A section of fence will soon be headed to Washington, DC, for a special display.
OSWEGO, NY – Upon first glance, it looks like a pile of old and rusty chain link fence. But after closer inspection, that’s exactly what it is; a 10-foot length of forgotten metal nearly 80 years old.
However, it is the fence’s pedigree that propels its historical significance light years past your run of the mill patio enclosure.
It was the fence installed at Fort Ontario around the start of World War II and it was what greeted the nearly 1,000 refugees as they arrived at Safe Haven, Paul A. Lear, historic site manager, explained.
“The fence was very important to the people that were here. They were allowed to go in to town (after a while) with passes. The fence is an iconic symbol. It wasn’t meant to imprison them; it was more to protect them, for safety,” added Heidi Miksch, a conservator from Peebles Island Resource Center in Waterford.
“People from Oswego would come here (to the fence) and pass things over – food and clothing, bicycles, shoes and money, everything, because (the refugees) were so poor,” Lear said. “The fence, that was the real meeting place for the townspeople and refugees. It’s an icon. Fort Ontario is the shelter. The fence is the iconic symbol.”
“This is the only place that America accepted refugees during the war,” Miksch added.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt allowed 982 refugees who survived Nazi reign into this country as his “guests” with the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter becoming their home from August 1944 to February 1946.
The Safe Haven museum tells the story of their voyage to America, their arrival in Oswego, their interaction with the city residents and the life-long friendships developed during their stay.
On Thursday, Miksch, was on site to remove a section of the remaining original fence at the southwest property line of the fort. She was assisted by Lear; Tim Gray, park manager; and Brian Hibbert, park worker.
The segment of fence will be a featured part of the upcoming exhibit on America’s Response to the Holocaust at the National Holocaust Museum in Washington.
“The fence sections will be taken to the Peebles Island Resource Center in Waterford. That’s where Heidi works. Our curators, our exhibit people, archeology department, field service, state historic preservation service are there,” Lear said. “She has a big lab there and a warehouse. She’ll take it, treat it and preserve it for the future. She will put it back together and bring it to Washington, DC, to the National Holocaust Museum.”
The exhibit will be 10 feet long, from post to post to post.
“The whole idea is to have it installed so it looks like a chain link fence,” she told Oswego County Today. “If we don’t have enough posts it would look odd. We’ll harvest a little more so we’re sure we have a good 10 feet of usable fence. By the time it’s restored, it kind of shrinks back, too. It’ll be an important part of the new exhibit coming up in two years on America’s Response to the Holocaust.”
Fort Ontario was America’s primary response to the Holocaust, she said, adding basically, it was done to interest other countries to accept refugees.
“The danger back then was Communism and Nazis. There wasn’t as much danger compared to today; now days, the threat level of who might be a terrorist is so much higher,” Lear added, putting the time periods into perspective.
“I get to Oswego several times a year. It really depends on what types of exhibits are going on and other projects we are working on,” Miksch said. “The Bureau of Historic Sites actually has 35 historic sites throughout all of New York State and we serve them all. About 20 of those are furnished historic homes. They have more collections, so they take a bit more work.”
She was at Sackett’s Harbor on Wednesday (June 28) and was in Buffalo the week before.
“Right now we are working on an exhibit at one of our other historic sites in Schoharie Crossing – the Erie Canal comes through it. It is where we are interpreting the story of the Erie Canal,” Miksch said. “This is ‘Canal Year.’ So we are putting in an exhibit about the Erie Canal and we actually have hardware from gate locks. People will be able to see historic valve and levers that were used to control the flow of water in and out of canal gates to allow the locks to rise and fall. When you think of what the Erie Canal achieved and when it was put in; basically done by people and animals, it’s just incredible.”
They are asked to accept many donations. She tries to make use of them all in one manner or another. It’s not good to acquire something and then just let it sit fallow, she pointed out.
“Heidi seems to have the biggest pile of stuff in her lab,” Lear joked.
“I go from the very small to the huge,” she said.
“We only accept donation of things related to our (fort) site,” Lear said. “Anything I take is strictly Fort Ontario. We’ve gotten a lot of stuff. Because of the Internet, the fort’s getting a lot of attention. I’ve got a big pile of stuff I’ve got to process.”
The fort’s historic artifacts cover from the frontier days when the first fort was constructed right through present day and the engineers stationed at the Army Reserve Center, he noted.
“You can’t get any bigger than the National Holocaust Museum and Safe Haven, the refugee shelter, he said of the current project. “That gives this fort international historic significance. We have different levels, local, state, national and international significance. That’s what this park has.”
For more information, call Lear at (315) 343-4711 or visit www.nysparks.com or www.fortontario.com
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What about the original flood lamps that sat atop the old light poles around that area that the Port of Oswego took down & put in storage?
The fence was psychologically disturbing to people who had been in
Nazi camps. It was there since WWll and had nothing to do with providing safety (safety from what?). It didn’t stop us the teenagers from going to town by digging under it.
These were immigrants fleeing Germany and the Nazi hatred for Jews. They came to be free and to be a part of the community not demanding rights or benefits. These were a peace loving people with their own religion and lifestyles. Never did they say we must adhere to there wants and needs, their religious beliefs were theirs alone and they practised in their own building not stopping traffic and blocking the streets. These same people are also just as hated by the newest immigrants forcing their ways on our shores as the nazis back then. I say if this new gang of breeders think they can come over here bringing their belief of hate and barbarianism then they should be forced back to their own country so they can continue in that love of hating everyone that isn’t of their beliefs.