Current Events > SS St Louis: The ship of Jewish refugees nobody wanted

(+) Yeah! (+)

This is a very sad story.

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27373131

On 13 May 1939, more than 900 Jews fled Germany aboard a luxury cruise liner, the SS St Louis. They hoped to reach Cuba and then travel to the US - but were turned away in Havana and forced to return to Europe, where more than 250 were killed by the Nazis.

...

For the next seven days, Captain Schroder tried in vain to persuade the Cuban authorities to allow them in. In fact, the Cubans had already decided to revoke all but a handful of the visas - probably out of fear of being inundated with more refugees fleeing Europe.

The captain then steered the St Louis towards the Florida coast, but the US authorities also refused it the right to dock, despite direct appeals to President Franklin Roosevelt. Granston thinks he too was worried about the potential flood of migrants.

By early June, Captain Schroder had no option but to turn the giant liner back towards Europe. "The joy had gone out of everything," Feldman recalls. "No-one was talking about what would happen now."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9LeL7aPMsE

And FDR is still considered one of the greatest presidents ever. Between this and incarcerating people of Japanese origin, I'm kinda surprised that he hasn't been "cancelled" yet.

The Holocaust could have been prevented or stopped at any moment but the world did nothing.

The allies of WWII share responsibility for it happening

Remember things like this whenever the far right demonizes immigrants. Same mentality; different name.

coh posted...

The Holocaust could have been prevented or stopped at any moment but the world did nothing.

The allies of WWII share responsibility for it happening

When it was going on many people didn't believe it because it sounded too outlandish. Never think "it can't happen here."
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Voxwik posted...

When it was going on many people didn't believe it because it sounded too outlandish. Never think "it can't happen here."

There are accounts of German citizens not even knowing concentration camps existed just a few miles from their town, and I believe it honestly.

If someone set up a camp in the woods outside my city I'd never know.

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Madfoot or Gwaak alt?

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