Download Educational Resources About the St. Louis Ship
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The Story of the St. Louis A view of the St. Louis surrounded by smaller vessels in the port of Havana. (Picture courtesy of the USHMM) “hopefully, a solution will be found soon, where we can land, it doesn’t matter in which country. One already has to have nerves like a horse to be able to get through everything“ (St Louis passenger Julius Hermann, May 30, 1939) Theme: the case of the St. Louis ship (as an example for the situation of German refugees shortly before the Second World War.) Aims: * To examine the story of the ship St. Louis from different aspects and perspectives, giving voice to the different actors that were part to it. * To discuss the historical circumstances leading to the situation of German refugees, that the passengers of the St. Louis are an example for. * To examine the relevance of the story of the St. Louis today and discussing complex questions of responsibility, civic duties and moral personal and international obligations. Time Frame: Stage 1 - Getting started. This stage serves as an introduction for the module and is aimed to get the students into the topic and to formulate their first questions. The same method will be used to close this unit. The facilitator hangs five „exhibits“/elements in the class-/seminar room’s corners: 1. the poem “Ships are Sailing” which was written in 1938 by Władysław Szlengel; 2. a caricature1 (either Fred Packer in the New York Daily Mirror - June 6, 1939 or a caricature by Herbert Block which was published in various papers on June 7, 1939); 3. a photo of the St Louis passengers in the waters near Havana;2 4. a photo of an art installation by Ai Weiwei in the National Gallery of Prague, 2017; 5. the art installation dismantled by Banski.3 Walking in the room looking at the different exhibits, the participants choose one of the exhibits and stay standing next to it. In the small groups that are formed next to the exhibits, participants then discuss briefly the reasons for their choice and the questions that they think are related to this exhibit. They write them down for the following working steps. Szlengel’s poem perfectly fits the stories and images we have constantly seen in the media in the last years (especially in 2015). It was written in 1938 in relation to German, Czech and Austrian Jews trying to flee Nazi Germany, yet being refused entry to other countries. One of most known and documented cases of such a ship, sailing with refugees and knocking at ports and gates and being refused entry, was the MS St. Louis. 1 https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2016/05/St-Louis-Statue-of-Liberty.jpg / https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5126bbb4e4b08c2e6d1cb6e4/t/517d4123e4b077614f13d813 /1367163175086/. Info: This cartoon by Herbert Block (better known as „Herblock“), for the Newspaper Enterprise Association, appeared in various papers on June 7, 1939. Block was later the editorial cartoonist for the Washington Post for more than 50 years. 2 http://cdn1.spiegel.de/images/image-1107418-galleryV9-gmro-1107418.jpg 3 https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2017/03/58c3962f4054c10314615122-1024x683.jpg; http://dvqlxo2m2q99q.cloudfront.net/000_clients/116017/page/h800-11601715302shP5.jpg Stage 2: Working in small groups with historical materials connected to the case of the St. Louis Divide the participants into four groups. Each group receives historical sources and background information on the St. Louis, and is asked to present one aspect of the story of the St. Louis, by discussing a leading question. In the following step, each group will present these aspects and discuss their findings with the rest of the participants. 1. News report from “The Springfield Union” newspaper, published in Massachusetts, U.S.A, on June 2nd 1939. Question: Read the news article of “The Springfield Union”, published in Massachusetts, U.S.A, on June 2nd 1939. Based on the article and on the additional background information, try to make a short presentation of the main actors in the St. Louis affair, as well as the course of events. 2. A letter by Julius Hermann to his family in New York from May 30th 1939. Question: How did Julius Hermann describe the atmosphere on the St. Louis? How does he deal with the situation in comparison to other passengers? 3. Report by the Report by the American Consul in Havana on the European refugees in Cuba. March 17th 1939. Question: What were the arguments that were brought up by the Cuban government to justify its decision to refuse the refugees? 4. Excerpts from the memoir of Captain Gustav Schröder. Question: How did Captain Gustav Schröder describe the atmosphere on the St. Louis? How did he deal with the situation? Can you say something about his feelings / thoughts / state of mind? After the work in small groups, they present their findings to the plenary, so that an overall picture of the St. Louis affair is created. Further questions for discussion with the whole group could be: 1. After dealing with the case of the St. Louis from different perspectives and with different sources, who do you think should have been responsible for providing a solution to the problem? 2. In more than one source a genuine concern was expressed that the passengers would rather commit suicide than be sent back. What is the meaning of this information? Another option for the work in small groups: Alternatively, it is possible to divide the group into five groups - the fifth group will deal with the question of responsibility. 5. A desperate sea letter to president Roosewelt; Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees; (in German also Right of Asylum) Question: The sea letter to president Roosevelt ends with the sentence: „We ask for help confiding in your humanity“. How could refugees argument today and why? Stage 3: preparing a poster/ a collage / a journal’s front page In the last phase of this educational unit, participants are asked to work in small groups again and formulate and convey a message they consider important in regard to the topic of flight and seeking refuge. They can either address the world of the 1930s or ours. In order to convey this message they will create a poster, a collage or a journal’s front page. They can use a text (either from the materials they previously read or one formulated by themselves), a drawing or photos. They will be provided with newspapers (collected and brought by the facilitator) as well as pens etc. Discussing with their peers what kind of message they wish to convey and designing the poster is in itself a learning process. Whereas the hidden agenda of this module is to create empathy and sensitivity towards refugees (in the past as well as in the present), it is possible (and legitimate) that not all participants will want to convey a messages of solidarity and social responsibility. At the same time, the presentation of the posters at the end of this stage allows a discussion on the different arguments (cultural, social and economical ones) concerning individuals and societies when dealing with such questions. Further questions for summary discussion: - What might be the differences and similarities between the situation of the 1930’s and the past years? This question can be further explored in the Kindertransport module, which deals with the structural differences between the past and the present situation. - How can we develop a moral and emotional obligation to solve a problem that we have not created, yet which eventually might directly influence our daily lives? Background information: 500,000 Jews lived in Germany before the Nazi party came to power. They enjoyed social and political equality, and the majority of them saw themselves as an integral part of the German society. The anti-Jewish policies of the Nazi regime that began during the 1930s led to a major change in the condition of the Jews, and many of them wished to leave Germany. The increasing number of Jewish refugees from Germany, together with the reluctance of the different nations to change their immigration quotas and to absorb those refuges, led to a humanitarian crisis. It led to a sense that “there [was] no entry permit to the entire world” (as described by Beno Cohen during his testimony at the Eichmann trial). The voyage of the St. Louis The St. Louis affair was a tragic event that reflected the situation of the Jewish refugees during the 1930s. On May 13th 1939, the St. Louis ship sailed from Hamburg port with 936 Jewish refugees on board. When it arrived to its destination, Cuba, on May 27, it was revealed that the visas held by 930 of its passengers were not valid. The Cuban president Federico Laredo Brú announced that the refugees will not receive political asylum, and will not be allowed to leave the ship. One of the passengers tried to commit suicide and a few other threatened to do the same. The American-Jewish relief organization – “The Joint” - sent a representative to Havana to negotiate allowing the passengers to enter Cuba. At that point, the U.S. announced that it would also refuse to accept these refugees (following a direct instruction by President Roosevelt). On June 2, Brú ordered the ship out of Cuban waters and it sailed to the direction of Florida, where it stood and waited in hope of a solution. On June 5th an agreement was reached, that allowed the refugees to enter Cuba in exchange for bonds of 453 thousand dollars (about 500 dollars for each refugee) that were to be deposited the following day.