Voyage of the Damned
by Gordon Thomas, Max Morgan-Witts
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The "extraordinary" true story of the St. Louis, a German ship that, in 1939, carried Jews away from Hamburg--and into an unimaginable ordeal (The New York Times). On May 13, 1939, the luxury liner St. Louis sailed from Hamburg, one of the last ships to leave Nazi Germany before World War II erupted. Aboard were 937 Jews--some had already been in concentration camps--who believed they had bought visas to enter Cuba. The voyage of the damned had begun. Before the St. Louis was halfway show more across the Atlantic, a power struggle ensued between the corrupt Cuban immigration minister who issued the visas and his superior, President Bru. The outcome: The refugees would not be allowed to land in Cuba. In America, the Brown Shirts were holding Nazi rallies in Madison Square Garden; anti-Semitic Father Coughlin had an audience of fifteen million. Back in Germany, plans were being laid to implement the final solution. And aboard the St. Louis, 937 refugees awaited the decision that would determine their fate. Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan Witts have re-created history in this meticulous reconstruction of the voyage of the St. Louis. Every word of their account is true: the German High Command's ulterior motive in granting permission for the "mission of mercy;" the confrontations between the refugees and the German crewmen; the suicide attempts among the passengers; and the attitudes of those who might have averted the catastrophe, but didn't. In reviewing the work, the New York Times was unequivocal: "An extraordinary human document and a suspense story that is hard to put down. But it is more than that. It is a modern allegory, in which the SS St. Louis becomes a symbol of the SS Planet Earth. In this larger sense the book serves a greater purpose than mere drama." show lessTags
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I came across this book purely by chance while researching a different book.
This is a shocking True Story of Hope, Betrayal and Nazi Terror.
German ocean Liner The St. Louis set sail from Hamburg to Cuba on May 13, 1939. The vessel was carrying 937 Jewish refugees seeking asylum from the Nazi death camps. The ship was under the command of a very capable and compassionate Captain called Gustav Schröder and the destination was Cuba where asylum was requested and granted for the passengers . However upon the ship's arrival in Cuba, the Cuban government, headed by President Federico Laredo Brú, refused entry to the foreign refugees even though these refugees had previously purchased costly legal visas, they were tuned away as unknown to show more them (before travelling) laws relating to tourist/refugee visas had recently changed and although numerous negotiations took place the ship was turned away.
I was so impressed by the courage of Captain Gustav Schroder while sailing a German Ship with a Nazi Flag flying high for all to see, how he protested against Germany and tried to treat his passengers with the respect that they deserved and how hard he tried to find homes for his 908 passengers. After they were denied entry into Cuba, Canada and the United States, the ship sailed back towards Europe and the refugees were eventually accepted in various European countries. It is estimated that only 300 of the original 937 passengers survived and these were the group that were settled in Great Britain but the rest which were settled in Belgium and France ended up being sent to concentration camps. There were some exceptions and these as accounted for in the book.
This book was such an eye opener and how let down these people must have felt by the whole world. The most disheartening part for me that this is happening in Europe all over again. Decisions which should be made rapidly at government levels between countries are being dragged out for months on end while refugees suffer as a result. Have we learned anything at all from past experiences? or do our governments just keep making the same selfish mistakes concerning the fates of displaced people who through no fault of their own find themselves displaced and with no country to call home.
This book was written in 1974 and it may as well have been written in 2016 for all that has changed.
The survivors of the St. Louis were eventually scattered throughout the world and when the book was written in 1974 the authors did wonderful research as numerous of the survivors were interviewed to give an accurate account of what happened on the St. Louis. Official archives, crew members and passengers interviews and others directly involved with the voyage of the St Louis accounts appear in this book and give an insightful account of this voyage.
I sourced a hard back copy of this book published in 1974 and loved the maps and the photos that was included which really added to understanding the voyage. show less
This is a shocking True Story of Hope, Betrayal and Nazi Terror.
German ocean Liner The St. Louis set sail from Hamburg to Cuba on May 13, 1939. The vessel was carrying 937 Jewish refugees seeking asylum from the Nazi death camps. The ship was under the command of a very capable and compassionate Captain called Gustav Schröder and the destination was Cuba where asylum was requested and granted for the passengers . However upon the ship's arrival in Cuba, the Cuban government, headed by President Federico Laredo Brú, refused entry to the foreign refugees even though these refugees had previously purchased costly legal visas, they were tuned away as unknown to show more them (before travelling) laws relating to tourist/refugee visas had recently changed and although numerous negotiations took place the ship was turned away.
I was so impressed by the courage of Captain Gustav Schroder while sailing a German Ship with a Nazi Flag flying high for all to see, how he protested against Germany and tried to treat his passengers with the respect that they deserved and how hard he tried to find homes for his 908 passengers. After they were denied entry into Cuba, Canada and the United States, the ship sailed back towards Europe and the refugees were eventually accepted in various European countries. It is estimated that only 300 of the original 937 passengers survived and these were the group that were settled in Great Britain but the rest which were settled in Belgium and France ended up being sent to concentration camps. There were some exceptions and these as accounted for in the book.
This book was such an eye opener and how let down these people must have felt by the whole world. The most disheartening part for me that this is happening in Europe all over again. Decisions which should be made rapidly at government levels between countries are being dragged out for months on end while refugees suffer as a result. Have we learned anything at all from past experiences? or do our governments just keep making the same selfish mistakes concerning the fates of displaced people who through no fault of their own find themselves displaced and with no country to call home.
This book was written in 1974 and it may as well have been written in 2016 for all that has changed.
The survivors of the St. Louis were eventually scattered throughout the world and when the book was written in 1974 the authors did wonderful research as numerous of the survivors were interviewed to give an accurate account of what happened on the St. Louis. Official archives, crew members and passengers interviews and others directly involved with the voyage of the St Louis accounts appear in this book and give an insightful account of this voyage.
I sourced a hard back copy of this book published in 1974 and loved the maps and the photos that was included which really added to understanding the voyage. show less
Excellent, well-written, sad, disturbing, thought-provoking. This is a book about the tragic journey of 937 Jews trying to escape Germany in 1939. The book is disturbing because I reflect on our country's refusal to act, and as I look about me, I see signs that such a terror as the Nazis posed is not restricted to Germany or to the 1930's and 40's. It is an expression of the darkness human nature is all too capable of - and the intolerance shown lately in this country toward anyone (commencement speakers, fast food restaurants and many others) who do not tow the Politically correct line makes me think such times are upon us again. The power exerted by these thought police is truly disturbing. Books like this remind us of history - if show more only we learn from it and do not allow the same mistakes to be made again. show less
The shocking true story of the St Louis, a ship loaded with desperate passengers fleeing Nazism and nowhere to land, is told with all the tension and drama of a top class thriller .
Well-written. Frustrating, infuriating, depressing, and, most disturbingly, true.
FG-3
Oct 30, 2020Catalan
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36+ Works 3,756 Members
Gordon Thomas is a bestselling author of forty books published worldwide, including many on the international intelligence community. He lives in London. You can visit him online at www.gordonthomas-author.com.
13+ Works 1,928 Members
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1974
- Important places
- St. Louis (Cruise liner); Hamburg, Germany; Havana, Cuba
- Important events
- Voyage of the St Louis (1939)
- Related movies
- Voyage of the Damned (1976 | IMDb)
- Epigraph
- Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send, those, the hopeless, tempest-tost to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
--In... (show all)scription by Emma Lazarus
Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor
Yet there comes a time for forgetting, for who could live and not forget?
Now and then, however, there must also be one who remembers.
--Albrecht Goes
Das Brandopfer - Dedication
- This book is dedicated to those who were the damned, on the St. Louis - not only the passengers who are alive today and told their story to us, but all on board the ship, who were caught up in events they did not under... (show all)stand and could not control.
- First words
- Prologue: On January 30, 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt celebrated his fifty-first birthday; in little more than a month he would be president of the United States.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)In 1957, two years before his death, Gustav Schroeder received a citation and medal from the West German government for the part he played in saving the lives of his passengers on the voyage to Cuba.
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- ISBNs
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- ASINs
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