Villa Air-Bel: World War II, Escape, and a House in Marseille

by Rosemary Sullivan

“Rosemary Sullivan goes beyond the confines of Air-Bel to tell a fuller story of France during the tense years from 1933 to 1941. . . . A moving tale of great sacrifice in tumultuous times.” — Publishers Weekly Paris 1940. Andre Breton, Max Ernst, Marc Chagall, Consuelo de Saint-Exupery, and scores of other cultural elite denounced as enemies of the conquering Third Reich, live in daily fear of arrest, deportation, and death. Their only salvation is the Villa Air-Bel, a chateau outside Marseille where a group of young people, financed by a private American relief organization, will go to extraordinary lengths to keep them alive. In Villa Air-Bel, Rosemary Sullivan sheds light on this suspenseful, dramatic, and intriguing story, introducing the brave men and women who use every means possible to stave off the Nazis and the Vichy officials, and goes inside the chateau’s walls to uncover the private worlds and the web of relationships its remarkable inhabitants developed.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, France, Holocaust, War, Art

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Rosemary Sullivan is a Canadian poet, biographer, and anthologist. She is also a professor emerita at University of Toronto.

Reviews

[Mostafa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

ویلا اربل
از آن کتابهاییست که بعد از خواندنش ، مثل اینکه یک سریال رو تمام کرده ام.... حسی عجیب همراه با همذات پنداری و علاقه و وابستگی به شخصیت های واقعی این کتاب به من دست داد
انسان هایی که با به خطر انداختن جانشان در فرانسه و قمار بزرگی که کردند اقدام به نجات اندیشمندان، فیلسوفان و هنرمندان آلمانی، فرانسوی و... کردند

هر یک از آنهایی که در کمیته " نجات اضطراری" فعالیت می کردند هیچ گونه انتفاع مادی نبردند و انگیزه شان زنده نگهداشتن هنر و انسانیت در میان جنگ و کشتار سراسری در اروپا بود... یکی مدیر بود، یکی اسپانسر مالی، یکی دیگر راهنمای قاچاق انسان در کوه ..... و هرکس کاری را که میتوانست انجام می داد تا انسانی را نجات دهد . انسانی درمانده و اسیر

اعضای کمیته اضطراری و برخی دیگر می توانستند در آسایش و آرامش در کشور خود زندگی کنند اما عظمت و منزلت روحی بزرگی که داشتند، اونها رو در مسیر پرخطر نجات انسانها قرار داد
به راستی که معنای انسانیت و شرف را تعریف کردند
چه شکوهمند است، کمک به انسانی فارغ از تمایزات عقیدتی، مذهبی و نژادی

[Jayati · Rating 5 out of 5]

This narrative nonfiction by Rosemary Sullivan has been a lesson in history for me. A true story, based on thousands of memoirs, letters and diaries of individuals, she has woven together a fascinating tapestry of lives that intersect at a time in history that reverberates with fear and bone chilling horror. Introducing us to the main characters in their own milieu, the book begins in Paris in 1933. Here we meet Andre Breton, Max Ernst, Victor Serge, Marc Chagall and scores of other cultural elite. Some are French born, others have moved to France from Franco’s Spain. There are also some Americans, who, in spite of the Depression of 1929, have stayed back in Paris. Every individual is there because of the cultural and political freedom offered by France. As the riots of 1934 overtake the city, this idyll is jolted as anti Semitism, anti communism, anti socialism and hatred take root in society as part of ultra nationalistic narrative. At the same time, left leaning intellectuals of the day were beginning to get disillusioned by Russia as Stalinist purges had already begun. Writers like Victor Serge were banned and were serving in the labour camps in Russia. The author slowly acquaints us with the entire socio cultural and political situation facing Europe during this crucial period. She takes us through the First International Congress of Writers for the Defence of Culture, held in 1935 and how it leads to the release of Victor Serge with interventions from luminaries like Andre Malraux, Romaine Roland and such. As the Nazis burn piles of books in Berlin, people inside this very charming circle of poets, artists, socialists and some expat sympathizers continue to meet and discuss the future without realizing how each one would soon get engulfed in the coming catastrophe. As German troops march through Paris in June 1939, their worst nightmare unfolds in its entirety.
Across the Altantic, a private organization in New York called the Emergency Rescue Committee sends Varian Fry to Paris to see to the repatriation of stranded intellectuals. This effort was generously funded by private donors like Mary Jayne Gold, Peggy Guggenheim and others. As France is divided into occupied and unoccupied portions, this group of poets and artists leaves Paris for Marseille as do thousands others trying to flee the Nazis. Varian Fry sets up his small office in a non descript house in Marseille and begins the process of getting visas for the people he had come to help. As the collaboration between the French government in Vichy and the Germans continues to grow, thousands of people:socialists, communists, any dissenters and Jews become ‘undesirables’ almost overnight. The lines outside the office of the Rescue Committee keep getting longer. Varian Fry with the help of Danny Benedite, a Frenchman and a survivor from Dunkurque tries to procure visas for the refugees but is astounded by the callousness of the US State Department. It ultimately takes the intervention of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to ease the situation somewhat and very reluctantly the US government starts issuing some emergency visas.
During these trying circumstances, the members of the committee discover a dilapidated but a large house on the outskirts of Marseille which was up for rent; the Villa Air-Bel. It seems like a great idea to move to this place to all the members of the Committee ( called CAS as its French acronym) as staying in Marseille was becoming more and more dangerous for them. This house then becomes a place of not only refuge but also of camaraderie, bonhomie and at times intense arguments amongst these intellectuals. Surrealist Andre Breton seems to bring the place alive with his poetry and Surrealist games that he devises. It remains an idyll for few months but then the Vichy police start raiding it on one pretext or the other. Varian Fry as the head of CAS has now thousands on his list who are desperate to leave France. He, with help from Danny Benedite and others tries all means, some legal and some not, to get what they require to save the lives of these people caught up in the worst nightmare the world had faced. The book here becomes so tense and absorbing that I could read only few pages at a time. The US State Department wants Fry to return back as it becomes increasingly clear that he has exceeded his mandate and is helping those that need help, not always who the US government thinks needs it. The US refuses visas to Victor Serge and his son as he was once a revolutionary even though he had been incarcerated in Russia. Fry arranges him to finally travel to Mexico which grants visas to many in peril. The final chapters detailing Varian Fry and his trusted lieutenants’ efforts to help others at the cost to their own lives, reads like a fast paced espionage novel, except that it is not. Varian Fry cannot keep himself aloof from the plight of ordinary people and help only intellectuals, he helps all those that he can; sometimes sending those for whom getting an exit visa from France was impossible, over the Pyrenees to Spain, onward to Portugal and then hopefully on a ship out of Lisbon. These are real men and women and the story of their heroism. It tells of the courage shown not by soldiers on the battlefield but by those who remain unsung and unknown except may be in academia as subjects of research. The main protagonist of course is Varian Fry whose commitment to his mission is almost inhuman. Then there is Victor Serge, who is almost on the verge of breakdown but still remains a modicum of dignity; when questioned by the police whether he is Jewish, he answers, “I do not have the honour.”
In general I am too lazy to quote, but this book has so many invaluable ones that I could not desist. Here are a few
“In their country as in any other, the men who think and the men who kill are not the same. And in their country, as everywhere else, when the men who kill are the masters they begin by killing and gagging the men who think.”….Victor Serge
“Where could I have applied? Who to? I was standing outside the world. The Germans were marching in. The twilight of time had come.”…..Anna Seghers
‘The Nazis opened up a forbidden door in the soul. I suppose if you have to stake out this little idea, this little bit of ground that says you are the superior race and then you have to defend it, something horrible always happens….. when you claim certainty, when you claim you know.”….Leonara Carrington
“Here is a beggar’s alley gathering the remnants of revolutions, democracies, and crushed intellects. In our ranks are enough doctors, psychologists, poets, painters, writers, musicians, economists and public men to vitalize a whole great country.Our wretchedness contains as much talent and expertise as Paris could summon in the days of her prime; and nothing of it is visible, only hunted, terribly tired men at the limit of their nervous resources.”

I unreservedly give this book five shining stars.

[Magdelanye · Rating 4 out of 5]

How was it possible that the German working class, the best educated proletariat in Europe, was so mesmerized by Hitler? p37

Reality now belonged to whoever could manipulate it. p92
You have to trust in chance, but with a rational, tenacious will. p135

When society is dissolving, the best one can do is help it crumble. p252 quoting Andre Breton

Amidst the crumbling splendour of the Villa Air-Bel, where, after the Nazi occupation of France Breton and his entourage had installed themselves in surrealistic fashion, life itself was like a surrealistic play. All certainties, all categories, were jumbled. Behind the wild carrying on (the art show in the trees, the spoofs and the games) was the urgent business of saving the lives of those in danger due to their nationality, race, or political views.

racial and ideological divisions had shattered the landscape.p194
Painting was a way of asserting self-control when the self was totally violated. p117

You had to be a debrouillard, a survival artist knowing how to sift through the rumors for the tidbit that might save you. p174

Painters, writers, musicians and their rotating cast of mistresses and wives: these were people targeted for extermination, Max Ernst, Victor Serge, Hertha Pauli among them. Behind the scenes, a modestly unassuming man, Valerian Fry, whose efforts ensured the life of hundreds. Rosemary Sullivan takes us there, plunging the reader into the heady atmosphere that prevailed on the villas terraces and in the clandestine meetings to build a network capable of operating their rescue missions under the surveillance of ruthless, deranged men.

Tell them that I'll yell at the top of my lungs, that I'll yell for those who don't dare yell, that I'll yell by myself, that I'll yell underground, that I don't give a shit about a bullet in my head....because someone has got to yell at last. p262

RS is wonderful for filling in the blanks, and knowing the backstories of those who risked their lives for strangers, enhances the narrative, itself tense and spare. Most heartbreaking of all was the escape of the elderly Walter Benjamin, who with great effort made it across the Pyrenees at ten minute increments carrying his precious last manuscript, only to be refused entry into Spain. When he died within the week in hospital, the manuscript was tossed.

4.5 for GR
6/7

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a history of the Emergency Rescue Committee, its Centre Americain de Secours operations in Vichy France and of the many who worked there and the thousands they rescued during World War II. Originally assigned to facilitate the escape from European fascism of prominent intellectuals and artists, promoted by Eleanor Roosevelt, but stymied repeatedly by the U.S. State Department, the CAS, founded and organized by Varian Fry, went on to help others as well, among them refugees from the Stalin purges and Jews.

Beautifully and engagingly written, abundantly name dropping, this is a hard book to put down.

[Smcblack · Rating 2 out of 5]

With a good editor, this could be a great 200-page book. As it stands, it's a disorganized 450 pages where tangential characters are introduced and killed in the same chapter. It takes 170 pages to get to the Villa and somehow goes downhill from there.

[Linda S. Sabatka-Crappe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent non-fiction book. I was surprised to learn something I didn’t know about WWII on every page. I had no idea that the Vichy government had put thousands of foreigners, intellectuals, artists & other people in addition to Jews in camps, holding them for the Germans under terrible conditions. The Emergency Rescue Committee in NYC sent Varian Fry to Marseille to help as many of them as possible escape with no support whatsoever from the American government.

[Jan C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful follow-up for me to Americans in Paris: Life and Death under Nazi Occupation 1940-1944. This book follows Varian Fry and his year and a half spent in Marseilles helping to evacuate refugees. It looks like I started this book 8 years ago. That makes it look as though I wasn't very interested in it. Au contraire. I was interested and I enjoyed reading it very much. It just got lost in the forest of books.

Both books talked of people being picked up by the "milice" so when the second book talked about it I knew exactly where they were taken and why they never came back out.

This was just excellent. And we see how easy it was for the people working with Fry to be betrayed. All that has to happen is they trust the wrong person and they get set up for the French police to pick them up, not quite as bad as the Gestapo but almost.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible story! An American refugee organization in Marseilles tries for years to get Jewish, communist and other Nazi-targeted refugees out of the country. Varian Fy is at the center of a coterie of artists, intellectuals and adventurers who congregate at the Villa Air-Bel while waiting for visas, exit permists and money orders to arrive. Tales of everyday heroism, of incredible humanity and pluck, and of the slow erosion of French culture under the Vichy regime. A very poignant read.

[Carrie R · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are so many stories that have come out of the atrocities and trials of World War II- most of them we will never hear about or read about it. This book is the story of one American's attempt (successful most of the time) to save some of the great artists and intellects who were trapped in German-occupied France & considered enemies of the Nazi regime.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really found this book fascinating. This is the story about Varian Fry and his operations in Marseille during the era of the Vichy regime. The book does a great job at describing the setting, and the story had me sitting on the edge of my chair.

[Angel Serrano · Rating 3 out of 5]

En la Francia ocupada de la II Guerra Mundial, un joven americano luchará por facilitar la huida de los intelectuales alemanes, judíos y europeos en general en peligro de ser deportados al régimen nazi. Escrito como un documental, el libro es un alegato por la libertad.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting. Another story about the atrocities, but not as graphic, during the Nazi regime...

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impeccably well researched, and engaging like a novel while sticking to the facts as they were. Awesome book.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A loan from my father-in-law, a fascinating look at the elaborate efforts undertaken to rescue artists from the clutches of the Nazis and French collaborators.

[Roberta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn’t finish. Too many characters to keep track of and not enough focus on WW2.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many books about heroic persons or organizations who actively saved a range of people from death by the Nazis. The stories are inspiring, awe-inducing and horrifying. This book dealt with a small operation in Marseilles that was based in New York City. Their mandate was at once wide and yet narrow: they hoped to save roughly 250 persons in a couple of months, people who were primarily intellectuals and activists who were on active hit lists. A man named Varian Fry was sent to Marseilles in 1940 with funding for two months. The job grew so much bigger and encompassed a great deal more than anyone expected. Fry stayed for over a year, fighting for many lives, bucking an inherent prejudice by American consular officials and constant stress as the Nazis tightened their grip on Vichy France.
I liked the format of this book: short-ish chapters, lots of details about the events, but all put together in a very readable format. The author was clear-eyed about the characters but sympathetic as well. I also liked the final section where she gave us a follow-up on many of the main persons in the story.
This was a very approachable slice of history about a grotesque period of time. I liked this book a lot.

[Dvora Treisman · Rating 5 out of 5]

My interest in Varian Fry was sparked when I first heard about him in And The Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi-Occupied Paris by Alan Riding. Such an important hero and yet I had never heard of him. That led me to A Hero of Our Own by Sheila Isenberg, an informative but not very well written biography of Fry; then Fry's own (but abridged) Assignment: Rescue (his original Surrender on Demand is impossible to find for a reasonable price); followed by A Quiet American: The Secret War of Varian Fry, by Andy Marino, a well written biography and the most complete of all three. The biographies all covered his work for the Emergency Rescue Committee, detailed his earlier life, his work with the Committee, as well as all those he worked with and many whom he rescued and how those rescues were brought about, and the sad conclusion of his years afterwards.

This book is the best of them all. It is not a biography of Fry. It is a history of his work, those who worked with him, and many whom he saved. It is more detailed than any of the others, it is well written, and gives the most complete picture of the rescue work that Fry set up and led.

[Dorothy Mahoney · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the recent Netflix series, Transatlantic, this book should garner more interest again, as Rosemary Sullivan provides detailed research on Varian Fry and the group responsible for saving many well-known Jewish artists (Marc Chagall, Andre Breton, Max Ernest...) and others from the Nazis. The original photographs and descriptions of the time spent in Villa Air-Bel are fascinating.
(The building no longer exists.) The insightful quotations that begin the chapters and the extensive
notes and bibliography show dedication and thoroughness to a topic that deserves more attention.
"They cannot imagine that the things they lived for could disappear. They cannot believe...that something essential could disappear, that a whole spiritual realm is threatened. They do not believe in major historical upheavals that obliterate all traces of previous generations and entirely transform continents. They do not believe what seems to them unjust is possible. Antoine de Saint-Exupery"
Vital reading.

[Roberta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched and written history that reads like an adventure, although it is so packed with facts and stories that it is a slow read.

The story of the rescue of refugees from Vichy France is new to me. Now I need to know more. Varian Fry was an American dedicated to saving as many of the threatened artists, writers, intelligentsia and other refugees as he could. Totally focussed on hos goal, he inspired a wide and changing team of allies and assistants to dedicate themselves to his vision. The description of the various inhabitants at the Villa Air Bel, especially the surrealists and the anarchists, was particularly compelling.

What always amazes me is how brave people can be in times of great personal danger.

[A. Panda · Rating 3 out of 5]

History from a different perspective - that of painters, writers and personalities living through the war. An interesting and eye-opening read, but some parts were a little dry and chronological (especially when contrasted with the first-hand accounts and excerpts).

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book! Well researched and written, the author highlights heroic efforts of individuals during the second world war. It is important that we do not forget the atrocities of the Nazis as our current environment is reflecting these horrific ideologies.

[Clare Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting account of how a number of intellectuals and artists from across Europe were able to leave Vichy France and the efforts, countless frustrations and bravery that many people endured.

[Stephen Bywater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping and well researched. Fascinating read.

[Mathilde Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read like a novel … what a page turner ! Fascinating people… a must read about WW2, Varian Fry & Friends .
So courageous… the CAS was able to save more than 2,000 people from a certain death !

[Judy Blachek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting and well written book. I knew about Varian Fry's activities in getting people out of Europe during World War II, but this really brought many of the people to life for me.

[Allyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a chilling read and I was reminded of the movie "Casablanca" throughout the reading simply with the constant mention of transit and exit visas.
I did not find the use of feelings and dialogue annoying or distracting as I usually do in biographies as the subject matter was so compelling and engrossing. What a horrific time to live through and I marvel at the ability of those who helped others putting their lives at great risk and many times losing them. I am thankful books such as these continue to be written and it only is a shame more could not have emerged before the many subjects died.
I suspect that many simply wanted to forget all they had been through and not relive it for an author through the retelling. Which is so very unfortunate for the world.

Sept 26,2025
Hard to imagine reading this almost 10 years later amid the many volumes of WWII, French collaboration, and resistance literature that have passed through my brain. I was surprised to read my review as I remembered my initial read less well received than it seemingly was. It was okay on this second read but frankly I am much better informed by all that transpired during those times than I was in 2015, when I was only at the start of combing thru our collected library. Now my bar is much higher and so this author’s work while highly readable and valuable as a record of a specific setting and time period is less enthralling than it was 19 years ago.
I lived the photos and also the format of this, my Harper Perennial paperback version. I saw the surrealism show at the Pompidou and the Jeu de Marseille with its mention of Villa Air-Bel so thought to revisit this read. Pleasurably so.

[Ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why I decided to read this book:

I decided to read this book because World War II interests me as well as art also I needed to read a book for a book that teaches me about another time in history.

Which category on the bingo board does this book complete:

A book that teaches you about another time in history.

What I liked about this book and why:

I liked how it gives you a really well described view on what happened during WWII from many different perspectives, also I learnt sides of history that I previously didn't know about. It shows the hardships people had to go through to get past the horrible times especially for artist and intellects from germs gt at got banished from their own country, with many of their works burnt and destroyed. You really get to know how the people in the book as if you knew them personally and knew how they did act.

What I didn't like about this book:

This is a really well written and interesting book, the only thing I can fault is that I got overwhelmed with facts and got bored with the book at times.

Who would I recommend this book to and why:

I would recommend this book to anyone who has a interest in classical artist world war II history and gives you views of many political stances, this book would be best suited for age 14+ and only people have true intrest in those topics

[Johan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a great read and an important reminder how crucial it is to continue to help refugees and not hide behind excuses not to do so. Unfortunately one cannot in this day and age read this book and draw parallels with what is happening now at our European borders, although I doubt this was the intention of the writer when she wrote the book almost 10 years ago, when the international situation was altogether different. A reminder too about the cowardly collaboration of so many French citizens and officials during the second word war.

[Bev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating true story of a refuge for outcast artists and writers during the Nazi occupation of Paris in WWII. A chateau on the outskirts of Marseille is home to a number of famous figures (Max Ernst, Victor Serge, Marc Chagall, Consuelo de Saint-Exupery, Remedios Varo, Benjamin Peret, and scores of other cultural elite denounced as enemies of the Third Reich)-- a glimpse of the desperation and creativity of people who fear for their lives. Loved it.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great subject: Varian Fry really does need more recognition as the dedicated rescuer he was for many refugees trying to leave France during WWII. The beginning of the book does spend a bit too much time "setting the scene" of what was happening in France and the War. Most people interested in reading about the rescue of intellectuals, artists, poets and the like would already know most of that and want to dive right into the subject. That being said, a good read.