than 1,000: “This project is more than a monument to the martyred millions. It is part of a vast effort to document and preserve the history of the Holocaust and its place in the 20th century. For if the sacrifices of our martyrs have any meaning, it is in the hope that humanity will be spared such horror in the future”

The exhibit, entitled “Bitter Hope: From Holocaust to Haven,” contrasts the horrors of the Final Solution with the story of 982 refugees from the Nazis who were brought to Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York, in August 1944.

This little-known episode in Holocaust and New York State history was a token humanitarian effort by the United States government. By special order of President Franklin Roosevelt, 874 Jewish and 118 Christian refugees from all over Europe sailed from Italy to America on the liberty ship Henry Gibbons.

BACKGROUND OF THE RESCUE

Some 30 former refugees from the Oswego camp were present at the opening, coming from as far as Indiana and California. Before they were chosen to come to America in 1944, they were required to sign a release stating they would return to their countries of origin at the end of the war.

But after 18 months of internment, a special order by President Harry Truman on December 22, 1945 gave the Oswego refugees permission to remain. Because they had arrived as “guests of the President” and not as legal immigrants, they were required to cross the Rainbow Bridge into Canada at Niagara Falls and re-enter the United States as legal residents.

Ruth Gruber, who accompanied the refugees from Europe to Oswego in her capacity as special assistant to then Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, recounted her experience to the audience. The refugees’ stories are detailed in her book, “Haven: The Unknown Story of 1000 World War 11 Refugees.”

Located in the Hall of Immigration of the New York State Museum, a museum which has as its subject matter the history of the state, the new exhibit weaves the stories of these immigrants with the history of the Holocaust.