In Defiance of Hitler by Carla Killough McClafferty

Author:Carla Killough McClafferty
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Published: 2014-03-07T16:00:00+00:00

Hans and Lisa Fittko in Marseilles.

Varian and Beamish met the couple at a small café just off the Old Port in Marseilles, where the salty sea breeze smelled slightly of fish. Row after row of brightly colored rowboats and sailboats were tied in the harbor. Just off the coast lay the Château d’If, the island prison made famous by Alexandre Dumas père in his book The Count of Monte Cristo. There, in the middle of the shabby bistro on the shabby side street, the well-dressed American looked out of place.

Varian got right to the point. He didn’t want the Fittkos to show him a map across the mountains. He wanted them to guide his protégés over them.

Hans and Lisa Fittko said no. They had been fighting the Nazis for years and believed the time had come to get out of Europe themselves.

Varian promised that if they guided refugees over the mountains for a while, he would help them get out of France. The Fittkos knew Varian meant what he said, but such a promise might be impossible to keep.

Since Varian didn’t speak German as well as he did French, Beamish spoke to the Fittkos in German. He assured them that Varian could be trusted. Varian was listening, but misunderstood the conversation.

In her book Escape Through the Pyrenees, Lisa Fittko recalled what happened next:

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