- On May 15, 1939, 900+ German Jews boarded MS St.Louis to seek refuge from Nazi Germany.
- These passengers, among other Jews at the time, were stripped of all their belongings, forced out of their schools and homes, exiled from their occupations, had their synagogues burned, and were treated like aliens, traitors, and enemies by their own government if they were not already jailed, robbed, or killed for being Jewish.
- The MS St. Louis initially set sail for Cuba where each passenger had an entrance visa into the country.
- However, when the Cuban government refused their entry, the passengers would attempt to seek refuge from the countries in Latin American and the United States.
- After rejection from each of these countries, the MS St. Louis made a final attempt to seek refuge in Canada.
- However, due to the restrictive immigration policies at the time, Canada, under the leadership of Prime Minister Mackenzie King, also refused entry to the passengers of St. Louis.
- Even with the significant Jewish population in Canada and after several prominent Canadians attempted to persuade the government to accept the passengers, the government still refused their entry.
- A quote (found in this document) by Director of Immigration Frederick Blair to Under secretary for External Affairs Dr. Oscar D. Skelton on June 16, 1939 accurately summarizes Canada's overall response to the St. Louis crisis, "If Canada had invited these refugees, it is probably they would have been followed by others. It is manifestly impossible for any country to open its doors wide enough to take in the hundreds. of thousands of Jewish people who want to leave Europe: the line must be drawn somewhere."
- After Canada refused entry to St. Louis, the passengers were offered a safe return to Europe, however, shortly after they arrived, the Second World War broke out and over 600 of the passengers were residing on land occupied by Nazi authority.
- Ultimately, it was recorded that over 250 of the passengers of the ship were murdered in the Holocaust.
Canada. Library and Archives. Department of External Affairs - Confidential telegrams to Prime Minister at Washington, D.C., United States, on immigration matters (German Jews on SS ST. LOUIS). 1939, 1941, 1965. http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=1434128&lang=eng
For more information about Canada's involvement in the MS St. Louis tragedy: https://www.rcinet.ca/en/2018/06/07/canada-history-7-june-1939-the-tragedy-of-the-ms-st-louis/ & https://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/events/holocaust04/st_louis.html
& https://pier21.ca/research/immigration-history/canada-and-ms-st-louis#footnote-17
For a lengthy description of the events leading up to Canada's official refusal of the passengers onboard MS St.Louis: https://pier21.ca/research/immigration-history/canada-and-ms-st-louis
For a Canadian Historical Review publication in 1979 which accurately depicts the attitudes of Canadian officials during the St.Louis crisis (but prior to the outcome of the passengers in the Holocaust): https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/citedby/10.3138/CHR-060-02-04