Saint Louis (liner) – Wikipedia

The Saint Louis is a former German transatlantic liner aboard which 963 Germans of Jewish confession left Nazi Germany in May 1939. But these passengers were refused to land in Cuba, their initial destination and, after a refusal of the United States and Canada Welcoming them, the ship returns to Europe where they land in Antwerp the June 17 Then are divided between Belgium, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and France.

Its commander, Gustav Schröder, was in 1993 recognized posthumously Just among nations .

The Saint Louis , put into service in 1929, is a transatlantic liner of the Hamburg company HAPAG generally ensuring the Hamburg line – ^{[ first ]} . He had eight bridges and could accommodate 400 passengers in first ^re class and 500 passengers in tourist class. In the spring of 1939, the boat was commissioned by Captain Gustav Schröder and included 231 crew members.

Context [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

In 1939 in Germany, citizens of Jewish confession have been the subject of persecution for six years. In November 1938, a pogrom took place throughout Germany: crystal night. Many Jews are arrested and interned in forced labor camp. At the same time, the laws on immigration and emigration have become more severe, and to be able to leave Germany the Jews must strip all their goods for the benefit of the Nazis.

The Saint Louis So represents a last hope for many to leave the Reich. Some passengers have managed to be released from the concentration camps in which they were interned ^{[ first ]} .

Many leave family members behind them because the cost of the ticket is prohibitive, especially since they have often lost their work and their property. They are 400 passengers in first ^re Class (the ticket costs 800 Reichsmarks in first ^re Class and 600 Reichsmarks in tourist class). The passengers were also forced to pay 230 Reichsmarks Additional in case the boat is forced to turn around. A number of them also have family who has previously emigrated.

For the Nazis, this trip mainly serves a propaganda goal. The objective is to prove abroad and in Germany that German Jews are free to emigrate if they wish.

The trip to Cuba [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The 896 passengers, provided with a tourist visa for Cuba or regular immigration permit, embark May 13, 1939 And the boat set sail from Hamburg for Cuba at eight o’clock in the evening, under the command of Captain Gustav Schröder ^{[ 2 ]} . He stops the May 15 in the harbor of Cherbourg to take the last travelers there ^{[ 3 ]} . In Cuba, a country of transit, the Jews are supposed to wait until the American quotas allow them to enter the United States. THE Saint Louis Also has six agents of the Defense , responsible for finding information in Cuba concerning the state of mind of the American administration and army, then present on the island.

Half an hour after leaving the port, the Saint Louis receives a message that orders, without explanation, to the boat to accelerate its pace to catch up two other ships, the Flanders and the Oritude , which also travel to Cuba with Jewish refugees on board. The trip takes place in good conditions. The captain insisted with the crew so that he treats passengers as during the usual cruises. THE May 23 , the captain receives a telegram informing him of a possible problem that can prevent passengers from landing in Cuba. He organized a small committee made up of lawyers in order to study the question and possible options in case the passengers are not allowed to disembark.

Asylum refused [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

At the beginning of 1939, the Cuban government established a decree differentiating the conditions of access on its soil depending on whether the arrivals are tourists or refugees. According to this decree (Decree 55) and unlike tourists, refugees must now have a visa to enter Cuba and also pay 500 dollars to prove that they could meet their needs once arrived on the island . However, the decree has a flaw: it does not clearly define the difference between a tourist and a refugee. The director of immigration, Manuel Benitez, takes advantage of this flaw to issue tourist permits, much cheaper but not entirely legal, supposed to allow their holders to land in Cuba. The HAPAG company proposed packages containing the crossing and a visa. THE 5th of May , Cuban President Federico Laredo Brú and his cabinet promulgated another decree (the Decree 937 ) to fill the fault of Decree 55 . Benitez is accused of traffic and corruption ^{[ 4 ]} .

Arrived May 27 off the port of Havana, the liner is not allowed to dock and must wet outside the harbor. Passengers are denied the entry to Cuba, despite the visas that the Cuban Embassy had given them in Germany. Captain Schröder then tries to land his passengers directly in the United States.

North American refusal [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Forced to leave the port of Havana the June 2, 1939 , the captain brings the liner to North America. The boat trip causes very large controversy in the United States. Originally, the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had organized the Evian conference a few months ago on Jewish refugees, shows a certain desire to welcome some of the refugees. But the vehement opposition of the Secretary of State Cordell Hull and the Democrats of the southern states (some going so far as to threaten him not to support him in the presidential election of 1940), make him renounce.

The June 4, 1939 , Roosevelt orders the ban on entry to the boat waiting in the Caribbean Sea between Florida and Cuba. Schröder tries to enter Canada, but is once again repressed. He leaves to Europe ^{[ 5 ]} .

Return to Europe [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

During the return crossing, Morris Trope (in) , Director for Europe of the Jewish humanitarian organization American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, take steps to find a way out. Captain Schröder has seriously planned to fail his ship on the British coast, so as to make his passengers’ return to Germany impossible. Finally, Saturday June 10 , Belgium agrees to accommodate 214 passengers; The United Kingdom 288; The Netherlands 181 and France 224 ^{[ 6 ]} . The boat accosts the June 17 in Antwerp, hence the passengers are redirected to their final destination ^{[ 7 ]} . Passengers to France and the United Kingdom take another boat sent by the company which had chartered the Saint Louis , respectively to Boulogne-sur-Mer and Southampton. According to Joint, the rescue of passengers of Saint-Louis was a unique event in history ^{[ 6 ]} .

The commander was not prosecuted by the National Socialist regime. Gustav Schröder and his family stayed in Hamburg and survived the war. In the post-war years, the survivors of Saint Louis sent him money and gifts from their gratitude ^{[ 6 ]} . In 1949 he wrote a book of memories entitled Homeless on the high seas (High seas stateless).

Gustav Schröder died in Hamburg the January 10, 1959 . The 11 mars 1993 , Yad Vashem, the International Institute for the memory of the Shoah, posthumously awarded him the medal of “just among the nations” on behalf of the State of Israel.

From 1940 to 1944, the ship was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine as a troop transport and floating barracks. He is seriously damaged during the Allied bombing on Kiel August 30, 1944 , then, once repaired, served as a hotel boat in Hamburg in 1946. He was sent to scratch in 1952.

Bibliography [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

• Bernard Benyamin , The Odyssey of Fear , 2016
• Gilbert Slothers, A boat for hell , 2005
• Diane Afoumado ( pref. Serge Klarsfeld), Exile impossible. The wandering of the Jews of the liner “St. Louis” , Paris, L’Harmattan, 2005 . This rigorous study on the journey of passengers of the St. Louis Based mainly on American and German archives, hitherto not exploited. Report Available on Perseus
• The episode of Saint-Louis in Cuba is also reported in the heretical novel, by Leonardo Padura.
• Julian Barnes describes the journey of the Saint Louis In A world story in 10 chapters and 1/2 (in) , in the chapter “Three simple stories”.
• Bruno tessarech, The Sentinels , Grasset editions, 2009

Filmography [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

• Historical TV movie, Undesirable, the wandering of the Holy Louis (The unwanted: the wandering of the St. Louis), Réalisé par from Ben, 2019, Allemagne, 1H28 [ see online ] Until July 8, 2022.

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