By A.Fedeski (FSWC Eduactor)

In May 1939, more than 900 Jewish refugees left Nazi Germany aboard the German ocean liner MS St. Louis, hoping to find asylum in Cuba. Upon arrival in Havana however, the passengers found that their landing permits had been invalidated, and most were denied entry to Cuba. The St. Louis remained in Havana harbour for five days, after which its Captain, Gustav Schroeder, sailed toward the coast of Florida, where the ship circled while appeals were made to admit the passengers as refugees. The American and later the Canadian government refused to accept the ship’s passengers, forcing the St. Louis to return to Europe. Arriving at Antwerp on June 17, the passengers were offered asylum by the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. When the latter three countries were invaded by Nazi Germany in 1940, St. Louis passengers were targeted for oppression and deportation; more than 200 were ultimately murdered in the Holocaust. In recognition of his efforts to save his passengers, Captain Schroeder was posthumously awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations in 1993. The United States and Canada both later apologised for their refusal to admit the ship’s passengers as refugees. Theill fated voyage of the St. Louis reflects the failure of the international community to provide safe haven to Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany.