In a Corner of Carnaro: We Were Too Few To Make History

Caty Lager’s memoir is a reflection on memory, displacement, and survival, shaped by the forces of history. Born in 1920 in Fiume, then a thriving Austro-Hungarian port, she grew up nurtured by her mother’s emphasis on education, studying piano and dance in Vienna. Her life changed abruptly with Mussolini’s Racial Laws. With the help of relatives in New York, she and other young family members fled to the Bronx where they were thrust into working-class life. Meanwhile, those left behind faced internment, deportation, and hiding.

Her story follows her return to Italy, her life in Bari among refugees and Holocaust survivors, and her later work with HIAS in Rome, assisting Jewish refugees from Libya, Ethiopia, Yemen, Iran, and Russia. Through her own experiences of exile, Lager became a vital advocate, helping others navigate the uncertainties of displacement. Her memoir weaves personal history with the larger forces that shape lives, capturing the resilience of those forced to rebuild their lives in the face of upheaval.

About the Author

Caty (Katrine or Caterina) Lager was born in Fiume in 1920, when it was a cosmopolitan port of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Raised in a family that valued education, she studied piano and dance in Vienna before returning to Fiume. After the passage of Mussolini’s Racial Laws, she fled to New York with other young relatives, settling in the Bronx and adapting to working-class life.

After the war, she returned to Italy and lived in Bari, where her parents had established a temporary Jewish community among refugees and Holocaust survivors. In 1962, she began working for the Rome office of HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), assisting Jewish refugees from Libya, Ethiopia, Yemen, Iran, and Russia. Her personal experience of displacement informed her decades of work as an advocate and support for others forced to rebuild their lives.