SATURDAY, MAY 13, 1939

937 JEWISH REFUGEES FLEE NAZI GERMANY AND SAIL FOR HAVANA, CUBA

A German passenger ship, the SS St. Louis, leaves the port of Hamburg with approximately 900 passengers, mainly Jewish refugees holding Cuban landing permits. On 15 May 1939, the SS St. Louis stops in Cherbourg, France, to take on more passengers. The total number of passengers reaches 937. The ship sails for Havana, Cuba. What the captain and the passengers do not know, however, is that the Cuban government has invalidated all landing permits.

MAY 27, 1939

CUBAN PRESIDENT DENIES ENTRY FOR REFUGEES

The SS St. Louis arrives in the Havana port, but the passengers are not permitted to leave the ship. The Cuban president, Federico Laredo Bru, refuses to accept their landing permits. Less than 30 passengers meet the new visa requirement and are allowed to enter Cuba. The ship remains anchored in the Havana harbor for six days in the hope that the refugees will eventually be allowed to land. Jewish refugees already in Cuba take boats into the harbor to get a glimpse of family members on the ship. On June 2, 1939, President Bru insists that the SS St. Louis leave the Havana harbor. The ship sails north, close to the Florida coast. The refugees hope that the United States will permit them to land.

JUNE 6, 1939

JEWISH REFUGEES ABANDON HOPE OF REFUGE AND SAIL FOR EUROPE

After failing to dock in Cuba and the United States, the SS St. Louis is forced to return to Europe. Other countries agree to take the refugees. Belgium takes 214, the Netherlands 181, Great Britain 287, and France 224. On June 17, 1939, the SS St. Louis docks in Antwerp, Belgium, and the passengers are taken to their countries of refuge. Hundreds of passengers who disembarked in Belgium, the Netherlands, and France eventually fall victim to the Nazi "Final Solution."