Refugees at Fort Ontario in Oswego, NY
Creator(s)
- William S. Gailmor (Narrator)
- United Jewish Appeal (Producer)
- Florentine Films
Scope and Content
16mm film. Title card: "The National Refugee Service: A Constituent Agency of the United Jewish Appeal presents" Title card: "Over the Rainbow Bridge" Title card: "William S. Gailmor Narrator" Relates the story of one thousand Jewish refugees who were brought to the United States under special orders from President Roosevelt in 1944. Once in America, they were transported to the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter in Oswego, New York. At the fort, the refugees led somewhat peaceful lives but were unable to travel beyond its boundaries. They remained in the shelter for about a year and a half until President Harry S. Truman allowed them formal entry into the United States. The film continues to cover the release of 923 Jewish refugees from the Emergency Shelter at Fort Ontario in Oswego, NY and the work of the National Refugee Service in resettling them. Seven-year-old Georgie Neufeld sings the popular song "Gonna Love My Daddy Like He's Never Been Loved Before." [George Newfield now lives in Long Island.] Note: The family as named in the story is fictitious. No one by that name lived at Fort Ontario. The "Greenstein" family depicted is actually the Arnstein family, originally of Yugoslavia. Their names are Ladislav, Jelka, and the children are Pavle (later Paul), Vlado (later Reginald) and Eva (later Eve).
Note(s)
From the Joseph E. Beck Papers at The Historical Society of Pennsylvania: https://hsp.org/sites/default/files/legacy_files/migrated/findingaid3083beck.pdf. Joseph E. Beck (1904-1981), a native of Racine, Wisconsin, was a social worker who helped Jewish refugees during World War II. Having previously worked for various social agencies in Cleveland, Ohio, and Scranton, Pennsylvania, Beck became the executive director of the Jewish Family Society of Philadelphia in 1934. He headed this organization until 1942 when he accepted the executive directorship of the National Refugee Service, in New York City. He left this organization in 1950 and moved to California, where he continued social work and eventually retired.
Rebecca Erbelding of USHMM was able to confirm that the "Greenstein" family depicted are the Arnstein family, originally of Yugoslavia. Their names are Ladislav, Jelka, and the children are Pavle (later Paul), Vlado (later Reginald) and Eva (later Eve).
Subjects
- FORT ONTARIO
- REFUGEES (JEWISH)
- REFUGEE CAMPS
- CHILDREN (JEWISH)
- TRUMAN, HARRY S.
- UNITED JEWISH APPEAL (UJA)
Places
- Oswego, NY, United States
Genre
- Film
- Documentary.