Refugees-More on Fleeing Ones Country People flee to many different foreign countries to hide from the U.S. government for different reasons. But there are quite a few famous people who have fled here and to foreign countries, and some of them were famous or were related to famous people. Before World War II started, it was a well known fact if you were Jewish and lived in Germany, you were in trouble and your life was in danger. One of the most famous scientists in the world fled here and you all know his name. He was Albert Einstein. Upon arrival he said, "I shall live in a land where political freedom, tolerance, and equality of all citizens reign.” We all saw what happened to those poor Jews who didn’t make it out. I wonder how many people know Freddie Mercury, the famous Queen front man fled here? He seemed to be happy where he lived on the island of Zanzibar, but a revolution broke out in 1964. His family felt threatened and they packed up and moved to Great Britain. Another man we know who left Germany was Henry Kissinger. He left in 1938 probably his family left for the same reason as Einstein since they were Jewish. Kissinger was only 15 years old at the time. The famous silent screen and talkies actress Marlene Dietrich left Germany before World War II. She was not Jewish but felt a dislike for the way Germany was treating Jews. She decided to come to America. She was under constant bombardment by the Germans to go back to Germany in which they said not to let her life be ruled by the Jews in Hollywood. It is said she help the Jews in any way she could. It got to the point the Germans even were offering her money to come back, but she refused. During the war she joined the allied forces and performed in hundreds of shows for the troops. I don’t think many people know this, but the first female U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright had fled to the United States from Czechoslovakia during World War II, then went back, and then fled here again when the communists took the country over. Obviously the second time she decided to stay. Gloria Estefan is a very famous singer, but she was not born here. Her family escaped the brutal rule of Castro. She was born in Havana, Cuba. She was able to get out of Cuba with her family which makes her a very lucky lady. She was only two years old when they arrived in the United States. Sigmund Freud fled Austria before the war started because the Germans had taken it over, but also died 22 days after the start of World War II in Europe. He was Jewish so his life was in danger. He fled to England. He was famous for saying, “What progress we are making. In the Middle Ages, they would have burned me. Now they are content with burning my books.” One of the world’s greatest Authors, Victor Hugo who wrote Les Misérables, had to flee to France to avoid being punished by Napoleon III for his opposition. He then went to Guernsey, in the British Channel Islands and lived there for decades. He said, “I love everything that suffers for freedom, for the fatherland and for justice; and I have peace of mind, even though it is always painful to tread on foreign soil.” Natalie Portman is a famous movie star. Her birth name is Neta-Lee Hershlag. She was born in Jerusalem, Israel. She had dual citizenship with the United States and Israel, something I am totally against. She moved to America in 1984. After being in several different cities, they settled on Long Island, New York. It is said Portman is not happy with the politics in either country. I think everyone knows Arnold Schwarzenegger was not born in the United States. He came here from Europe. He was born in Thal, Styria, Austria. His father was said to be a former Nazi and it is said Arnold described him as abusive. He won many weight lifting titles and felt when he won Mister Universe it was his ticket to America. He placed second and moved to London with a trainer. The next year he won Mister Universe and again the year after. Then he moved to Los Angeles, California and eventually became a movie star. Who could ever forget the name Bob Marley? He was born at Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica. When he was ten years old and this was after his father died, his mother married an American. They moved to America and Marley got very interested in music. The rest is history. One person who was very well liked all over America and Canada had moved here from Canada and became one of the most famous quiz shows hosts in history, can you guess who it was? If you said Alex Trebek, you would be correct. So far, as of the writing of this article, he has not been replaced on Jeopardy, although there have been many different guest hosts. Not a lot of people know Bruce Willis was not born in the United States. He was actually born in Idar-Oberstein, Palatinate, Germany. His father was an American soldier, but his mother was German. The father then moved the family to after his discharge in 1957. One interesting fact about Willis is he had a bad stutter and to try and correct it, he joined the high school drama club. Liam Neeson has become very popular in the movies. He originally came from Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. He eventually became an actor and had a hard time getting rolls when he moved to the United States because of his accent. Eventually things worked out and he became a huge star. He became a U.S. citizen in 2009. Sammy Sosa was one of the greatest baseball players. He was born into dire poverty in Conseulo in the Dominican Republic. At the age of 14 his brother convinced him to play baseball. In only two years’ time he was signed to a contract with the Texas Rangers. The kid was only 16 years old. He was sent to training camp in the United States and three years later made the big leagues. Eventually he became an American citizen. While most countries get refugees, the western ones seem to get the most with the United States leading the pack. There are refugees here in every field and most of them are very happy to have gotten here.
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