Inspiration for “Orphan Camp,” a story-in-progress (see STORIES): In 1946, a “summer camp” opened in an abandoned YMCA building in the Bronx (not far from where I grew up) for European World War Two orphans. While other displaced persons needed individual sponsors to enter the U.S., a December 1945 directive from President Truman allowed charitable organizations to sponsor children, provided they paid for their visas and tickets, and guaranteed the children would not depend on public welfare. Obtaining visas was difficult since most children lacked birth certificates. Some were too young to know their identities, so the staff gave them names. Because the children spoke many different languages, communication depended on gesture, facial expression, action, and posture. Playing the universal string game, Jacob’s Ladder, was the initial means of building trust among the children and their caregivers. Over a two-and-a-half-year period, nearly 1,400 children, ages one to 18 years, were brought to the U.S.
