THREAD: Let me tell you all about the devastating case of the MS St. Louis, which arrived in Havana #OTD in 1939, a sad tale of American inaction during the Holocaust. (1/)

The US response (or in some cases, lack thereof) to the Holocaust is a complex topic. Many scholars conclude that FDR’s creation of the US Refugee Board saved 200,000+ lives, which is to be commended. Full stop. But it came “too little too late” More: https://exhibitions.ushmm.org/americans-and-the-holocaust/main (2/)

The MS St. Louis was a German liner that left Hamburg, Germany in May 1939 with 937 (mostly Jewish) passengers hoping to escape the growing Nazi threat in Europe. When the ship arrived in Havana, almost all of the passengers were not allowed to debark. (3/)

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee tried to negotiate with the Cuban authorities to allow the passengers to leave the ship. For complicated reasons inc. both government corruption & anti-Semitism, the Cuban government had cancelled passengers’ landing permits. (4/)

The MS St. Louis sailed near the FL coast as passengers desperately tried to contact people in the US, begging the ship be allowed to dock. The Mayor of St. Louis even received a telegram – passengers hoped the name of the ship would evoke sympathy and action. It didn’t. (5/)

It sailed so close to the Florida coast that passengers could see the lights of Miami. Newspapers throughout the United States & Canada reported on the passengers’ plight & many expressed sympathy. Few, however, urged the White House to take action and allow the ship to dock.(6/)

For example:

Clockwise,

NY Daily News 5/28/39
Chicago Tribune 5/31/39
St. Louis Star-Times 5/31/39
Boston Globe 6/1/39
(7/)

President Roosevelt never responded to the passengers’ pleas and the ship was forced to return to Europe.

Newspaper coverage, Clockwise:

Baltimore Sun 6/2/39
Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph 6/2/39
Spokane Spokesman-Review 6/2/39

(8/)

Great Britain, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands all accepted a portion of the passengers, all of whom refused to return to Germany. (9/)

A year later, in May and June of 1940, Germany invaded three of the four nations where passengers of the MS St. Louis returned – France, the Netherlands, and Belgium. The 532 passengers who remained found themselves trapped within the reach of the Third Reich once again. (10/)

Of the 937 passengers on the MS St. Louis – which glided mere miles from Floridian shores – 254 perished during the Holocaust. (11/)

The end.

For more information on the MS St. Louis: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/voyage-of-the-st-louis (12/12)