The Content Reader

I love the cover Eight o'clock on Saturday, May 13, 1939, steamer St Louis , sailing with the Amerika Linie (HAPAG), set sail from Hamburg with destination Cuba. On board were 900 people, mostly German-Jewish refugees leaving a more and more troublesome Germany for freedom at the other side of the world. The passengers had entry visas for Cuba. Nearing the island, the Cuban president Federico Laredo Brú, cancelled those visas, signed by one of his own general director. Only those visas, signed by a specific ministry, were valid. The result was that most of the 900 passengers had to stay on board and, in the end, return to Europe. Since all of them had entry visas for the US, the ship sailed on to the States and Canada, but they both refused to admit the people. They had to return to Europe. A couple of days before touching European soil, a committee had agreed with Great Britain, France, Belgium and Holland to receive the remaining refugees. In principal, only the people who ...