The St. Louis

The St. Louis was a German Transatlantic liner that left from Hamburg, Germany. The liner was headed for Havana and was a link to the states that some Jewish people, and a few other minorities, wanted to escape further persecution that the Nazis would bring to them. Many of the passengers had applied for US Visas and their plan was that they would be getting off in Cuba until their visas got accepted. However, when the liner arrived at Havana only 28 passengers were allowed to disembark while the rest couldn´t. The liner was given orders to turn back towards Europe despite passengers pleading to the then-president Franklin D. Roosevelt asking or them to be allowed to head to the US. The liner turned back but it was agreed that instead of taking the passengers back to Germany they would be taken to different European countries such as Britain, the Netherlands, and France. many of the places with the exception of Great Britain were all taken over by the Nazis and hundreds of those former passengers fell victim to the Nazis. Had the US and Cuba accepted the Cubans and set aside their antisemitic views, these people who attempted to escape would have lived.