Cecilia Razovsky

“It is my sacred duty to rescue our Jewish Children and bring them to safety.”
—Cecilia Razovsky, Reich Association of Jews in Germany

Cecilia Razovsky was a short, stout woman, with a mind of her own. She traveled unaccompanied in this country, Europe, and South America to help Jewish immigrants. She could be brash and was able to hold her own in English, German, and Yiddish. Cecilia could as easily converse with a local immigration official as with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt or Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins. She fought against the quota system and other laws and immigration regulations that prevented Jewish children from finding refuge in America. She is arguably the single individual most responsible for the 1,000 children who found a safe haven in the United States. Razovsky also traveled to Germany when it was not safe for a Jewish woman to enter the country.

“I feel like I am fighting our entire governmental structure. I am appalled by the anti-Semitic rubbish of (Father) Coughlin and others. How can Roosevelt and his advisors fear that a few children, Jewish Children, will ruin the ‘New Deal,’ take food out of the mouths of others and be a burden on our society? All this happens as I know that every day more and more are sent to concentration camps and death. I cannot take even one moment to rest.”
—Cecilia Razovsky