World War II · Series · 2023
Transatlantic
In Marseille after the fall of France, an American journalist, an heiress and a young refugee economist race to smuggle artists and intellectuals hunted by the Nazis out of Europe.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 2 places.
Stop 1: Marseille and the Villa Air-Bel
Key location
From a hotel office and a rambling villa full of surrealists, Fry's team forges papers and plans escape routes under Vichy police surveillance.
Stop 2: Pyrenees crossing to Portbou
Lisa Fittko guides Walter Benjamin and other refugees over a smugglers' path across the mountains to Spain.
What really happened
After France's defeat in June 1940, the armistice obliged Vichy to surrender on demand any refugee the Germans wanted. Varian Fry arrived in Marseille in August 1940 for the New York-based Emergency Rescue Committee and, with helpers such as heiress Mary Jayne Gold, economist Albert Hirschman and Lisa Fittko, helped some 2,000 people escape, among them Marc Chagall, Max Ernst, André Breton and Hannah Arendt.
Many crossed the Pyrenees on foot into Spain; the philosopher Walter Benjamin died at Portbou in September 1940 after being told he would be sent back. Fry, who housed artists at the Villa Air-Bel, was expelled from France in September 1941. The series is based on Julie Orringer's novel The Flight Portfolio and adds invented characters and plots.
Where to watch
Checking streaming services…
Full details
- Original title
- Transatlantic
- Created by
- Anna Winger, Daniel Hendler
- Countries
- Germany
- Languages
- English, French, German
- Seasons
- 1 season
- Released
- 2023
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Western Europe
- Themes
- Resistance
- True story
