SS+St.+Louis



The SS St. Louis was a transportation ship for Jews that sailed from Germany in 1939. It carried about 936 German Jews and sailed for America. There, the people on board hoped, they would be able to find safety and new lives. Many of these people had been forced to leave their families behind like Aaron Pozner, a Jew who had recently been liberated from Dachau along with his family. They were able to pool together enough money to but one ticket for the boat-- his. He boarded that ship with the knowledge that it was up to him to bring his family to salvation. Many of them were nervous about boarding the ship as it was flying the Nazi colors, but they nevertheless went on and, as the captain noted, "everyone seems convinced they will never see Germany again" (The Tragedy of the SS St. Louis). The voyage across the Atlantic was long and arduous, but the true tragedy came when the ship reached the Carribean. There, due to new laws which had been passed since the Jews had boarded, they were forbidden from moving to America. The ones who had just sailed across an ocean on animal hides were turned away from the border because they were //immigrants.// The Jews had set sail under the impression that they would be able to live in America because of the documents they carried saying that they were tourists, as at that time there was a loophole in Cuban law that didn't define a tourist from a refugee. After they had left port, however, the loophole was resolved and all of their documents became null and void. When they reached Cuba, then, they were spurned and turned away. They were forced to return to Europe with dwindling supplies of food and water, and there were several mutiny attempts, one of which was led by Aaron Pozner. As they reached Europe, though, the Jews were allowed to enter several countries other than Germany. What was decided was that "181 could go to Holland, 224 to France, 228 to Great Britain, and 214 to Belgium" (Rosenburg).

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By Mimi Wack