I have been told of a boat of European Jews who, in trying to escape the Nazis, were refused admission to the United States by FDR. What was the name of this boat and what ultimately became of these people?

Prison

The boat's name was the St. Louis, and its passengers were sent back to various locations. Of the 936 Jewish passengers, 29 disembarked in Cuba, 288 disembarked in the UK, 181 in The Netherlands, 224 in France and 214 in Belgium. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_St._Louis Jul 29 09, 7:51 AM

BRY2K

In 1939, the State Department under Roosevelt did not allow a boat of Jews fleeing from the Nazis into the United States. When the passenger ship St. Louis approached the coast of Florida with nearly a thousand German Jews fleeing persecution by Hitler, Roosevelt did not respond to telegrams from passengers requesting asylum, and the State Department refused entry to the ship. Forced to return to Antwerp, many of the passengers eventually died in concentration camps. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt's_record_on_civil_rights A detailed account of the fateful voyage can be seen here: http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/stlouis//story/voyage/index.htm Jul 29 09, 7:51 AM

trans991

S.S. St. Louis - sailed from Hamburg in 1939 and attempted to debark in Cuba. The passengers had obtained visas which were deemed illegal in Cuba. The US State Department (and FDR's Secretary of the Treasury who was Jewish) worked to change Cuba's mind by means which included bribery. Only 29 of the 936 passengers were allowed in Cuba. The rest of the passengers sailed back to Europe. Again, through the intervention of the US, the boat was diverted to England where 288 people were allowed to enter. The remainder of the passengers continued on to Antwerp, avoiding Germany. An estimated 392 of those remaining 619 Jews survived the holocaust. http://www.savingthejews.com/html/carterlibraryspeech.htm 1 vote. Jul 29 09, 7:52 AM