Haven: the Dramatic Story of 1000 World War II Refugees and How They Came to America

Plot

From Booklist
Before and after World War II, Gruber was a journalist, chronicling, among other stories, the establishment and development of Israel. During the war, however, she worked for New Dealer Harold Ickes. When, in 1943, FDR decided to admit 1,000 war refugees to the U.S., Gruber volunteered, with Ickes' support, to accompany the group from Europe to their camp in Oswego, New York. Gruber's tale of that journey and its aftermath has long been out of print; this revised and enlarged edition coincides with a CBS miniseries on the subject to be broadcast in May_ 2000. Haven is a remarkable story, following a vivid cast of characters from their dangerous sea journey to Fort Ontario in upstate New York to the battle in Congress to allow these refugees to remain in the U.S. once the war was over. Gruber's involving story may offer evidence that literary skill is inherited: its introduction is provided by Gruber's niece, Dava Sobel, author of Longitude (1995) and, most recently, Galileo's Daughter. Mary Carroll