In honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day, a Twitter account is listing the names of the passengers of the St. Louis, a boat of 937 refugees fleeing Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. When the St. Louis landed in Havana in 1939, the Cuban government turned nearly all of them away.
The refugees, most of them Jewish, asked the United States for help. Their pleas went unheard.
The St. Louis was forced to return to Europe, condemning its passengers to a grim fate. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum writes:
The passengers did not return to Germany, however. Jewish organizations (particularly the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) negotiated with four European governments to secure entry visas for the passengers: Great Britain took 288 passengers; the Netherlands admitted 181 passengers, Belgium took in 214 passengers; and 224 passengers found at least temporary refuge in France. Of the 288 passengers admitted by Great Britain, all survived World War II save one, who was killed during an air raid in 1940. 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.
These were some of the passengers of the St. Louis:
My name is Günther Heilbrun. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered in Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/yLoNgtkD0c
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Max Hirsch. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered in Mauthausen pic.twitter.com/7E02Xa5d80
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Joachim Hirsch. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered in Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/pfvJtMpIps
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Sibyll Grünthal. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered in Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/6bhOXrJJor
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Margarete Grünthal. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered in Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/IZF3qFhb2C
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Lutz Grünthal. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered in Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/DyS8NXrk2P
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Evelyn Greve. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Italy pic.twitter.com/j8qEfw1rj3
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Erich Dublon. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/wlVcCiUt2P
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Carl Simon. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Sobibor pic.twitter.com/B7f3lvWAts
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Jakob Köppel. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at France pic.twitter.com/j46MM897gQ
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Josef Köppel. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/qREiM2XwnN
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Julius Hermanns. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/A4nmdb8ho3
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Ilse Karliner. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/qkD7dP4pbt
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Bertha Ellen Grünthal. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/PyMnWXdpiW
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Margot Hirsch. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/uwMRFqxOya
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Ruthild Grünthal. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Theresienstadt pic.twitter.com/pxYclNerap
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Horst-Martin Grünthal. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/Xh1oZCtJak
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Kurt Stein. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/iXeW5SGECu
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
It seems monstrous now that the United States would turn genocide victims away, but we’re currently gearing up to do it again.
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