Communication Associate: Public Relations | Lori Melton | lmelton@d.umn.edu | (218) 726-8830
September 3, 2013 Deborah Petersen-Perlman | Associate Professor | Department of Communication | 218-726-7528| dpeters1@d.umn.edu
Lori Melton | Communication Associate | External Affairs | 218 726-8830| lmelton@d.umn.edu
UMD's Baeumler-Kaplan Holocaust Commemoration: "Recognizing an Unsung Hero"
This year's Baeumler-Kaplan Holocaust Commemoration honors the work of a
relatively unknown American journalist. Varian Fry was a well-educated antifascist who arrived
in Marseille in the autumn of 1940, determined to be of assistance to Europe's intellectual elite.
His efforts resulted in the rescue of well over 1500 artists, writers, and philosophers, including
Marc Chagall, Hannah Arendt, and sculptor, Jacques Lipchitz, whose work Sieur du Lhut (Sir Du
Luth) presides over UMD's Ordean Court.
On Tuesday, Sept. 10, award-winning journalist, author, and adjunct faculty member at Marist
College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Sheila Isenberg will present "Mission Impossible: Varian Fry in
Marseille" at 7 pm at Temple Israel, 1600 E. Second Street, Duluth, Minn. This event is free and
open to the public.
The St. Louis Post Dispatch named Isenberg's book, A Hero of Our Own: The Story of Varian
Fry, one of the best books of 2001. Isenberg's 2011 book, Muriel's War, also deals with a
Holocaust-era story. Both books will be available for purchase at Isenberg's presentation.
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