Events & Author Appearances

Jan
18
The Shelter and the Fence
Meet the Author: Norman H. Finkelstein
Virtual event hosted by the San Antonio Public Library, 600 Soledad, San Antonio, TX 78205 (map it)
Tuesday, January 18, 2022 - 6:30pm

Join author Norman Finkelstein for a virtual discussion of his new book, The Shelter and the Fence, hosted by the San Antonio Public Library.

https://bit.ly/3DA4q7y

related book
The Shelter and the Fence
The Shelter and the Fence ›
By Norman H. Finkelstein

Cloth

Published Jun 2021

“This chapter in World War II history is a well-kept secret. Make this title a first choice. —School Library Journal STARRED review 

The story of Holocaust refugees who found shelter in the United Stateswith unique parallels to today's stories of asylum seekers. 

 In 1944, at the height of World War II, 982 European refugees found a temporary haven at Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York. They were men, women, and children who had spent frightening years one step ahead of Nazi pursuers and death.  

They spoke nineteen different languages, and, while most of the refugees were Jewish, a number were Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Protestant Christians. From the time they arrived at the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter on August 5 they began re-creating their lives and embarked on the road to becoming American citizens.  

In the history of World War II and the Holocaust, this “token” save by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the War Refugee Board was too little and too late for millions. But for those few who reached Oswego it was life changing.  

The Shelter and the Fence tells their stories.