Home > Mary Jayne Gold
Mary Jayne Gold, born 1909 - died October 5, 1997, was a wealthy American socialite who played an important role helping European Jews and intellectuals escape the Holocaust during World War II.
Born in Chicago, Illinois into a WASP family of considerable wealth, Mary Jayne Gold was educated at the Master's School at Dobbs Ferry, New York and a finishing school in Italy. In the 1930s, her money allowed her to enjoy the vibrant social scene in London, England and Paris, France. Piloting her own airplane, she travelled around Europe, spening her time at luxury hotels, skiing at the best resorts in the AlpsThe Alps is the collective name for one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria in the east, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany, through to France in the west. The highest mountain in the Alps is the Mon, and socializing with the elite of the day.
The beautiful young lady was living in her chic Paris apartment and enjoying the nightlife with an endless supply of handsome suitors when France fell to the onslaught of the GermanThe word German can mean: From or related to Germany or its predecessor states see also the German language Germanic tribes Holy Roman Empire ( 843- 1806) German Confederation ( 1815- 1866) North German Confederation ( 1867 1871) German Empire ( 1871- 191 army in 1940. Gold fled to the MediterraneanThe Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. 5 million km². The term Mediterranean derives from the Latin mediterraneus 'inland' mediu seaport of MarseilleMarseilles redirects here. There is also Marseilles, Illinois. Marseille (English Marseilles Provencal Marsilha is the second largest city in France. Located in the former province of Provence and on the Mediterranean sea, it is France's largest commercia in southern France which, although not Nazi occupied, was under the control of the collaborationist VichyVichy is a spa and resort town of around 60,000 in central France, near Clermont-Ferrand, in the departement of Allier, of which it is a sous-prefecture''. Vichy is remembered as the capital of Vichy France. Vichy shower Vichy is also a kind of shower in regime. In Marseille she met Miriam DavenportMiriam Davenport born June 6, 1915 died September 13, 1999, was an American painter and sculptor who played an important role helping European Jews and intellectuals escape the Holocaust during World War II. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, studied art and, an American art student, and Varian FryVarian Mackey Fry ( October 15, 1907 September 13, 1967) was a New York-born American journalist who ran a rescue network in WWII-era France that helped approximately 2,000 anti-Nazi and Jewish refugees to escape the Nazis. While working as a foreign corr, an American journalist and intellect. Fry had come to France on a personal mission to help members of Europe’s intellectual and artistic community escape the Nazi threat. Instead of returning to the safety of the United States, Mary Jayne Gold chose to remain and joined Davenport and Fry along with other volunteers in sheltering refugees and organizing their escape through the mountains to Spain or by smuggling them aboard freighters sailing to either North Africa or ports in North or South America.
May Jane Gold not only risked her life but also spent very substantial amounts of her own money to help with the evacuation of more than 2,000 refugees who came from all over Europe. A great many of the people she risked her life to help were Jews facing deportation to a German concentration camp and certain death. Among the escapees were notables such as the sculptor Jacques Lipchitz, artist Marc Chagall, writer Hannah Arendt and Nobel Prize winner, Otto Meyerhof.
In 1941 Mary Jane Gold was forced to flee Marseille to the safety of her home in the U.S. but returned to live in France after the war ended. She purchased a home in the village of Gassin , Var, not far from St. Tropez, on the French Riviera where the French singer Guy Béart also came to live. In 1980, she wrote about her wartime experiences in a book published in French and in English as Crossroads Marseilles, 1940 .
May Jane Gold never married and had no children. She died of pancreatic cancer in 1997 at her villa in Gassin.
Gold, Mary Jayne
Gold, Mary Jayne
Gold, Mary Jayne
Gold, Mary Jayne
Gold, Mary Jayne
