Safe Have Refugee Camp in Oswego

Recently I attended a dinner theater presentation at the Oswego Foundry dealing with Safe Haven. The play was written by Michael Nupuf and Laura Lowrie and directed by Richard Mosher. It portrayed the life and times of the fictional Lefowitz family. However, it was similar to what many of 982 Holocaust refugees experience while at the Safe Haven on the

grounds of Fort Ontario.  I have read Ruth Graber’s book “Haven.” I think it should be compulsory reading for students in Oswego County and elsewhere.  During World War II Gruber was special assistant to Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. She was assigned a secret mission to Europe to bring one thousand Jewish refugees and wounded American soldiers from Italy to the United States. I can’t imagine the trepidation the refugees felt coming to a new land, being loaded onto a train, and ending up in a place enclosed by fencing.  Surely, if had to be reminiscent of the concentration camp experience.  Some had been in camps but others had only heard about it.

Safe Haven was created in the midst of WWII and was the only

place in the United States that accepted Jewish refugees from the holocaust thus saving them from the concentration camps. There were ships of European refugees that were turned away by the United States and other countries. Most refugees wanted to stay in the United States when the war ended but since they had not entered the US in normal manner the decision was made to take them to Canada by bus and then process then

back into the US.  They became doctors, engineers, teachers, and followed other professions that, like many immigrants, were a benefit to American society. I am sure the play will be produced again in the future but until then take time to visit the Safe Haven Museum.

Are you a bystander or an upstander?  Most of us are bystanders.  I

first heard of the word “upstander” when I visit the Dallas Holocaust Museum.  They took an interesting approach to the Holocaust by featuring the events that occurred on one day in three different places. The museum’s slogan is “Be an Upstander not a Bystander.” They highlighted two acts of bravery and courage while at the very same time the

powerful decision-makers in the Allied governments remained indifferent. That day was April 19, 1943. In Poland the Jewish people had been confined to a ghetto. It was the Jewish feast of Passover, 1200 Jews armed with smuggled in pistols, rifles, a few machine guns, grenades and Molotov cocktails engaged in a battle with over 2000 Waffen SS soldiers who attacked with tanks, artillery and flame throwers. The Jews in Warsaw resisted for a total of 28 days.

On that very same day in Belgium three young men risked their

lives to rescue Jews from a deportation train bound for Auschwitz by forcing open the doors of several cars allowing some of the Jewish deportees to escape. Of the 1631 Jews on the deportation train 231 managed to escape. It was the only time during the Holocaust that a train was attacked on its way to one of the notorious camps. Meanwhile a group of representing the British and American government officials met in Bermuda and decided to do nothing about Jewish refugees until after the war. 
Albert Einstein: “The World is too dangerous to live in - not because of the people who do evil, but because of the people who sit and let it happen.”

Visiting Galvston

Glen Campbell sang “Galveston, oh, Galveston, I still hear your seawinds blowing…” We were in Galveston in January and the sea winds were blowing… and blowing.  We were looking forward to walking along the beach but it was just too windy.  Unfortunately we were there during the Arctic Vortex which put the south in a deep freeze.  We stayed at the Holiday Inn Resort where the swimming pool was heated, and while some kids went in and seemed to disregard the weather, it was just too chilly and windy for me.  What to do?

Galveston is a cruise port so I looked at the Carnival Cruise and Royal Caribbean web sites.  There didn’t seem to be any accommodations available on such short notice so I, not expecting any results, contacted a local agency – Cruise Cats located right in Galveston. The owner/agent contacted me

immediately with two reasonable options.  We chose the Royal

Caribbean cruise to Cozumel with a window room in the middle of the Vision of the Seas’ Western Caribbean cruise. When I checked Royal Caribbean’s website there was nothing available except a junior suite at great expense.  The Cruise Cats’ price was extremely reasonable and included all taxes, fees and gratuities. John and I have been on several small ships, maximum capacity 40 passengers, but had never been on a big ship cruise.  

After I made our cruise reservation I got a surprise call from Nanette, the Cruise Cats owner/agent. She offered to give me a tour of Galveston’s historic district.  Of course, I accepted.  She was an excellent tour guide. Not only did I see all the important places in the Historic District she shared a lot of local

history. One of the things she pointed out were the tree sculptures. Many trees were cut down after Hurricane Ike. The stumps, still rooted in the ground, have been fashioned into statues.  

I wasn’t sure John and I would like a big cruise, and Vision of the Seas is one of the smaller ship with only 2,435 passengers. I was in for many surprises.  First of all, I thought boarding the ship would be easier than boarding an airplane.  Not true.  The Holiday Inn Resort

supplied free hotel/ship transfer but then there was a long line to go through security. Then there was another long line to get checked into the ship followed by a long walk to actually get on the ship. When all 2,000 plus of us were on board we all had to report to our muster stations.  By that time I decided flying was easier.  We are TSA Precheck so we don’t stand in line for airport security, airports have trolleys and people movers so walks are not too long, boarding is systematic, and the security is done while everyone is seated on the plane.  By that time I was thinking, “Big ship cruising is not for me.” 

When the ship left port most of the people seemed to disappear –

where did they go? There was always plenty of lounge chairs and getaway places that were uncrowded. I started to enjoy myself.  The meals were excellent, the evening shows very nice, and when many of the passengers disembarked to visit Cozumel (we had been there) we stayed on board and I had the whole swimming pool to myself. We really enjoyed the cruise… and the warm weather. Can’t wait to go again. 

Houston Natural Science Musuem

The Houston Natural Science Museum has 16 permanent exhibitions including the Burke Baker Planetarium, the Cockrell Butterfly Center, and a giant screen theater.  The first hall we entered had a variety of marine animals models hanging from the ceiling along with a video cam on the wall of  that made it

look like people were in a seal aquarium habitat. It was popular with the children because they could “walk up to the seals” and watch the seals dive in the water to get out of their way. A fun exhibit. The Museum is also home to the world’s largest snail shell which at 30 inches in length makes me want to never run into the snail that made its home there in that shell.

There is always something new and unique to see in museums.  It was the

first time I had ever seen or heard of sand concretions. Concretions are compact, often rounded, accumulations of mineral matter that form inside sedimentary rock.  The one at the museum was beautiful enough to qualify as modern art. The paleontology exhibit is

always interesting. The displays of Triceratops, Stegosaurus and other dinosaurs are displayed in active poses as if hunting instead of just standing in a row.

The newest exhibit, the Wiess Energy Hall on the fourth floor, includes comprehensive and technologically advanced exhibits on science and energy.  When we got off the elevator we faced a 21st century offshore drilling rig run by sci-fi robots.  There were many unique exhibits including a “Geovator”

that takes visitors on a fantastic reality voyage plunging down through the Museum floors into the earth back a few million years to the time when the critters that roamed the earth lived and died. They would over eons turn into petroleum called Texas Tea or Texas Gold. Very cool!  There was another virtual reality experience called the Eagle Ford Shale Experience (EFX 3000). We sat in a large vehicle that simulated a ride to the oil and gas drilling country then reduced us to microscopic size so we could go down into a borehole of an oil well where the craft was so small it could get into the narrow spaces of a hydraulic mico-fracture.  

There was a huge “Energy City, with 3-D landscape of Houston and the surrounding Gulf coastal area that pinpointed various types of energy (nuclear, water, wind, gas, oil, solar, etc.) and how the energy was delivered to the community. There were several fun hands on activities plus the “Energy Jukebox” a collection of ten catchy songs that explore topics including conservation, renewable energy, biomass, hydrogen power, nuclear fission, oil, natural gas, unconventional hydrocarbons, electricity and thermonuclear fusion.

We spent so much time there we didn’t have a lot of time to explore. We did a quick walk through the Cabinet of Curiosities with extraordinary natural and man made objects were displayed in drawers of cabinets and the Hall of Texas Wildlife highlighting the various biomes of the state.  On the way out we watched a group of young boys entranced with the Foucault Pendulum. It is a visual demonstration of the earth’s rotation. The direction of the pendulum appears to swing but actually the earth is turning under it. As the earth moves the pendulum knocks down pins lined up in a circle on the floor.  It is mesmerizing. There is always so much to learn and understand. Now, if I could just remember everything I learn!

Six More Weeks of Winter

I didn’t realize there were so many groundhog weather

prognosticators. I thought Punxsutawney Phil was the one and only. After all they made a movie about him and, as amazing as it may seem, Mexico Middle School had, at one time, three teachers from Punxsutawney. They made Groundhog day seem like a national holiday.  Puxsutawney Phil saw his shadow which means six more weeks of winter as did Ohio’s Buckeye Chuck. 

However, Staten Island’s Chuck, formally known as Charles G. Hogg, predicts an early spring.   A local elementary school tracks the weather to see how it compares with a normal winter season so the can compare.  What is normal? Chuck has a better record than Phil. Chuck has been accurate 78 percent of the time whereas Phil has only been accurate 39 percent of the time, which is worse than the human forecasters. So, what will it be?  In Oswego County there were both sunny and cloudy times on Feb. 2. The forecaster that is most likely to be correct is Potomac Phil, a taxidermiesd animal in Washington, DC who predicted six more weeks of winter and also six more weeks of political gridlock. 


If you go to Staten Island, and you should if you visit New York City, visit the zoo which has many things to see and do; and staying on Staten Island is less expensive than staying in Manhattan. 

Regardless of what the groundhogs predict the first day of spring is not until March 20 so there will most likely be lots of winter ahead. There are places to visit in NYS that celebrate winter such as High Peaks Resort in Lake Placid with two indoor and two outdoor pools or the Mohonk House, the iconic historic hotel has an outdoor heated mineral pool infused with Dead Sea salts. 

If winter is not your fun time then get out of town if you can.

Where to go?  There are always cruises that go to warmer climes.  To save money take the train to NYC to catch the cruise out of New York or drive to Baltimore. John and I recently took our first cruise on one of the big cruise ships. We were in Galveston during the East Coast cold snap and wanted to get away.  The Royal Caribbean sails from Galveston as does

 Carnival.  There was no availability shown on the cruise websites so I called Nanette’s Cruise Cats, a local agency. Amazingly, she was able to get us a great deal on a great room on the Royal Caribbean cruise to Cozumel. The cruise was less expensive than staying at the Holiday Inn Resort Galveston. 


A free shuttle bus transported us to/from the cruise dock.  I was under the impression that getting on the cruise ship was easier that boarding an airplane – not so.  I was not thrilled with the long lines and walks to get aboard. Before we set sail there was the safety drill with all

2,500 of us going to our assigned spot on the deck.  Too many people I thought – not for me – but once we set sail I really enjoyed it.  When most of the passengers went on a day trip we had the pool all to ourselves. We enjoyed the evening shows and the food was excellent. 

Before we left on the cruise Nanette called to ask if I would like a tour of the historic district of Galveston.  Of course! How is that for service? 

Visiting Houston Space Center

As a teenager I was intrigued with the concept of travel to the moon and beyond. What was once science fiction is now a reality.  Americans have walked on the moon and will, most likely, walk on Mars then travel beyond. John and I visited the Houston Space Center where were several informative video presentations.

Carl Sagan said, “Exploration is in our nature.  We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still. We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean.  We are ready to set sail for the stars.”  Well, maybe not the stars quite yet.  What seemed amazing in the 1960s has now become routine.  One of the presentations was “Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo.” The goal of the Apollo program was to land Americans on the moon and return them safely which it did on July 20, 1969 when Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the moon and uttered the

immortal words, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” It is a moment that most people – worldwide – remember where they were.  We were camping in Canada.  Canadians congratulated us as if we had been personally responsible. The video vividly shows the stress the people of Mission Control were under even when everything goes smoothly. The scenes of the people of Mission Control during the Apollo 13, Challenger, and Columbia missions were heart wrenching even though the astronauts of Apollo 13 returned safely. I was surprised to learn that there has been at least one person orbiting the earth every day for the past 17 years. 

Other videos, talks, and displays dealt with the Orion Mars Mission. Work is on schedule for the first manned Mars Mission which will send astronauts to Mars. Astronauts will orbit the planet and return to Earth in the 2030s. Walking on Mars may take longer. Scientists are studying ways to build human habitats on Mars. Someone actually suggested that people make a one-way trip to Mars where they would live in the habitats until the problem of returning to Earth has been solved. 

Some people have actually volunteered but the plan is not taken seriously. Work is progressing on the Orion launch/splash down delivery vehicle and on a Deep Space Habitat module that will provide additional living space for the 16-month trip. And, we think 24 hours of flying to get to Thailand is a long trip! Watch out Superman.  You have serious competition. Orion will return to Earth at a speed of about 25,000 mph – more than 35 times faster than a speeding bullet. 

The Houston Space Center is 25 miles from Houston.  It is about halfway between Galveston, where we were staying, and Houston our last stop before heading to New York so we took Uber taxi to Seabrook, just a few miles from the Space Center and stayed at Springhill Suites for a few days. It was a good decision because the day we had planned to visit the Space Center it was closed due to the cold weather –

20s. They reopened next day the next day noon but the tram rides were suspended… too cold.  It was the first time we had stayed at a Springhill Suites – it was reasonable and while they didn’t have a restaurant they did have a bar! People planning to visit the Space Center should plan on spending the day.  Besides the video presentations, there are simulated rides, and exhibits galore. 

Remember the "Day of Infamy"

Tora! Tora! was the Japanese code-word made famous when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 propelling the United States into World War II.  The term means “tiger” but in this case it was an acronym meaning “lightning attack.” On December 11, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt declared war on Japan; in return, on the same day Germany and Italy, Japanese allies, declared war on the United States.

Visiting Pearl Harbor on the Hawaiian island of Oahu is a profound experience and visitors should plan to spend the better part of the day there because there is a lot to see and do.  The main attraction is the USS Arizona Memorial with an informative 23-minute movie followed by a boat ride to the USS Arizona Memorial which is built atop the ship that is the final resting place for 1,177 of the USS Arizona’s crewmen. It was the greatest loss of life on any US warship in American history. The names and ranks of the crewmen are listed on the memorial wall. There were 37 sets of brothers on

board that fateful day. Nearby in the water are memorials to the other ships destroyed on that Day of Infamy. When the USS Arizona sank there were more than a million gallons of fuel on board. Some of it still surfaces. Survivors have called the oil droplets “Black Tears.” It helps to get USS Arizona tour tickets on line; however, the National Park Service gives out over 2000 free walk-up tickets each day on a first come basis. The tour of the USS Arizona take about two hours but there is much more to see there.

For Americans the Pearl Harbor attack was the beginning of World War II but the war had already started in Europe with the German invasion of Poland in 1939 and in Asia the fighting started when the Japanese invaded China in 1937. The formal end of the WW II took place on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945 and was broadcast

throughout the world.  Gen. MacArthur said, “Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always. These proceedings are closed.”  Today the USS Missouri is at anchor in Pearl Harbor. Nearby on Historic Ford Island is the Pacific Aviation Museum with two hangers of exhibits.

The attack on Pearl Harbor was intended to prevent the US Pacific Fleet from interfering with the Japanese plan to take over other areas in the Pacific.  Many people do not realize that the attack on Pearl Harbor was part of a greater offensive. On the same day (it was December 8 in Asia) they were simultaneous Japanese attacks on the US-held Philippines, Wake Island, and Midway Island; plus, there were assaults on Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. The Japanese did not occupy the island

of Oahu like they did the other places they attacked which led to the people in those areas suffering from Japanese occupation much the same as those in China. Interestingly, Hawaii and the Philippines, prior to December 1941, were considered great places to be stationed. We learned more at the US National Parks in Guam and Saipan, plus the WW II museum in Singapore. At the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas they have a realistic battle reenactment several times a week.

April 19, 1943 at the Dallas Holocaust Museum

When John and I were in Dallas, I visited the Holocaust Museum. They are in the process of raising money for a new building for their museum but meanwhile they have made the maximum use of their small space. They took an interesting approach to the Holocaust by featuring the events that occurred on one day in three different places. That day was April 19, 1943. Each place had a unique reaction to what was happening to the Jewish population in Europe.

The museum’s slogan is “Be an Upstander not a Bystander” so they focus on three different responses to the Holocaust. They highlight two acts of bravery and courage while at the very same time the powerful decision-makers in the Allied governments remained indifferent.

In Poland the Jewish people had been confined to a ghetto. On that day in April it was the Jewish feast of Passover, 1200 Jews armed with smuggled in pistols, rifles, a few machine guns, grenades and Molotov cocktails engaged in a battle with over 2000 Waffen SS soldiers under the command of SS General Jürgen Stroop who attacked with tanks, artillery and flame throwers. The first attack by the SS was repulsed by the Jews, leaving 12 Germans dead. The Germans renewed the attack, but found it difficult to kill or capture the small battle groups of Jews, who would fight, then retreat through a maze of cellars, sewers and other hidden passageways to escape capture. The Jews in Warsaw resisted for a total of 28 days.

On that very same day in Belgium three young men risked their lives to rescue Jews from a deportation train bound for Auschwitz from Belgium. As part of a resistance unit, Georges Livchitz, a young Jewish physician, forced the train to stop, held the engineer at bay while his two non-Jewish comrades, Robert Maistriau and Jean Franklemon, forced open the doors of several cars allowing some of the Jewish deportees to escape. Of the 1631 Jews on the deportation train 231 managed to escape. Livchitz was later captured, tried and executed. Maistriau and Franklemon were arrested and deported to Bergen-Belsen. Both survived their time in the concentration camp and lived a long life. It was the only time during the Holocaust that a train was attacked on its way to one of the notorious camps.

Meanwhile a group of officials representing the British and American governments met in a plush hotel on the beautiful resort island of Bermuda to discuss the question of Jewish refugees who had been liberated by Allied forces and those who remained in Nazi-occupied Europe. They basically decided to do nothing but agreed that the war must be won.

The museum shows the actions of those who rose up to defend themselves and those who risked their lives to help others in contrast to the politicians who chose to do nothing. Prominently placed at the entrance of the museum is the quote by Albert Einstein: “The World is too dangerous to live in - not because of the people who do evil, but because of the people who sit and let it happen.”

Sadly persecutions continue today even though people vowed “never again.” Today the museum makes their message timely by referring to bullying, racism, and other forms of discrimination. They maintain that “A different world cannot be built by indifferent people.”

The Assassination of JFK - Revisited

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy is one on those events that is permanently etched in my mind. People may not remember exactly what they did last Friday but they remember exactly what they were doing on Friday, November 22, 1963.

The days that followed were just as profound. We were all glued to our television sets. It has been said that, “Television came of age” that day. Today with CNN and 24-7 coverage on so many channels it hard to remember that there was a time when that was not the norm – most newscasts in 1963 were only 15 minutes long. For four days all other broadcasting and all commercials stopped. It was if the whole county had come to a standstill.

In the months and years that followed the story of the assassination took many twists and turns. At one point I thought if I read all the books printed on the event I could discern the truth. I finally gave up realizing that the story was so muddled I would not recognize the truth so I accepted the simple, official version – Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin.

Recently John and I were in Dallas and the Texas Book Depository Museum was on my must-do list. It was on the sixth floor of the building where the city’s schoolbooks were stored that Oswald fired the shots that killed JFK. Most of the building now houses offices but the sixth floor has been turned into a museum. The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza has an excellent audio tour with photos and first person narratives of people associated with the assassination.

Using nearly 400 photographs, 45 minutes of documentary films, and artifacts, the exhibition recreates the social and political context of the early 1960s, chronicles the assassination and its aftermath, and recognizes Kennedy's lasting impact on American culture.

When Kennedy was elected his youthfulness and his young family symbolized a new era. After the assassination I recall college professors saying that when Kennedy was elected many of their colleagues quit they jobs and rushed to Washington to be part of the new era only to have their dreams dashed on November 22. But from the Kennedy years came the impetus for the Space Program, Civil Rights legislation, and the Peace Corp.

Much of the displays dealt with what I already knew such as the Conspiracy Theories and the Zapruder film. Having the details of Kennedy’s last hours and the steps the led Lee Harvey Oswald to that window in the Book Depository all in one place was riveting. And add to that Jack Ruby’s assassination of Oswald made all the exhibits mesmerizing. Especially impressive was the video presentation showing the national and international response to the assassination.

The museum did not awaken any of my former needs for definitive “answers” - and then I saw the sniper’s nest. The motorcade came down Houston Street. The view from the sniper’s window was unobstructed and with the motorcade moving at a slow pace there would have been plenty of time to aim and get off several shots. When the motorcade turned onto Elm Street the angle was more difficult plus there was a huge overhead sign and trees in the way making firing much more difficult. Why didn’t the assassin fire when the motorcade was on Houston Street?