१८ नोव्हेंबर, २०२१

"I looked very blond, very Germanic and younger than my own age, so I wouldn’t be stopped often to be asked for papers because I looked so innocent and angelic. I was really unaware of the danger. To me, it was something that was adventurous in many ways, somewhat romantic too."

Said Justus Rosenberg, quoted in "Justus Rosenberg, Beloved Professor With a Heroic Past, Dies at 100/As a teenager, he helped provide safe passage to artists and intellectuals out of Vichy France. He went on to teach literature at Bard College for six decades" (NYT). 

He was explaining why he was chosen as a courier by the Emergency Rescue Committee, a group of New York intellectuals who worked to save "cultural figures stranded in Vichy France." His parents had sent him from Danzig to Paris in 1937, when he was 16, and he had fled Paris in 1939 — alongside "thousands of others on roads filled with people pushing their possessions in wheelbarrows."
When he ended up in Toulouse, fate was waiting for him. He found refuge there in a cinema that had been converted into a rest stop, with straw bags laid across its floors. 
Settling in for the night, he met an American student named Miriam Davenport, who took a keen interest in him. She encouraged him to follow her to Marseille, and when he did, she offered him an unexpected assignment.  
“Gussie,” she told him, “I’ve got a job for you.”...

Eventually, he was caught and he learned that his group would be transferred to a labor camp in Poland and that he needed to find a way out: 

A fellow internee was a medical student. He asked her what illness might necessitate admission into a hospital, and she said peritonitis. He interrogated her about the symptoms. Biding his time until enough guards were nearby, Mr. Rosenberg commenced a performance of writhing and moaning. He was taken to the infirmary, where he rubbed a thermometer until it registered a fever. When he next awoke, he was missing his appendix. He also learned that he was going to Poland anyway. He pleaded with a nurse to let him mail a letter. Mr. Rosenberg’s message, as he had hoped, found its way to a secret network of priests connected to the Resistance. A rebel priest soon visited the hospital, concealed a parcel of clothes for him behind a toilet and parked a bicycle beneath a window. Mr. Rosenberg then darted off on it, blood leaking from his belly. After he healed, Mr. Rosenberg joined the Resistance.... 

He helped retrieve airdrops of weapons from the British and spied on Nazi troops to collect military intelligence. He also joined a guerrilla unit, ambushing and firing on German convoys. After D-Day, he fought alongside Americans, and he was assigned to the Army’s 636th Tank Destroyer Battalion. He aided them as a guide and interrogated prisoners in German. When the war ended, he became an officer at a displaced persons camp operated by the United Nations.

After the war, he immigrated to the United States and studied literature at the University of Cincinnati and then became a literature professor and taught for more than 50 years. We're told one of his courses was "10 Plays that Shook the World" (and I looked, unsuccessfully, to see what the 10 plays were).

After settling in America, Mr. Rosenberg wrote Miriam Davenport a letter to tell her that he was alive. She quickly wrote him back. “You were a symbol of sorts, to me, in those days,” she wrote. “Everyone was moving heaven and earth to save famous men, anti-fascist intellectuals, etc. And there were you, a nice, intelligent youngster with no family, no money, no influence, no hope, no fascinating past.”

Here's video of Rosenberg from 1998 (made by the Shoah Foundation):


And here's his memoir, "The Art of Resistance: My Four Years in the French Underground." 

We're told he refrained — for a while — from telling his story to the woman he married because "I just didn’t want to brag about it." 

What a life! 

Here's a list of cultural figures who were helped by the Emergency Rescue Committee. To name a few: Hannah ArendtJean ArpVictor BraunerAndré BretonMarc ChagallMarcel DuchampMax ErnstArthur KoestlerClaude Lévi-StraussJacques LipchitzAndré MassonRoberto MattaMax Ophüls.

४७ टिप्पण्या:

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

What did he do for excitement after that?

Did he carry his balls around in a wheelbarrow?

FleetUSA म्हणाले...

WOW What a wonderful story. Reading obits has its rewards.

gilbar म्हणाले...

it's nice to read that there are (or, WERE) good people in the world

Ficta म्हणाले...

I think I've found the list of plays. From this scan of a 2010 New School catalog:

Ten Plays That Shook the World
NLIT3802A 15 sessions. Thurs., 4:00–5:50 p.m., beg. Sept. 2. $620.
Justus Rosenberg
The plays analyzed and discussed in this course are considered milestones in the history of theater because of their innovative use of language, form, and thematic treatment and the insights they provide into the human soul. They all test our aesthetic, intellectual, and emotional boundaries, leading us to reflect on the nature of love, ambition, loneliness, and self-righteousness, and they ultimately deal with the universality of the human condition. We begin in the classical period, reading Sophocles’ Antigone and Euripides’ The Trojan Women. We move on to the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, reading Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Goethe’s Faust. Continuing into European modernism, we read Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, and Strindberg’s Dance of Death. Finally, we examine the radical currents in Brecht’s Mother Courage, Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano, and Beckett’s Waiting for Godot.(3 credits)

rcocean म्हणाले...

100 years old. that's impressive. I wonder what the secret was. Kirk Douglas lived to be 104, and several old Hollywood stars are over 100 and still alive.

By the way, Jimmy Carter and Bob Dole aren't far from the 100 year mark. Its sort depressing that we might still be hearing from George bush, & Bill and Hillary in 2046.

My own opinon is that its not just the advance in medicine, its that people no longer smoke, and the abuse of alchohol has gone way down.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"What did he do for excitement after that?"

He read literature. And he understood it at a better level than a person who would ask that question. He brought his understanding to students and he elevated them.

MadisonMan म्हणाले...

God Bless Miriam Davenport, and the Priests.

The Crack Emcee म्हणाले...

Blonde, Germanic = angelic-looking.

What a world.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

'He read literature. And he understood it at a better level than a person who would ask that question.'

Really? So a literature professor understands literature at a better level than an art director. Good to know.

Why so pissy?

My comment was rhetorical and meant as humor.

Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning...

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

'Blonde, Germanic = angelic-looking.'

Renaissance painters were white.

A great deal of renaissance art was religious, and the white painters painted white angels.

You do the math...

Dr Weevil म्हणाले...

A Pole named Rosenberg is almost certainly Jewish. It's perfectly obvious that "Blonde, Germanic = angelic-looking" is not a general statement, but a reference to the position he was in. The point is not that Germanic blonds are any better than anyone else, it's that looking like one is a Hell of a lot safer than looking like a stereotypical Polish Jew, if you're hoping not to attract the attention of Nazis who quite seriously want to kill you. Context matters!

Tim म्हणाले...

Ann, while reading literature is indeed a worthwhile endeavor, it in no way brings the excitement that living day to day under constant threat of deportation to a death camp does. Or risking your life on guerilla raids on in close combat during the march to Berlin.

Michelle Dulak Thomson म्हणाले...

Oh, really, Crack. Blond, not blonde. And the point is how he looked to the Germans occupying Vichy France, not that he was "angelic" in the abstract. You think a Moroccan might have done that particular job better? Or yourself? Sheesh.

Readering म्हणाले...

Thanks Ficta! Search engines are wonderful!

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

Thanks, Ficta!

Readering म्हणाले...

I knew one person who lived to 103. Old enough to have resisted having her feet bound and to have gone to opium dens!

Christy म्हणाले...

I'd wondered if Antigone was on the list. I remember reading that it was approved for production by the Nazis, but that many audiences saw her battle to bury her brothers as a call for resistance. Another case of two audiences seeing different movies. (I see the ads on TV for Wheel of Time as a call for progressive resistance.)

Critter म्हणाले...

There will always be evil in the world. This story is a reminder that good survives evil and eventually rises to be on top again. I'd seen this famous story at times over the years and I'm very happy to see it still being shared in public. We need to be resolved to fight back against the evil of our time in the global socialist fascist project that represents a return to the Nazi goals (albeit not yet trying to exterminate the Jews, but they are getting there) of a society dominated by "right thinkers". Remember the Nazi's killed many Christians, Gypsies, and assorted others who refused to go along with their ideology. VAX passports/social credit scores are a bold move in that direction. So too are global tax minimums that Biden just pushed in meetings in Europe and open borders that Biden has implemented for the US. No doubt we are on a train to another dark age with evil dominating and requiring the good to rise up again and smash the Satanists. Hopefully it is a slow train and we can come to our senses in time to prevent another catastrophe like Nazi Germany from China.

Archbishop Vigano says it well:

https://insidethevatican.com/news/newsflash/letter-148-2021-thurs-nov-18-vigano-appeal/

अनामित म्हणाले...

On a related note, Erc Korngold, a famous Austrian concert pianist, and prolific writer of music scores credited Errol Flynn and the 1938 Robin Hood movie (filmed in Chico CA, btw) for saving his life and his family.

He was in CA in 1938, during the Austrian Anschluss, thus avoided being rounded up and sent to Dachau.

Jupiter म्हणाले...

Yeah, that all happened.

So. Did he ever write any fiction? Or was everything he ever wrote true?

Skippy Tisdale म्हणाले...

Get story Thanks Did he ever say anything derogatory about women or BIPOC?

Skippy Tisdale म्हणाले...

"The Chad Emcee said...
Blonde, Germanic = angelic-looking."

Certainty no whiter than you.

Greg The Class Traitor म्हणाले...

He sounds awesome. Thank you for letting me know about him

William म्हणाले...

Take note. All ten of those plays were written by white men. In such a way is the white patriarchy carried forward and regimes such as we saw in Nazi Germany enabled. He demonstrated courage, but courage to what end? Ultimately he was just another social fascist as the Communists, the true heroes of that era, liked to point out. We need less fuss made over such men and more attention paid to heroes like Joseph Rosenbaum who actually lost his life fighting against the encroachments of a police state. (s/off)

Clyde म्हणाले...

The Crack Emcee said...
Blonde, Germanic = angelic-looking.

What a world.


How do you think the Angles (as in Anglo-Saxons) got their name?

rcocean म्हणाले...

"Finally, we examine the radical currents in Brecht’s Mother Courage, Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano"

Should be the "Communist currents". I wonder if our hero was in the Communist underground in France.

Strindberg’s Dance of Death. Per wikipedia: The story makes its rampaging way through dark corridors of the human soul towards the conclusion. In the final moment, what has survived amid the emotional and psychological wreckage is, unexpectedly, the marriage. The play ends right where it started .

Interesting, I'll have to read that one.

Howard म्हणाले...

Somehow Critter, I don't think Gussie would agree that vaccine mandates are in the same league as Zyklon B showers. The US closed it's borders to Jews escaping Nazis, so Mr. Rosenberg might not share your goal of border aparthied against the poor and oppressed who want a chance at the American Dream.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

'A Pole named Rosenberg is almost certainly Jewish.'

'Born to a Jewish family in Danzig (Gdańsk), Poland...'

From: https://www.bard.edu/news/in-memoriam-justus-rosenberg-2021-11-08

typingtalker म्हणाले...

-- the Emergency Rescue Committee, a group of New York intellectuals who worked to save "cultural figures stranded in Vichy France."

Because cultural figures were certainly more valuable than non-cultural figures. Did they have to pass a test or was the Emergency Rescue Committee working from a list?

TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed म्हणाले...

From a different viewpoint, this tale reminds me of the professor I worked with in college who was with the OSS in WWII. I was in the Army Reserve at the time, and he loved to regale a few of his students with stories.

And the signed sword-containing cane he had in his office was always of interest.

From him I always learned to listen for clues when the elders were speaking. Many of them served in WWII and Korea and often polite questioning was rewarded with insight into their experiences. Time was never wasted when listening to these men and women.

Mattman26 म्हणाले...

Wonderful story.

Had to smirk a little at feigning illness and then waking up without an appendix. Ain't that how life goes sometimes? But seems like it bought him the time needed to escape.

Chris Lopes म्हणाले...

"The Crack Emcee said...
Blonde, Germanic = angelic-looking.

What a world."

It was France in WWII. So yes, to the nazi assholes running the place, he would look "angelic". I'm guessing it wouldn't have worked quite as well in Japanese occupied areas of the world.

Michelle Dulak Thomson म्हणाले...

Clyde,

How do you think the Angles (as in Anglo-Saxons) got their name?

I think you are (mis)remembering a bit of history in which a British (="Anglo-Saxon") slave was brought before the Roman Emperor, who when told the boy was an "Anglo," said, "Non angli, sed angeli" ("Not Angles, but angels.")

Incidentally, were Britons slaves? Of course they were.

SteveWe म्हणाले...

Ann, Thank you for bringing this man to our attention. I knew a Breton who was in the drop zone of an American OSS officer, also known by me, just prior to the landings in Normandie. It may be that people today have faint idea about the courage shown by many so many decades earlier.

rcocean म्हणाले...

Crack has a good point, the use of "angelic" by this person seems rather insensitive if not racist. it seems to imply blond looks good, black looks bad.

The Crack Emcee म्हणाले...

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

"The point is how he looked to the Germans occupying Vichy France, not that he was "angelic" in the abstract."

You talk like the rest of history - until folks got "woke" - didn't back up the idea. White folks have almost always thought of themselves as angelic. Kyle Riuttenhouse is getting a lot of it, despite him lying about his credentials, and killing people. (I repeat: I'm on his side, but unwilling to ignore his mistakes, to free him).

My three white friends who became cops did it because they, too, saw themselves as something special - special enough to patrol my neighborhoods with guns.

I use "special" as the French do - to indicate retardation.







rastajenk म्हणाले...

I have never thought of myself as angelic. Why would I?

Marc म्हणाले...

Rosenberg was in the group that Dara Horn writes about in chapter 8 of her book 'People Love Dead Jews'. I highly, highly recommend that chapter (and the whole book) as an addition to this story. Horn gives many more details about the different rescues and near escapes. And she describes how the leader of the group, Varian Fry, never received much acknowledgement from the intellectuals that were saved, often being shunned by them after the war. Horn is also vividly trenchant in her descriptions of the choices people made about whom to save:

"No rescue committee was convened on behalf of the many people who devoted their life and careers to what Pierre Suavage laments that no one pursues--the actual study of righteousness. For them, there were no Vivian Frys. . . .

. . . I could not help wishing that instead of an emergency rescue committee saving Europe's great artsits, that there had been an emergency rescue committee saving Europe's greatest prophets--that perhapswhat should have been saved was not more of the culture of Europe, but more people like Varian Fry."

Chris Lopes म्हणाले...

"Crack has a good point, the use of "angelic" by this person seems rather insensitive if not racist. it seems to imply blond looks good, black looks bad."

To the occupying forces in France, it would mean exactly that. The Germans were less likely to stop you and ask questions if you looked like you just walked out of an SS recruiting poster than if you looked like you were on your way to synagogue. That was the reality of the situation. The Nazis were (spoiler alert) racist thugs.

Pookie Number 2 म्हणाले...

White folks have almost always thought of themselves as angelic.

Tell us more! I’m particularly curious about how Africans that sold other Africans into slavery thought of themselves.

Michelle Dulak Thomson म्हणाले...

Crack, that's, um, nuts. I am not "angelic." I'm a human being, who has done bad things like nearly every other human being I can think of. But neither am I a nasty "Ice Person," as opposed to those nice Sun People. All this racial BS is just plain, well, BS. I wish you joy of it.

And if you'd prefer only Black people "patrolling your neighborhood with guns," why not "defund the police"? That'll make the icky whites disappear soon enough, and then you can sleep sound, knowing that all the people patrolling your neighborhood with guns are Black.

The Crack Emcee म्हणाले...

rastajenk said...
I have never thought of myself as angelic. Why would I?

Manefiest Destiny gave whites a country over other people.

The Crack Emcee म्हणाले...

Chris Lopes said...

"The Nazis were (spoiler alert) racist thugs."

And America was a beacon of openness.

My God, you people are mentally ill.

The Crack Emcee म्हणाले...

Pookie Number 2 said...
White folks have almost always thought of themselves as angelic.

Tell us more! I’m particularly curious about how Africans that sold other Africans into slavery thought of themselves.

The "two wrongs make a right" argument will get you nowhere with me.

The Crack Emcee म्हणाले...

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Crack, that's, um, nuts. I am not "angelic." I'm a human being, who has done bad things like nearly every other human being I can think of. But neither am I a nasty "Ice Person," as opposed to those nice Sun People. All this racial BS is just plain, well, BS. I wish you joy of it.

I like how you equate me to Farrakhan to make your argument - nice. Ignore white's own myth-making all you want, you're "angelic".

And if you'd prefer only Black people "patrolling your neighborhood with guns," why not "defund the police"? That'll make the icky whites disappear soon enough, and then you can sleep sound, knowing that all the people patrolling your neighborhood with guns are Black.

I knew the men you speak of - they aren't just "white" but white and insecure-as-fuck - specifically about blacks and Mexicans in "their" country.. Is that who you'd want patrolling your home?

Why do whites lie to themselves?

gpm म्हणाले...

>>How do you think the Angles (as in Anglo-Saxons) got their name?

Michelle Dulak Thomson got it almost right. It was Pope Gregory (the Great), not an emperor, who (allegedly) quipped "Non Angli sed Angeli" at a slave market(!) in Rome around 590 A.D., as told by the Venerable (or, as some of us say, taking after a satirist of sort, maybe the great Will Cuppy, Venomous) Bede in the 730s. Gregory went on to send missionaries, including St. Augustine (of Canterbury, not that other guy) to begin the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons. The Irish were working the other end of the island, leading to the Synod of Whitby that resolved issues (the dating of Easter and form of priestly tonsure) in favor of the Roman practice.

Only two other popes are referred to as "Great." One is Leo the Great, who convoked the Council of Chalcedon and faced down Attila on A's march on Rome and got him to turn back.

I knew there were three but had to look up Nicholas. Having done so, a lot less clear to me how he won the title.

--gpm

gpm म्हणाले...

>>How do you think the Angles (as in Anglo-Saxons) got their name?

Michelle Dulak Thomson got it almost right. It was Pope Gregory (the Great), not an emperor, who (allegedly) quipped "Non Angli sed Angeli" at a slave market(!) in Rome around 590 A.D., as told by the Venerable (or, as some of us say, taking after a satirist of sort, maybe the great Will Cuppy, Venomous) Bede in the 730s. Gregory went on to send missionaries, including St. Augustine (of Canterbury, not that other guy) to begin the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons. The Irish were working the other end of the island, leading to the Synod of Whitby that resolved issues (the dating of Easter and form of priestly tonsure) in favor of the Roman practice.

Only two other popes are referred to as "Great." One is Leo the Great, who convoked the Council of Chalcedon and faced down Attila on A's march on Rome and got him to turn back.

I knew there were three but had to look up Nicholas. Having done so, a lot less clear to me how he won the title.

--gpm