…Researched and contributed by Judah Olanisebee.
Title:
“Transatlantic”: The Brave Story of the Emergency Rescue Committee
Introduction:
The Netflix series “Transatlantic” tells the story of the Emergency Rescue Committee, a group that helped smuggle thousands of artists and Jewish sympathizers out of France after the Nazis occupied it in 1940.
Led by American man Varian Fry, the group set up a network of brave men and women to fight back against the Germans and transport influential figures, including artists like Marc Chagall and Max Ernst, across the Pyrenees into Spain, ultimately evacuating many to the United States.
The Final Episode:
In the final episode, the ERC and those they are trying to help become targets of both the Nazis and the American General Consul Graham Patterson, who doesn’t support their efforts.
The group devises a plan to rescue member Paul Kandjo from prison, but the mission goes awry when Paul’s brother and one of the other prisoners are shot and killed.
Despite the setback, the ERC is able to bring Paul and the other prisoners to safety.
Meanwhile, Varian is on a mission of his own to get artist Marc Chagall and his wife Bella out of the country.
He decides to leave his lover, Thomas, behind in France and drive the Chagalls to Portugal where they’ll seek safe passage to America.
Varian accepts that he must return to his normal life, as much as it pains him.
After seeing through their primary goal to escort thousands out of France, each of our main players realizes that their relationships and motivations were temporary.
While Mary Jayne and Varian’s passion for their mission was true, the reality of their normal lives had to set it.
On the other hand, Albert and Paul were mobilized by the work they did with the ERC and felt that the only option was to stay and continue the fight.