Lyme Heritage Center Will Examine Fort Ontario’s WW II “Safe Haven” Refugee Program; Nearly 1,000 European Refugees Called Oswego Home

OSWEGO – During World War II, the city of Oswego housed the nation’s first and only refugee center for European refugees escaping the terrors of war. From 1944 to 1945, Oswego’s Fort Ontario housed nearly 1,000 refugees, predominantly of Jewish descent, in a program called “Safe Haven.”

The fascinating story of that program will be told in a presentation at the Lyme Heritage Center on Sunday, September 15 at 2:00. Entitled “Where the Holocaust Came to America,” it will be led by historian Paul Lear, former director of the Fort Ontario State Historic Site. The Lyme Heritage Center is located at 1848 Depot Street in Three Mile Bay. The presentation is free and open to the public.

In August 1944, the US Army Transport ship Henry Gibbins left Naples, Italy for America with 982 passengers from across Europe, most of Jewish descent and many who had been in concentration camps and escaped. The refugees remained at Fort Ontario in Oswego as “guests” of President Franklin D. Roosevelt until June 1945. Today, the Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum at Fort Ontario is dedicated to keeping alive the stories of those 982 refugees.

Paul Lear, a Saratoga County native, served as Historic Site Manager at Fort Ontario from 1999 until his retirement in June 2024. In a career spanning 45 years, he served in a variety of roles for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, & Historic Preservation.

The Lyme Heritage Center preserves historical and genealogical artifacts of the Town of Lyme, which includes the village of Chaumont, the hamlet of Three Mile Bay, and Point Peninsula. Visitors are welcome to examine the Center’s large collection of historical documents, family files, and artifacts. For more information, call 315-649-5452.

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