The Voyage of the St. Louis

Microfiche-New York Times archives, McHenry Library, U.C. Santa Cruz | June 1939 | R. Hart Phillips

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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[Homer_J_Simpson]

“On May 13, 1939, the German transatlantic liner St. Louis sailed from Hamburg, Germany, for Havana, Cuba. On the voyage were 938 passengers, one of whom was not a refugee. Almost all were Jews fleeing from the Third Reich. Most were German citizens, some were from Eastern Europe, and a few were officially "stateless."”

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?ModuleId=10005267

For those unfamiliar with the story of the St. Louis (like me until last week) I recommend visiting the referenced site for the full story.

The Times covered the ship’s journey extensively during June and ran many short articles. I will post subsequent stories as replies to this Thread. - Homer

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Winston Churchill writes in Collier's magazine: "Unless some change of heart or change of regime takes place in Germany she will deem it in her interest to make war, and this is more likely to happen in the present year than later on.

from http://www.worldwar-2.net/prelude-to-war/prelude-to-war-index.htm

More on the St. Louis at #2.

[beebuster2000]

incredibly sad tale, belies the view that the “democracies” knew nothing about the nazi plan for jews. everybody knew, and did nothing.

what eventually happened to the people on the boat? did they end up in concentration camp?

[beebuster2000]

Of the 620 passengers who returned to continent, 87 (14%) managed to emigrate before the German invasion of Western Europe in May 1940. 532 St. Louis passengers were trapped when Germany conquered Western Europe. Just over half, 278 survived the Holocaust. 254 died: 84 who had been in Belgium; 84 who had found refuge in Holland, and 86 who had been admitted to France.

[SJackson]

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[Homer_J_Simpson]

6/5/39

[Homer_J_Simpson]

6/5/39 update at #7

[unkus]

There was a pretty good made-for-TV movie about this about 20 years ago. I can’t remember exactly, but I think over half of the people survived the war.

[Ann Archy]

Wasn’t it FDR himself that blocked the St. Louis from being able to dock in the US???

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

And now the state of Israel is the modern ‘Saint Louis’, and Obama is determined that they suffer a similar fate. ‘Never Forget’ turned out to be 70 years.

[SJackson]

I don’t know if the decision was technically his, but he was aware of the St Louis and it’s plight, and certainly could have allowed it to dock and put the refugees in a camp till the end of the war.

[dfwgator]

Hindsight is 20/20.

[SJackson]

Not really hindsight. It was known they were returning to persecution, the countries involved simply didn’t want Jewish refugees. The issue was several years old by then.

[dfwgator]

But back then, nobody really knew what the ultimate outcome would be.

Also, back then persecution of minorities, sadly, was considered “par for the course” in those parts, not only in Germany. Things that would cause outrage today, just weren’t treated the same back then. After all, at that time we were only 70 years removed from slavery in this country.

[SJackson]

But back then, nobody really knew what the ultimate outcome would be.

They didn't know the refugees would become victims of industrialized murder. They did know they'd be victims of persecution, and that no one wanted them in their country. In this hemisphere at least, the Brits allowed a few in.

[SJackson]

BTW, you’ll note the article acknowledges that concentration camps might be the ultimate destination in Germany.

[BroJoeK]

"I don’t know if the decision was technically his, but he was aware of the St Louis and it’s plight, and certainly could have allowed it to dock and put the refugees in a camp till the end of the war."

Sorry pal, but I think that's a lie. You'll need to put up or shut up on that one.

Here's the truth of the matter: Roosevelt did everything he legally could to allow as many Jewish refugees as possible into the US. In this he was opposed, blocked and slow rolled by Congress and by his own State Department. But he did what he could.

Roosevelt could not increase the total number of refugees legally allowed, but he did make sure that virtually all of those allowed were Jews.

This is my reference:

Rosen: "Saving the Jews"

One further point, possibly the cruelest irony: Roosevelt's strongest supporters in rearming and preparing the US for war against Nazi Germany, were those most opposed to increasing Jewish immigration: conservative Southern Democrats.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

6/6/39

[Homer_J_Simpson]

6/6/39 update at #19.