At these times of war the fort had actually been occupied by the active military forces. Later, the state historic site at Fort Ontario was established and opened to the public in 1953. Many young men had taken much pride in wearing their uniforms with the American flag on them. She said the camp was largely forgotten by the wider world and the 75th anniversary could be the last reunion of the refugees at Fort Ontario. On Aug. 5, Kaiser returned to Fort Ontario State Historic Site, along with 18 other surviving refugees of the Holocaust, to gather for a final reunion to remember their lives at the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter. January 30, 1946 “Only 273 Remain at Fort Ontario Refugee Shelter.” p. 12 col 3-4. Fort Ontario and the Arrival of the Refugees Excerpt from a paper read by Dr. John W. O’Connor of Oswego before the Oswego County Historical Society Assembled at VanBuren Inn, Volney Town, July 15, 1946, to Commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Evacuation of Fort Ontario by the British. Photo Designation JEWISH REFUGEES: FORT ONTARIO REFUGEE CENTER (1944-1945) -- Arrival Fort Ontario/Registration. As the late 1930’s approached so did World War II, since it was fought over seas, the United States did not have to watch their homeland for battles. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the shelter as an example for allied countries to follow and to accept refugees within their own borders; it is unique because it was the only refugee shelter established in the United States during … The Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter, destined to be the only camp for Holocaust victims in the United States during World War II, was an offspring of the War Refugee Board. arrest and shipment to concentration camps. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.) (Oversize HV 640.5 .J4 S5 1991) [Find in a library near you] A documented chronicle of the campaign by the residents of the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter to gain their freedom and the right to stay in the United States. They were placed at the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee This presentation will be at 7 p.m. on April 9 at the Scriba In 1987, the public broadcasting station in Rochester, WXXI, made a documentary about the camp. “Truman said ’It would be wasteful and inhuman to require all these people to go all the way back to Europe to apply there for immigration visas.’” (Alien Refugees Quit Camp, Begin Hunting Homes, 1946) There was a process set up for those that wanted to seek United States citizenship that ended with a train ride out to cities to live with family or friends to get them on their feet as citizens rather than refugees. She told me the camp director said to them: “When In the 20th century Fort Ontario had become deactivated as a military fort, but was still actively in use by the United States of America. Fort Ontario Refugees: How They Won Their Freedom. The story of the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter in Oswego, NY, which was the only war-time refugee shelter in the United States. These refugees were housed at Fort Ontario in … Neff, Carol. Don't fence me in! Now, in a time of rising anti-Semitism and attacks on Jews, Lear said Fort Ontario, while no longer an active military base, remains “a fortress against forgetting and denying the Holocaust.”, Erbedling, who has also written a book on subject, entitled Rescue Board: The Untold Story of America’s Efforts to Save the Jews of Europe, said given the age of the surviving former refugees: “For everyone younger than 75, it is our job to remember their story.”. family then gained passage on a small ship that took them to an island occupied KATKO ELEVATES DISCUSSION IN WASHINGTON ON FORT ONTARIO, SAFE HAVEN. A couple more miracles later, Kamhi’s family were among the almost 1,000 refugees who were accepted to the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter, in Oswego, New York, in 1944. Cover Photo: During a visit to the Fort Ontario museum, Yugoslavian refugee cousins Ella, David and Rikika Levi touch a section of the wire fence that used to surround the camp. “Americans and the Holocaust, and the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter” is the theme of the annual Fort Ontario Conference on History and Archaeology scheduled for April 25-26, 2020, at the Great Lakes Event and Conference Center in Oswego, NY. Many try to flee but where to go? Kaiser was one of 982 European refugees who arrived at the fort Aug. 5, 1944, about a month after the first accounts of a liberated Nazi death camp horrified the world. Palmitesso, Carl. Providing security, shelter and food _ but not the ability to leave _ the camp was to be home to the weary refugees for the the next 17 months. Immigrazione e restrizionismo negli U.S.A. Sul finire della seconda guerra mondiale gli Stati Uniti d’America decisero di aprire, seppur parzialmente, le proprie porte ai rifugiati scampati alle persecuzioni naziste. After the war, camp director Joseph Smart stepped down from that post to form a national campaign that pushed for the refugees to be given the choice to stay in America, a step that was taken by President Truman. In June 1944, Roosevelt approved the plan for the Emergency Refugee Shelter in Fort Ontario. Many refugees remembered the trains that they were transportated in to concentration camps, and thus feared the worse when they saw the trains in America. 1. (Peterson, 2004) However, in the article posted on the 26th of June in 1945, there is a direct quote by current representative, Fisher,  that states: “’The attorney general doesn’t think these people should be retained.’” (GOTTHART, C., 1945). Never the less, the United States was founded on the foundation of a “melting pot” which has yet to change. Asked what the lesson of Fort Ontario is for people today, Kaiser paused. Refugees in Fort Ontario - Oswego/NY. Relief and rescue organizations, as well as interested members of the public, had been suggesting bringing refugees under the threat of Nazi persecution to the United States for a number of months. Coming from 18 different countries, the new arrivals were predominately Jewish, but their ranks also included some Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants. OSWEGO – A special event commemorating the Aug. 5 1944 arrival of 982 Holocaust Refugees at the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter in Oswego, New York, and likely the last reunion of the shelter’s surviving refugees, is planned by … Photograph, Refugees registering at the Fort Ontario Refugee Camp, Oswego, New York, August 1944 Still Pictures Identifier 210-CFZ-28 Rediscovery Identifier 24398 Weather permitting, and if the crowd is large enough, 982 bio-degradable tethered sky candle lanterns – representing the number of refugees brought to Fort Ontario in 1944 – will be launched after dark. Linda Cohen came to the Oswego reunion from her home in Michigan, to remember her parents, Leon and Sarinka Kabiljo, who lived at the camp. Barrack-like houses were quickly constructed to be the temporary homes for the refugees. B5); it was almost like each family had their own new little home where they would be safe from the previously harmful situation overseas. News about atrocities, mainly against Jews, is mostly delegated to the back pages of American newspapers. “My parents were married on April 6, 1941, the day the Nazis invaded Yugoslavia. F. D. Roosevelt had seen the importance of allies in the war and thus made the right call to allow those in need to come to the United States of America. The refugees, who arrived on a troop ship from Italy, were housed in a former military barracks, Fort Ontario, near the city of Oswego in upper state New York. He scratches his bare leg while explaining that he has a son in the U.S. Army. As part of their passage to the U.S., they were assigned military tags normally used to identify “casual baggage.” (Photo from the collection of the U.S. Roosevelt., whose selection of Fort Ontario stemmed from his earlier time as U.S. Secretary of the Navy and later as Governor of New York state. Eleanor Roosevelt visiting Fort Ontario in September 1944 (Photo from ‘Token Shipment’ by Edward B. "A New Deal for Refugees: The Promise and Reality of Oswego." The year is 1943 and in Europe and the South Pacific war is raging. Back row are Herman Kremer, Ernes Spitzer and unknown. Roosevelt, talking with locals on the other side of the fence. They were on the run for three years, hiding in the forests with the partisans. Today the shape of Fort Ontario is in that of a star, which resembles a bastion fort. Never the less, the refugee camp was not all bad, especially compared to the concentration and extermination camps set up by the Nazi’s under Adolf Hitler’s rule overseas. Photograph courtesy of International News, Aug. 6, 1944. In the fall of 1944, a group of refugees left the fort for several weeks to help pick apples in the region. Second row are Paul Bokros, Lea Hamf and Ivo Lederer. Each individual's age is given. Fort Ontario still had the military fort feeling, with barbwire protecting the outside. I could see their faces. A ceremony at a local cemetery where some refugees who died while at Fort Ontario are now buried. Fort Ontario Refugees: How They Won Their Freedom. A Look at Winter Animal Tracks Throughout State Parks, Want to try snowshoeing? Learn how your comment data is processed. From there, the family was shipped to the Allied-controlled portion of the Italian mainland, and taken with several hundred other refugees to the port of Toranto for shipment to North Africa. Fort Ontario was the “only refugee camp in the United States for victims of the Holocaust and World War II” (May 2016, States News Service) from overseas. In late 1945 Roosevelt’s successor, President Harry Truman, gave the refugees the choice of remaining in the U.S. or going back to Europe. This is a visit to the Safe Haven Museum in Oswego. Behind the fence is a 48-star flag that used to fly over the fort during World War II. His family remained in relative safety under Italian control A digital tool for studying the Holocaust through unique, original sources. National Archives Identifier: 6341035: Local Identifier: 210-CFZ-28: Creator(s): Department of the Interior. Today, no more than 35 former camp residents remain alive, said Paul Lear, manager of the historic site and co-organizer of the reunion and commemoration. Autobiography of Manfred, one of the adolescent refugee boys who resided at the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter from1944-1946. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: referencedIn: Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter Collection, 1944-1947, 1960, 1975 And it was there, while the teenage Bruno was attending a local high school, that the family learned of Roosevelt’s program for America to accept a very small number of European and Jewish refugees. Your email address will not be published. The … Fort Ontario is located on the east side of the Oswego River on high ground overlooking Lake Ontario.. Fort Ontario was one of several forts erected by the British to protect the area around the east end of Lake Ontario.The original Fort Ontario was erected in 1755, during the French and Indian War in order to bolster defenses already in place at Fort Oswego on the opposite … Seventh St. in Oswego, NY, interprets the history of the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter. Like Kaiser, most chose to stay, building lives and families in their new homes. Today the shape of Fort Ontario is in that of a star, which resembles a bastion fort. Fort Ontario was the “only refugee camp in the United States for victims of the Holocaust and World War II” (May 2016, States News Service) from overseas. GOVERNOR CUOMO ANNOUNCES 27 PROPERTIES NOMINATED TO STATE AND NATIONAL REGISTERS OF HISTORIC PLACES. Weakened by poor nutrition, the child died of a fever on Aug. 2, 1944, the day before the ship from Europe docked in New York City. The refugees were well taken care of at Fort Ontario and by the time the war ended, “23 babies had been born, one couple had married and at least two teenage boys had managed to sneak out and hitchhike to Manhattan for a day of adventure”(Rowe). President Truman had recognized their patriotism for the United States and used his power to help as many of the men, woman, and children that wanted to stay. It symbolized freedom from tyranny, oppression and persecution on the one hand, and yet there was a fence, a gate that locked and guards were felt necessary to contain us at the very time we longed for the kind of freedom this country stood for and professed. As World War II came to an end, these refugees wanted to stay as much as those who crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the 1700’s. (Peterson, 2004) By this point many of the young men had thought of the United States as being their country now, and even with the war being over, had not wanted to return home, to Europe. fellow escapees, spending months or years on the run, trying to stay ahead of Alphabetical list of approximately 110 refugees interned at the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter. Additional Information About this Item . Military History of the Upper Great Lakes. REFUGEES OPEN FIGHT TO RETAIN SHELTER IN U. S. ALIEN REFUGEES QUIT CAMP, BEGIN HUNTING HOMES. The refugees, representing the neediest cases, came from 18 countries, and they ranged in age from babies to seniors. Park experts tell where to go. As the late 1930’s approached so did World War II, since it was fought over seas, the United States did not have to watch their homeland for battles. 1.1. A couple more miracles later, Kamhi’s family were among the almost 1,000 refugees who were accepted to the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter, in Oswego, New York, in 1944. The refugees, representing the neediest cases, came from 18 … Sephardic Holocaust Journey: From Yugoslavia to an Internment Camp in America. During the Covid-19 pandemic the Friends of Fort Ontario State Historic Site are unable to conduct traditional commemorative programs. We are a safe and welcoming community organisation in Fort Erie, Ontario with a twenty-year history helping newcomers integrate to Canadian living. FORT ONTARIO, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Fort Ontario opened its doors 75 years ago to 982 of World War II refugees. “Each family had its own barracks, plenty of food and eventually access to education.” (2003, 59 Years Ago, They Fled To an Internment Camp., Pg. Get this from a library! Ambassador Dani Dayan, Consul General of Israel in New York; Rebecca Erbelding, These interviews were made to generate Haven from the Holocaust, a one-hour radio documentary about the refugees and the people involved with them. By January of the following year, 1946, the refugees had gotten what they wanted. (Peterson, 2004) Luckily for these young men, the current President Harry S. Truman was on their side, when he directed officials to adjust the immigration status of any Fort Ontario resident who “wished” to stay in the United States. “The people who welcomed Holocaust refugees into Oswego were a shining example by saying with their actions that they were not indifferent, that they cared about them and wanted them to be there while the rest of the world rejected refugees solely because they were Jewish,” he said. slept on sheets in years. Autobiography of Manfred, one of the adolescent refugee boys who resided at the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter from1944-1946. That is how close we came,” said Kaiser. Refugee youth living at the Fort Ontario refugee center study in a high school classroom. Our country’s immigration laws continue to be paradoxical.”. “My older sister was born nine months to the day after my Pictured front row are Neli Bokros, Edith Weiss and David Hendel. Along with his father, mother, and Two dozen of the refugees were artists and the army erected studios at the north end of the fort, where expansive views of Lake Ontario inspired beautiful creations in clay, ink, and oil. said Kaiser. A post cemetery containing the graves of 77 officers, soldiers, women, and children who served at Fort Ontario in war and peace is situated on the grounds which are open year … Refugees were housed at Fort Ontario in Oswego from August 1944 until February 1946. I went to the public high school, with about 40 other kids from the camp,” said Kaiser, who recalled he had to “learn English from scratch” to go along with his other languages:  Croatian, Italian and German. “It is that anti-Semitism rears its ugly head every once in a while. Towards the end of World War II when the minorities in Germany were desperately trying to avoid the extermination camps, many fled overseas to the United States. Salt Lake City: Heritage Arts, 1991. The immediate beneficiaries were refugees stranded in newly liberated southern Italy. … The museum is celebrating its 65th anniversary with a number of events. Which to some degree shows that not everyone was as supportive of having the refugees in a camp on American soil. Morice Kamhi discusses his experience in Europe during World War II and his life at Fort Ontario.Leon Levitch, pianist and student of music before arriving at Fort Ontario, discusses school, piano tuning, working with two pianists who were also residents, and establishing a chorus at Fort Ontario. there is a knock on your door now, it will be a friendly one.”. Interview with three former residents of the Emergency Refugee Shelter at Fort Ontario. To all such change showed that, President F. D. Roosevelt’s was indicating “primarily as a token of the United States; willingness to do its part in meeting the refugee problem” (August 1944, Greek Refugees Arrive in the U.S. Fort Ontario still had the military fort feeling, with barbwire protecting the outside. The current structure that is standing today as Fort Ontario is not the same fort that was originally built. Publication of the Oswego County Historical Society (1953): 65-71. OSWEGO AND THE FORT ONTARIO REFUGEE CENTER. [Joseph H Smart] -- The story of the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter in Oswego, NY, which was the only war-time refugee shelter in the United States. Fort Ontario and the Arrival of the Refugees Excerpt from a paper read by Dr. John W. O’Connor of Oswego before the Oswego County Historical Society Assembled at VanBuren Inn, Volney Town, July 15, 1946, to Commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Evacuation of Fort Ontario by the British. by the Allies. Your email address will not be published. He said it will likely be the last such gathering for a group whose members are now in their mid-70s to early 90s. "The Refugees at Fort Ontario." (Oversize HV 640.5 .J4 S5 1991) [Find in a library near you] A documented chronicle of the campaign by the residents of the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter to gain their freedom and the right to stay in the United States. Post by Paul Lear, Site Manager of Fort Ontario Historic Site, and Brian Nearing, Deputy Public Information Officer. Jewish Federation of Central New York; Geoff Smart, son of Refugee Shelter Bewitched by the artists’ muse, I rest on a bench where the studios once stood and watch a near-cloudless sky quickly give way to a wall of angry thunderheads. Primary source documents are included by the man who was the director of the camp known as "Safe Haven". During the trip, the train stopped in a switching yard. Fort Ontario refugees pose with their classmates on the steps of the public high school in Oswego, New York. To protect against that, he ordered U.S. troops in Europe to tour concentration camps to bear witness that it did. Her parents eventually settled in Baltimore, where Linda was The interviews were done in connection with the Refugees' 40th reunion in New York City and contain interviews with and about Fort Ontario Refugees. Here one of the foreigners walks over to talk with them. To all such change showed that, President F. D. Roosevelt’s was indicating “primarily as a token of the United States; willingness to do its part in meeting the refugee problem” (August 1944, Greek Refugees Arrive in the U.S.). For … Fort Ontario Refugee Camp, The Arrival In 1944, as the war raged in Europe, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in response to the atrocities as well as to the growing refugee populations in allied occupied zones in Europe, allowed for 1000 refugees to come to America for the duration of the war. The fort had become a refugee camp for those minorities, mostly those of the Jewish race, fleeing from Adolf Hitler’s domination in the mid 1940’s. The Fort Ontario Refugees were the first group of refugees allowed into the U.S. outside the immigration quota system on August 5, 1944. Now 90 years old, Bruno Kaiser remembers arriving 75 years ago at a U.S. Army base along the shore of Lake Ontario, a day that ended his family’s long struggle to escape death during World War II at the hands of the Nazis. War Refugees of Fort Ontario papers, 1944-1945. “At last, we felt perfectly safe.”. What life was Like on The Inside. War Relocation Authority. 999 European refugees, most of them Jews or married to Jews, were selected and 982 (or in some lists, 986) were brought to the US in 1944. Refugees spent about a year and half at the fort before they were allowed to officially enter the U.S. as new immigrants. Matthew House Fort Erie is a Canadian registered non-profit charity organistion, which provides refugee claimanants, broken families and homeless people with emergency shelter and transitional housing. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. However, on this day, especially, we invite you to park in the lake overlook parking lot and reflect at the monument dedicated to the Fort Ontario Refugees and the millions of victims of the Nazis. There was never any anti-Jewish anything.”. The Fort Ontario program is one of dozens of events and activities occurring worldwide on International World Refugee Day. the wake of the Nazi invasion and takeover when Jews were being rounded up. “We applied, and because we had family in Cleveland and Chicago, were accepted. Site officials decided to leave the monument as it is as a reminder of the dangers of anti-Semitism. The site is open to the public and various activities and exhibits run throughout the year. a historian with the U.S. Fort Ontario still had the military fort feeling, with barbwire protecting the outside. However, in the mid 1940’s under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s order’s Fort Ontario, located in Oswego New York had found a new use. A series of 75th anniversary events and activities will begin Aug. 5 with memorial observances of the arrival of the 982 refugees at Fort Ontario Aug. 5, 1944. Lear also recalled General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s prediction that someday people would deny that the Holocaust ever happened. Ultimately during World War II Fort Ontario, located on New York’s harbor, had served as more than a refugee camp for some; it had helped minorities in part of Europe to get a second chance at a happy life. which led the Nazis to attack and occupy all Italian-held territory. The fort had recently been vacated of troops training to fight overseas. Persecution and segregation of Jews in Germany was conducted in increments after the Nazi’s achieved power in 1933. The fort had become a refugee camp for those minorities, mostly those of the Jewish race, fleeing from Adolf Hitler’s domination in the mid 1940’s. by Alicia Thompson March 22, 2017 Registration at … The Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum is dedicated to keeping alive the stories of the 982 refugees from World War II who were allowed into the United States as "guests" of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It can be found here. Having escaped annihilation in their homelands through a combination of luck and pluck, the refugees came to the U.S. under a program created by President Franklin D. The grave of six-month old Rachel Montiljo, a refugee who died on the way to Fort Ontario. The Fort Ontario program is one of dozens of events and activities occurring worldwide on International World Refugee Day. It is where the Holocaust came to America, and where everyday Americans and the press first heard victims stories of … Sephardic Holocaust Journey: From Yugoslavia to an Internment Camp in America, Rescue Board: The Untold Story of America’s Efforts to Save the Jews of Europe, Snow Birds: New York's Winter Bird Population, “Grand Old Fort: but alas Manned by Colored Troops…” Buffalo Soldiers at Fort Ontario, Which Track is That? Friends of Fort Ontario will be grilling and selling hot dogs during the evening program of the 75th anniversary open house event on Tuesday, Sept. 3. Friends of Fort Ontario offers Hoffman hot dogs and other refreshments for sale after 6 p.m. However, in the mid 1940’s under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s order’s Fort Ontario, located in Oswego New York had found a new use. Gli Stati Uniti: dall’isolazionismo all’Emergency Refugee Shelter di Fort Ontario. (Peterson, 2004) Luckily for these young men, the current President Harry S. Truman was on their side, when he directed officials to adjust the immigration status of any Fort Ontario resident who “wished” to stay in the United States. Now retired after working for various companies, he is father to three daughters and two grandchildren. (Peterson, 2004) By this point many of the young men had thought of the United States as being their country now, and even with the war being over, had not wanted to return home, to Europe. (Peterson, 2004) However, in the article posted on the 26. The current structure that is standing today as Fort Ontario is not the same fort that was originally built. That included letting children attended the local public school and even having social workers come into the camp and teach the adults the American-English language so that they could adapt to the United States’ culture. Fort Erie is a town on the Niagara River in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada.It is directly across the river from Buffalo, New York and is the site of Old Fort Erie which played a prominent role in the War of 1812.. Fort Erie is one of Niagara's fastest growing communities, and has experienced a high level of residential and commercial development in the past few years. $10.00 This historical book contains memory moments shared between the residents of the Fort Ontario Emergency RefugeeShelter and Oswegonians who lived inOswego at the time the refugees lived at the shelter from 1944-1946. two grandparents, Kaiser had fled Yugoslavia in the spring of 1941 after his Jewish refugees rescued from wartime Nazi-occupied Europe who are being housed at Fort Ontario, former army camp converted to a safe haven for refugees by Pres. “Each family had its own barracks, plenty of food and eventually access to education.” (2003, Roosevelt had originally planned for the refugees to return home after the war, however he died in April of 1945 as the war in Europe was winding down, and the vice President, Harry S. Truman had then became President of the United States of America. February 1, 1946 “Largest Group of Refugees to Leave Shelter Saturday.” p. 4 col 1-3. While being housed in the refugee camp of Fort Ontario’s teenage boys, were given the opportunity to become a part of the Boy Scouts of America organization. From 1944 to 1946 the fort served as the only refugee camp in the United States for mostly Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust under an Executive Order from President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Safe Haven Museum and Education Center In this video Dr. Willard Schum, founding president and now, a board member of Safe Haven Museum and Education Center explains the history of this place at Fort Ontario in Oswego that took in 982 Jewish refugees during W.W.II. The Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter, also known as Safe Haven, located in Oswego, New York was the first and only refugee center established in the United States during World War II. until September 1943, when the Italian government surrendered to the Allies, Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Ultimately, Fort Ontario, as a refugee camp had influenced the many men, woman, and children as World War II had come to end to seek American citizenship. Our European allies, France and Great Britain had fist allowed their borders to become open to the Jews under in Hitler’s domain of Europe. Sarinka: A Refugee Dorrit Blumenkranz samples her first hot dog at the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter. Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York is an amazingly historic fort with more than 300 years of history ranging from the French and Indian War to being the only Jewish refugee camp in the United States during World War 2. Cohen wrote Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. A digital tool for studying the Holocaust through unique, original sources. Barbed wire fences and military personnel greeted them at their new home. Refugee Walter Greenberg comments, “I felt deceived. Tellingly, a 1981 stone monument to Fort Ontario camp was vandalized shortly after being installed, with the word “Jewish” partially chipped away and its corners knocked off. I felt that I should have been free. : Fort Ontario refugees : how they won their freedom. European refugees arrive at the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter in Oswego on Aug. 5, 1944. Once a family had been settled into the fort, and had lived there, in the camp, for so long passed they just had to pass all necessary inspections to be given more freedom. Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York is an amazingly historic fort with more than 300 years of history ranging from the French and Indian War to being the only Jewish refugee camp in the United States during World War 2. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam.