ABSTRACT
Benjamin’s attachment to Paris was such that he remained there through to
June 1940, when he fled south to Lourdes with his sister Dora as the German
army advanced through France. Having finally obtained a visa to enter the
United States upon arrival at the port city of Marseilles in mid-August, the
capitulation of France now meant that he could not leave the country. In late
September Benjamin travelled by train to the Pyrenees and the border with
Spain, his sister remaining behind in Lourdes. Together with two acquaintances
he explored on foot a path through the mountains that led across the border.
