On
this date, June 4th, in the year 1939, the German ocean liner MS St. Louis, carrying
more than 900 Jewish refugees from Germany, was turned away by U.S. officials
on the Florida coast.
Their
lives could have been saved. Most couldn’t imagine what was to come, but
conditions for Jews in Germany were already known to be dire.
World
War II broke out three months later when Germany invaded Poland. But German Jews
were already in concentration camps before, to be followed by the Jews of Poland
and other conquered territories.
A
famous movie was made in 1965 (after a novel published in 1962), inspired by
this ship and others similar to it. It was called SHIP OF FOOLS. In
the movie, the Jewish tragedy was subdued and the voyage’s destination changed.
But what stayed with me when I saw the movie in my teens was how cruel it
is for nations to turn a blind eye to the known suffering of those who choose
to make the difficult journey of leaving everything and everyone behind.
There,
but by the grace of the almighty, go any one of us.
I
cry for the doomed of the MS St. Louis. Let’s remember them this day and,
please, *do better.*
6 comments:
I remember the sorrow when I read about it years after I'd already lost my faith in God when I first learned about the Jewish holocaust as a child. But the Lord never forgets--He is with all who suffer. May they enjoy eternal life with Him.
I did not see the movie or read the book, but my heart grieves for those who were in that situation. And I struggle with how we as a country today deal with the thousands who are fleeing horrible situations and seek sanctuary at our southern border. The Bible teaches that we're to welcome such people, but it's complicated and there don't seem to be easy answers. I pray that God will give us wisdom and compassion.
Evelyn, I am not suggesting open borders. I think a country can turn down people who seek to better themselves economically when the country would have issues with absorbing them in large numbers. Most people at our borders fit this category.
But legal sorting and hearing/verifying cases must be enlarged so that anyone whose life will likely end if they are turned down should be taken in. For all the $$$ we spend on questionable matters, legal borders enforcement is one we have been stingy on and pointlessly argumentative internally.
How I agree with you, yet understand the fears of citizens that they'll be inundated by foreigners who will overwhelm social services. The truth is, most people who immigrate wind up working really hard to survive in a new country, while dealing with cultural and language barriers, not to mention the traumas they experienced before. I know this was so when we first arrived.
I don't think many people realize how little the U.S. did to help the Jews when the threat they faced from the Nazis became clear. They ask such ignorant questiions, such as, Why didn't they just leave Germany or Poland or other nations?
Where were they supposed to go? Jews were very fortunate if they could get into a safer country. The U.S., for the most part, turned its back.
Love,
Janie
This is such a sad part of our history. Your comments about the book made me wonder if there's been a kidlit novel written about this. I found this book, but definitely not written in a kidfriendly mode: https://www.amazon.com/No-Reply-Jewish-Aboard-Followed/dp/0692812695/
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