Serpa Pinto, Marseilles to USA or Veracruz Mexico, 1941

[Miriam Frank]

I have just come across the site on the sailing of the Portuguese vessel Serpa Pinto from Marseilles to USA or Veracruz Mexico in 1942. I myself sailed in the Serpa Pinto to Veracruz a year earlier, that is in 1941. I sailed with my mother and I was 5 years old at the time. My mother has died, and I have been writing about our experiences during the war and would be very interested to communicate with anyone who was on the Serpa Pinto in 1941 or any details of that sailing - of which I have none. I only know that we sailed from Marseilles, then stopped off in Casablanca, I think for two weeks, and finally boarded the Serpa Pinto to Veracruz.

Please pass on these details to the relevant person or persons. I would be very obliged to you.

With thanks,
Miriam Frank

[Terechu]

Hi Miriam,
I know you have gotten more responses than you expected and that you are totally overwhelmed to find so many "children of the war" who share your memories.
I have been unable to contact José Ribares, to ask his permission to copy the page where he mentions your wonderful father - he is spending winter in Florida and has no computer there, but I'll keep trying.

A big hug to you!

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Hola Miriam,
Sé que has recibido más respuestas de lo que esperabas y que estás totalmente sobrecogida al haber encontrado a tantos "niños de la guerra" que comparten tus recuerdos.
No he podido contactar con José Ribares para pedirle permiso para copiar la página de sus memorias donde menciona a tu maravilloso padre - está pasando el invierno en La Florida y no tiene ordenador, pero seguiré intentándolo.
Un abrazo muy fuerte!

[Terechu]

Por cierto, para los que no estáis enterados, Miriam es la hija de Alexander Frank - "Mr. Frank"- , el encargado del American Friends Service Committee que mantenía colonias de niños españoles refugiados de la guerra civil y niños judíos refugiados del nazismo en Lyon y Marsella.

De él dice uno de estos niños, José Ribares, en sus memorias:

"One representative of the American Friends Service Committee that we came into contact with at Lyon was a Mr. Frank, who had to be one of God's finer creations. He would come up from his office in downtown Marseille once in a while to visit our colony, and when we kids knew that he was at the gate we would all rush to it and greet him, mobbing him in the process, of course. He was a kind and gentle man, probably in his mid thirties, and all the kids just simply loved him. All these many years I always thought that he was American, but only recently I've learned that he was German. I also used to think that Frank was probably his first name and that we called him "Mr. Frank" as a form of affection or because we didn't know his last name, but it turns out that his full name was Alexander Frank. He would talk to us in small groups or just lead us individually to a quiet spot in the yard where we'd sit and chat about ourselves, or what had become of our families. Such conversations must have always been in French, for I don't think he spoke Spanish."


Si os interesa el tema, ver también los posts de nuestro Corsino Fernández, niño de la guerra asturiano perdido en Francia y llevado a los EE.UU., que se reencontró con sus hermanos hace poco.

[Terechu]

Transcribo literalmente el e-mail que me manda Miriam Frank con dos importantes rectificaciones:

Hola Terechu!
Muchísimas gracias por tu mensage y la página de las memorias de José Ribares sobre mi padre, que me emocionó mucho y me ayudó saber algo mas del trabajo que hizo mi padre durante la guerra en Francia, cuando mi madre y yo ya nos habiamos ido a Mexico! José escribe que siempre había pensado que el Mr Frank que conocieron era americano, pero que ahora se da cuenta que era aleman. Pues su primera impresión era la correcta - no se de donde se sacó la idea del aleman "Alexander" Frank. Quien será ese señor? A mi padre no le gustaban para nada los alemanes! El era americano judío, nacido en Lituania y emigrado a Nueva York a los nueve años, y su nombre era LUIS Frank. El Mr Frank que cuenta José Ribares y conocieron los niños en las colonias de los cuaqueros era sin ninguna duda mi padre - uno de los Llerandis me mando una photo que tiene de este Mr Frank, y se reconoce claramente a Luis Frank (en los EEUU, Louis)
Quizás José Ribares se pondrá en contacto con migo cuando vuelva de Florida? Me gustaría agradecerle sus generosos apuntes y memorias! Mi email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Otra vez, Terechu, mil gracias y un abrazo grande!
Miriam

Foto de Mr. Frank con su hijita Miriam



Foto de Mr. Frank con la excepcional familia Llerandi (astur-catalanes llaniscos)



Extracto de las memorias de Mr. Frank