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About the artifacts
Sailing from Hamburg in 1939, the 937 passengers aboard the St. Louis, mostly German Jewish refugees, were relieved to be off German soil. Though bound for Havana, most planned to settle in America. Their hopes were shattered when Cuba refused to honor their landing certificates, and American authorities denied them refuge. The St. Louis returned to Europe, and more than 250 people aboard the ship later perished in the Holocaust.
Credits: Gifts to the Museum (and their donors): St. Louis ticket, postcard, photo (Julie Klein); note on napkin from passenger Leopold Dingfelder asking to disembark in England—the request was denied, and he and his wife later perished at Auschwitz (Betty Troper Yager); ribbon (Annette Gallagher); St. Louis Captain Schröder’s hat, photos (Herbert Karliner); HIAS cards (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society); photo (Henry Gallant)
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Museum
