The Only Woman in the Room

by Marie Benedict

“There are three women—Cecilia Razovsky and Frances Perkins in America and Kate Rosenheim in Nazi Germany—secretly working to get at-risk children out of the areas controlled by the Nazis and into this country. Mrs. Razovsky is the chair of the Advisory Committee to the Secretary of Labor, Mrs. Perkins, on the topic of immigration legislation reform. She keeps the secretary of labor apprised of the refugee situation around the world, and together, they attempt to effectuate flexibility in the administration’s policies. When they aren’t successful—which is the case more often than not—they turn their attention to individual cases. Mrs. Razovsky works with Mrs. Rosenheim, who is head of the Department of Children’s Emigration in Germany and undertakes this work at great personal risk, to identify children in danger, and then Mrs. Razovsky and Mrs. Perkins try to secure visas for the children and partner with private organizations to sponsor the children’s journeys to America.”