Recently, I learned about a chilling tale where Jewish refugees attempted to escape Nazi Germany in May of 1939 from Hamburg and were refused entry into the Cuba, and the US.
Over 900 Jewish refugees boarded the SS St. Louis, a luxury cruiseliner, they hoped would bring them to a safe place. Refugee passengers had purchased visas for between $200 to $300 ($3,000 to $5,000 USD or £1,800 to £3,000 in today's prices.) in hopes of trading precious resources for solace from the horrors of war and a brutal regime in their home country.
The expected route for the St. Louis was to dock in Havana, where Cuban immigration officials would help facilitate their transition into the US (as most of the ship’s passengers had applied for US visas). Jews fleeing the Nazi regime planned to wait several weeks in Cuba before entering into the US. But, this did not happen.
Internal tension and corruption in the Cuban government at the time stalled the passengers of the St. Louis, who became caught with nowhere to go.
Anti semitism and a troubled economy also played a role in Cuba and the US.
Because of this, only 28 out of 908 passengers were accepted in Havana.
The accepted passengers had valid US visas but 743 passengers were waiting for US visas and only had Cuban transit visas issued by Director-General of the Cuban immigration office, Manuel Benitez Gonzalez, who was suspected of illegally issuing these documents.
The captain of the ship then turned sail towards Miami, where, sadly, the ship full of refugees was left in limbo again.
The US had a strict policy to let in 27,000 refugees (a quota which was quickly filled) in 1939. And President Roosevelt, congress and Americans did not support accepting more refugees.
In the end, the ship returned to Europe in June, 1939 and after negotiations between Jewish organizations and European countries, the passengers secured visas. While countries like Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium and France took the majority of Jewish refugees, it was less than a year before the German invasion through Western Europe led to the start of WWII.
While some Jewish refugees on this deeply saddening journey survived WWII to tell their story, 254 refugee passengers were killed by Nazis during the war.
There is so much to learn from this story. Attitudes toward Syrian refugees fleeing terrors in their home countries today are eerily similar. European countries have been more open to refugees than the US both today and back then. And the reasons for refusing refugees—discrimination and economic worries—are also paralleled.. But these attitudes can change. Policies can change. It’s troubling that this story is not far from tales of refugees today, so let this be a warning not to repeat the past.
The saying “history repeats itself” only applies when we do not reflect on incidents of the past and learn from them. Racism and intolerance have declined since 1939 and are key to ending cycles of hate that perpetuate poverty. The voyage of the St. Louis should remind the world to move toward tolerance and to shed negativity and fear. There should be no more victims of war because safe countries turn their backs on the vulnerable.
For images from the real voyage of the St. Louis click here.
Consider putting yourself in the shoes of refugees by going to TAKE ACTION NOW and share what one item you would bring if faced with having to leave home.