I'm an Irish Girl, A Dubliner, with the 'Gift of the Gab' ... I like to talk & to tell you things. In Celtic times news, views and comment were carried from place to place by wandering Seanachaí ~ Storytellers ~ who relied on their host's hospitality and appreciation. I will need that from you too, as I venture to share Politics, Poetry, Laughter, Love, Life & everything in-between ... from Bog to Blog!!
In exactly one month from today, the 2012 Summer Olympic
Games will begin in London. In exactly one month from today we call on the
International Olympic Committee to rectify a historic error and finally, after
40 long years, hold one minute of silence for the 11 Israeli athletes slain at the
1972 Munich Olympics. In recent days German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle,
Dame Tessa Jowell, British Shadow Minister for the Olympics, and many others
have joined the Canadian, American and Australian parliaments in calling for
#justoneminute. Please share this video as far and wide as possible for the
final push. Publicity will be at a Premium over the next month ~ We have one month for one minute!!
The Munich Olympics went on ... they did not cancel the Olympics when 11 of the
participating athletes were murdered during the games in Munich, Germany in 1972. Families of the Munich 11 have
worked for four decades to obtain recognition of the Munich Massacre
from the International Olympic Committee. They have requested a minute
of silence during the Opening ceremonies of the Olympics starting with
the ’76 Montreal Games. Repeatedly, these requests have been Refused. The 11 murdered athletes were members of the Olympic family ~
they should be remembered within the framework of the Olympic Games.
As Jews we have a duty of Zachor ...... These men were sons, fathers, uncles, brothers, friends, teammates,
athletes. They came to Munich in 1972 to compete as athletes in the
Olympics, they came in peace and went home in coffins, murdered in the
Olympic Village and during hostage negotiations.Let's Put on the Pressure in this last month when Publicity will be at it's height to Mark the Massacre and tell the International Olympic Committee with the families that 40 Years of ignoring this attrocity is Enough!!
The Games continued during the hostage crisis itself, but eventually they were
halted for a few hours. When they were re-started, it was with a
memorial service held in the Olympic Stadium, attended by many of the
competing athletes. Ten nations opposed to the existence of the State
of Israel requested that their flags not be flown at half-mast during
the ceremony. As disrespectful as this was to the spirit of Olympic
competition, the IOC acquiesced and granted this request. The massacre
of 11 Israeli athletes was not considered sufficiently serious to merit
cancelling or postponing of the Olympics. Nor has it been seen as serious since by the IOC. Is that because they were Jews???? Truly, the world cares
nothing for Jewish Blood!
“Incredibly, they're going on with it,”Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times wrote at the time. “It's almost like having a dance at Dachau.” ...... WWII Death Camp, less than 10 miles away!
Not all the athletes stayed however, and the Israeli team did not continue to compete in the Games. How could they??? Why would anyone want a medal from
such tainted games??The doctrine of the Olympic Spirit is supposedly “to build a peaceful and better
world which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship,
solidarity and fair play," but these Jewish athletes who went to the Olympics
in peace, friendship and sportsmanship have not received fair play nor
have their families received understanding.
The IOC had minute of silence before for an athlete killed in the Olympics
from a training accident, so why can't they have a minute of silence for the Israeli national team killed by terrorists at the Olympics??? Is this 'special treatment' reserved for Jews only???
How can the families of those murdered at Munich stand idly by as the insult continues year after year. How can we as Jews not all feel for those families .... we are one neshama, one nation. It is insulting to every Jew and incumbent on every Jew in the world to rectify this wrong. One minute of silence will clearly say to the
world that what happened in 1972 will never happen again. We will not permit it. And All need to Acknowledge this.
Today is 6th day of the Hebrew month of Tamuz, which On the 6th of Tammuz, 1976, as America was celebrating its bicentennial, ~ it corresponded to July 4th that year ~ Independance Day ~ & Israeli commandos performed a spectacular raid to rescue 100 Jews held hostage at Entebbe airport in Uganda, which not only granted them Independance from their captors but allowed them life. Jewish Life.
And as a little girl to mark one 4th July, 'Independance Day' we watched the made for TV movie 'Raid on Entebbe' (1977). It marked a very real event & It impressed me .... it made the concepts of being a Jew in an anti semitic world, Avodah she-ba-lev, Achdut, Ahavat Yisrael and the decisive Importance of the Jewish State of Israel, Independance etc., so very real to me in a new way. I usually rewatch the movie around this weekend & have reviewed it and written about this event (tying it to the rescue/release of Gilad Shalit in previous years) at this time. Tammuz 6th. And although we have missed Movie Monday.........
"Raid on Entebee" is a docu-drama relating how the 'palestinian Liberation Organisation' ~ The PLO ~ hi-jacked a plane full of Israelis in 1976 and took them to Uganda. It is really the story of the Israeli response which was both swift and precise. Then, we did not negotiate with our enemies who kidnapped our fellow Jews, nor did we petition any international body, we did what was neccesary and freed our fellow Jews. . A famous soldier was sadly killed during this operation ~ Yonatan Netanyahu, the only Israeli commando who died that night. He is the brother of the present Israeli Prime Minister, Benyamin Netanyahu.
It took Israeli commandos minutes to conduct one of the greatest and most daring rescue missions in modern history, in Entebbe, Uganda, on July 4, 1976. During those brief fateful moments, good triumphed over evil ~ the innocent were saved and the terrorists who threatened them were routed.
It was 11:30 pm Saturday night. The seventh night that over 100 Israelis, non-Israeli Jews, and the twelve-member Air France crew were held in the Entebbe airport since the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of palestine) terrorists and two West German supporters, members of the Baader Meinhof gang, hijacked a jet while on the ground in Athens. Supporting the terrorists and giving them cover was the Ugandan regime under Idi Amin or simply 'Dada'. In the prior decade, Uganda had received military and non-military aid from Israel prior to severing ties in 1967.
The plane was bound from Tel Aviv to Paris. It was diverted to Benghazi airport in Libya for refuelling and then headed for Entebbe.
The final deadline to meet the hijackers' demands and release forty terrorists held in Israel and thirteen in West Germany, Switzerland, France and Kenya, was steadily approaching. Negotiations managed to postpone the approaching July 1 deadline for three days. On July 1, the non-Jewish passengers were released by the terrorists. The Air France crew chose to stay with the remaining hostages. On July 3, French diplomats involved in the negotiations stated that there was no hope for an agreement. Releasing the terrorists would embolden them to continue such operations. Not meeting the terrorists' demands could result in a massacre.
As international attention was focused upon the events, Israeli planes made their way to Uganda flying under radar over the Red Sea, in order to avoid detection by the Egyptians and Saudis. They soon landed and the operation commenced. That night, the weary hostages were sound asleep except for a group of five playing bridge. The hijackers were also within the complex. There were also about eighty Ugandan troops guarding the building. At that moment, three Hercules personnel transports with Israel's elite 'Sayeret Matkal' commandos, along with medical teams, had just landed at the well-lit Entebbe airport without suspicion.
The commandos drove toward the terminal in a Black Mercedes with Land Rover escorts, tricking Ugandan guards to believe that Idi Amin was visiting. Guards soon approached the vehicles and were shot, the ruse was now over. Time was of the essence. A few seconds delay could foil the entire operation. Taking a chance that the airport complex was not booby trapped, they headed toward the hostage compound. Nearby, seven parked Soviet-made MIGS were hastily destroyed, preventing pursuit of the Israeli aircraft after the operation. The commandos were just a few hundred yards away. They burst in, alerting the stunned hostages that they were Israelis and to keep low. Some shouted out the word nes, Hebrew for "miracle".
Over the next 45 seconds, there were bursts of gunfire, and then the firing ended. The hostages were quickly escorted on board the Hercules transports, which headed home to Israel via a brief stop in Nairobi, Kenya, for refueling and medical treatment for some of the wounded. The entire raid lasted fifty-three minutes. It took fifty-three minutes to thwart the plans of the PFLP.
The operation was so daring, the Israeli cabinet repeatedly deliberated, and only decided to proceed at the last minute, within hours of the deadline. The mission's overall commander, Brigadier-General Dan Shomron, later described the daring and extreme difficulties of the rescue mission: ...... "You had more than one hundred people sitting in a small room, surrounded by terrorists with their fingers on the trigger. They could fire in a fraction of a second. We had to fly seven hours land safely, drive to the terminal area where the hostages were being held, get inside, and eliminate the terrorists before any of them could fire." The seven hijackers and approximately twenty Ugandan troops died. Three hostages were killed during the gunfire exchange.
Israeli Commando Surin Hershko was paralyzed when he was shot while on a diversionary tactic. One passenger, Dora Bloch, a Jewish British citizen, who was hospitalized earlier for stomach pains, was murdered the next day by Ugandan soldiers. The rescue operation, originally named Operation Thunderbolt, was renamed 'Operation Yonatan'in honour of the operation's commander, Yonatan Netanyahu, 30 ~ One of my childhood Heroes ~ who was cut down by a Ugandan sentry as he was about to enter the compound. Netanyahu believed from the outset that the plan was doable and his confidence influenced government leaders and his fellow commandos. On that day, one of Israel's greatest soldiers was slain.
In the UN General Assembly, some praised the mission, others condemned and criticized. No matter. All words aside, heroic actions spoke on that triumphant day. We Jews have a duty of Zachor ... to remember as anti-semitism is galvanised globally against us today. We need to be Jews. It is what we are & we do best when we live as Jews as Torah instructs. Not as apologists for an uncaring & Jew hating world. When we remember who we are & act accordingly ... so too does Ha'Shem.
Hine ma tov uma nayim shevet achim gam yachad ....
We must remember this .... it is what will bring Mashiach. & this is my very favourite part of the movie. I shall watch again this weekend!
My name is Chanan Shomrony and I’m searching for my brother.
He was born in 1946, his parents’ first born, in Europe after the Second World War. In 1949, when he was two and a half years old, he and his parents made aliya to Zfat in Israel. He was hospitalized a month later in the Emek Hospital in Afula because of dysentery. Two days later my father was informed that he had passed away. ( Parents were not allowed to stay with their sick children so my father was obliged to leave him there.)
There was no funeral and of course there is no grave.
My parents were new immigrants, survivors of the Shoah, who had arrived only one month prior to this. They accepted this news without question and didn’t make any further inquiries.
The Ministry of the Interior informed me, years later, that in 1963 someone with his ID number had left the country. However, in the Death Registry of the Religious Council in Afula he is registered as having died on 17.04.1949 and was buried in a common grave.
His first name was Israel, the son of Hava and Yosef Heiventreager (sp) ~
I.D. nr 0203317-3. ~ It is possible that his first name stayed with him as he was already two and a half years old at the time.
I was born six months later and know of him only from what my parents have told me. Unfortunately, my parents have passed away and the searches that I have been carrying on during the years have never provided any answers. I still hope that this story will awaken a spark of a memory in someone ..... of a baby that was adopted at the age of two and a half, blond with bright eyes who spoke only Yiddish. He or those who adopted him were probably told that he was an orphan brought from Europe. He would be 65 or 66 years old today.
I enclose pictures of him as an infant with our parents before coming to Israel. I regret that I don’t have any pictures of a later period. Perhaps this mail will, by some stroke of luck , be received by someone who will recognize or will find similarities in the faces of our parents and that of Israel.
Please forward to this mail to anyone you can. Perhaps a miracle will happen and I’ll be reunited with my long lost brother.
Thank you
Chanan Shomrony
I WILL FORWARD ANY MAIL I RECEIVE ..... Can you Assist Any???
Ethel & Julius Rosenberg ~ Excuted 19th June 1953.
“I was with Ethel in the women’s house of detention. When the van came to take us to court, Ethel and Julius would be in there. It was pitch black. One time a prisoner lit a cigarette, from the flare we could see Ethel and Julius trying to kiss between the gate.” ~ Miriam Moskowitz
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, American Jews convicted of passing nuclear weapons secrets to the Soviet Union, were the first American civilians ever executed for espionage. Ethel's brother, David Greenglass, was an employee of the Los Alamos atomic bomb project. He supposedly passed secrets to Julius and Ethel, who then funneled them to the Soviets according to the 'evidence'. They were executed in the electric chair on June 19th, 1953 in Sing Sing Prison in NY State. So, today is their 59th Yahrzheit. We have a duty of Zachor, but let us not only remember the Rosenbergs (the ONLY spies ever executed for Treason in the USA), let us also remember the case of another supposed 'spy', Jonathan Pollard, today incarcerated for 27 years in the United States of America, the longest sentence served there for 'spying', and this despite his plea bargain agreement, reneged upon by the Americans. Is there any similarity to the unjust severity of their treatment, given that they are Jews???
Five months after Senator Joseph McCarthy entered the national spotlight, on Monday, 17th July, 1950, the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Julius Rosenberg and charged him with transmitting classified information regarding the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. Rosenberg's arrest had been preceded by the arrest of Harry Gold and David Greenglass, Rosenberg's brother-in-law, and was to be followed three and a half weeks later by the arrest of his wife, Ethel. The U.S. government was aware that nuclear secrets had been smuggled to the Soviet Union. Its decoding of Soviet cables, known as the Venona intercepts, led the government to Klaus Fuchs, a German-born scientist who had taken part in the Manhattan Project. Mr. Fuchs, after being arrested by the British authorities in February 1950, confessed to handing over information to a spy later identified as the Philadelphia chemist Harry Gold. Mr. Gold told authorities that he had also received secrets from a soldier based in Los Alamos, in New Mexico, the centre of the Manhattan Project, the euphemism for the 'spy ring'. That soldier, David Greenglass, implicated his wife Ruth and his sister Ethel’s husband, Julius Rosenberg, who was arrested in July 1950.
Unlike others in the case, Mr. Rosenberg refused to confess his guilt or offer any information to authorities. There was little evidence to suggest that Ethel Rosenberg was involved in the 'spy ring', but authorities arrested her to put pressure on Mr. Rosenberg. The Greenglasses, to protect themselves, later implicated Ethel, who was charged with Mr. Rosenberg under the Espionage Act of 1917, which prohibited aiding U.S. enemies during wartime. But the USSR was NOT an enemy state. It was an ally against the third Reich!
The Rosenbergs stood trial with Morton Sobell, a fellow spy, beginning March 6th, 1951. The prosecution’s key witnesses were the Greenglasses and Mr. Gold. The defence called only the Rosenbergs, who denied all involvement in Soviet espionage and frequently invoked the Fifth Amendment when asked about their allegiances to the Communist Party. The jury convicted all three defendants on March 29th, 1951.
As we enter our second decade of the 21st Century, I won't even wonder why the New York City jury that convicted the Rosenbergs did not contain one Jew, even though the city's population was 30 percent Jewish. And it needs to be noted that, even if the Rosenbergs were guilty as charged, their crime had been committed during World War II, when the Soviet Union was not an enemy of the United States. At the worst, the Rosenbergs had provided information to an ally, and this did not warrant the death penalty.The same offence incidentally that has kept Jonathan Pollard incarcerated all these years, as Israel too is considered an ally. Or is it???
At the sentencing of the Rosenbergs, Judge Kaufman remarked ....." I consider your crime worse than murder… In committing the act of murder, the criminal kills only his victim… But in your case, I believe your conduct in putting into the hands of the Russians the A-bomb years before our best scientists predicted Russia would perfect the bomb has already caused, in my opinion, the Communist aggression in Korea, with the resultant casualties exceeding 50,000 and who knows but that millions more of innocent people may pay the price of your treason." J. Edgar Hoover called the Rosenbergs' offence "the crime of the century." Hmmmmmm, it seems that euphemism has been applied to Mr. Pollard too in our own 'free' century!!
Jonathan Pollard
The question of the Rosenbergs’ guilt has long been debated. Defenders of the Rosenbergs believed that they were victims of the anti-Communist hysteria of the McCarthy era and that they were convicted largely on the self-serving testimony of others implicated for espionage. In the last 20 years, evidence has come to light that confirmed Julius Rosenberg was a spy of sorts, but that Ethel Rosenberg played little or no role.
In 1995, the U.S. government released the Venona intercepts, which made clear that Mr. Rosenberg took part in the recruitment of Mr. Greenglass. Two years later, the former Soviet agent Alexsandr Feklisov revealed that he had been Mr. Rosenberg’s contact and that he had received top-secret electronic information, though little of it was helpful in developing an atomic bomb. In 2001, Mr. Greenglass admitted that he had lied about his sister Ethel’s typing notes about atomic bombs. In 2008, Mr. Sobell, who had long maintained that he and the Rosenbergs were innocent, admitted that he and Mr. Rosenberg had indeed been spies. In an interview with The Times he said of Ms. Rosenberg, “She knew what he was doing, but what was she guilty of? Of being Julius’s wife.”
So, Why were ONLY the Rosenbergs executed????? The Rosenbergs maintained their innocence till the end.
Many people around the world were shocked by the Rosenbergs’ execution, particularly when more important spies received lighter sentences. For instance, Klaus Fuchs, who provided the Soviet Union with information essential to building an atomic weapon, was sentenced to 14 years in prison and served nine. The execution of Ethel Rosenberg in particular is shocking, since there was little evidence against her and it was presumed that the threat of execution was meant to coerce her to testify against her husband or him to testify against others. Both Rosenbergs refused to confess or to name others, a decision that may have led to their deaths. Revelations in the 1980s that the FBI and the prosecuting attorney were in contact with Judge Kaufman prior to his sentencing of the Rosenbergs to death have led to questions regarding the fairness of the trial.
Why were the Rosenbergs punished so much more severely than others whose activities were comparable to theirs? Why is the same true of Jonathan Pollard?
Recent research admits to Julius’s role as a spy ~ but makes clear that Ethel’s involvement was minimal. Over a period of several months, Jonathan Pollard cooperated with the American Government's investigation, and in late May 1986, this Government offered him a plea agreement, which he accepted. (Remember that Pollard was giving information to Eretz Yisrael that their supposed ally the USA was not!!!) Pollard told Wolf Blitzer of the Jerusalem Post about some of the information he provided to Israel .... " reconnaissance satellite photography of Palestine Liberation Organization headquarters in Tunisia, specific capabilities of Libya's air defences, and intelligence about Arab and Islamic conventional and unconventional military activity, from Morocco to Pakistan".How is this even a crime???
In neither case does the terrible punishment inflicted fit the crime. In both cases however they are Jews involved. The world cares nothing for Justice for Jews. The world cares nothing for Jewish blood. We are all guilty. We are all Jews. It is not USA that is the land of the free or the home of the brave, but a little landmass at the centre of the world ...... Eretz Yisrael. Only here may Justice be found for Jews.
The above is a cellphone photograph detailing burns a student with a Jewish father sustained at a school barbecue this week in Norway. A red-hot coin that was grilled at a school barbecue was placed on the teenagers neck to Brand him a Jew. Even worse for the Jewish community in Norway was the reaction from the school ~ Silence!!!!
The only response to the fire branding at the barbecue was by one teacher, who told the Norwegian-born attacker, “You’re mad.” Despite the gravity of the fire branding and this photograph that showed the burns on the neck of the victim, the school did not contact the mother after the incident. The unidentified boy’s father is Jewish, Israeli, to where he has returned because of the atmosphere of hatred of Jews in Norway. The mother said that after constant harassment of her son two years ago, the school did not intervene either. So, the boy previously had been the target of anti-Semitic harassment at the Oslo school??
“I see this avoidance as a dangerous development among both ethnic Norwegian and immigrant groups. And that nobody, neither teachers nor principals, intervene in this matter,” the boys mother told the country’s NRK broadcasting system in 2010. There is a refusal to address this issue ~ it is too sensitive,” she claimed. She said students freely uttered death threats and used expressions such as “Jewish pigs” and “Jewish Satan.” Nothing new in this latest attack then??
Her son lives in fear, avoids Muslin and 'native' Norwegian children (what is a 'native norwegian' does this mean all 'European' non-Jews??? ... a good case could be made for this actually), and he has to hide the fact that his father is Israeli and Jewish. WHY???? This is not the way to defeat bullies or anti semites. His mother is apparently worried what will happen when he begins high school ... Why is she content to remain in the Anti-Semitic bastion that is Norway, or Europe???
“I think very often about how it was during the war, when even persons with only one Jewish grandparent were apprehended,” she was quoted as saying by the Miff website ~ MIFF = With Israel for Peace ~ a Norwegian website. The irony is this boy is not even halachically Jewish, ~ it is his father, not his mother who is Jewish. However, that didn't stop Hitler and his Nazi cohorts from being widely supported in Europe, his Mom is correct there in her comment & It won't stop the slaughter to come either .... Europe is intrinsically Anti Semitic. And this is not the first time that Jews have been branded in Europe & Elsewhere .....
Tattooing and branding of slaves and captives were widespread in the ancient world. Jews have usually been required to wear distinctive marks in public, such as metal seals fixed around their necks even from earliest times. Being the favoured of Ha'Shem and recipients of Torah has always incited the goyim to absolute hatred. The identifying mark varied from one country to another, and from period to period. Physically branding Jews began in early medieval Baghdad and continued for centuries. Then the yellow badge was first introduced by a caliph in Baghdad in the 9th century, and spread to the West in Medieval times. In 1005 the Jews of Egypt were ordered to wear bells on their garments. In Europe, the Fourth Council of the Lateran of 1215 ~ an xtian body ~ ruled that Jews must be distinguishable by their dress (Latin "habitus")", and the yellow badge in Europe dates from this time. An Alliance of xtian & muslim interest against Jews ..... hmmmmm. Historical. Contemporary.
There were special Jew Hats in Europe. Then, apart from the hat, there were also attempts to enforce the wearing of full-length robes, which in late 14th century Rome were supposed to be red. The most common form of a branding badge was the "rota" (Latin for "wheel"), which looked like a ring, of white or yellow. The shape and colour of the patch also varied, although the colour was usually white or yellow. Married women were often required to wear two bands of blue on their mantilla, tichel or head-scarf. Edward I of England in his 'Statute of Jewry' prescribed "the form of two Tables joined, of yellow felt of the length of six inches and of the breadth of three inches". This shape ~ two separate strips or two joined round-topped rectangles ~ was particular to England. In Portugal a red 'Star of David' was used. Louis IX of France ordered French Jews to wear oval rouelle, a version of the "rota".
The yellow badge, also referred to as a Jewish badge, was a cloth patch that Jews were ordered to sew on their outer garments to mark them as Jews in public. To Brand them as Jews ....... It was intended to be a badge of shame associated with antisemitism. In both xtian and islamic countries, Jewish persons were intermittently compelled by sumptuary laws to wear badges, hats, bells or other items of clothing that distinguished them from the Goyim. Oh! that we would distinguish ourselves by Torah Observance as Ha'Shem intended and has commanded.
The yellow badge that was compulsory in the Middle Ages in European & islamic lands was revived by the German Nazis. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939 there were initially different local decrees forcing Jews to wear a distinctive sign, during the General Government period. The sign was a white armband with a blue Star of David on it, in the Warthegau, a yellow badge in the form of a Star of David on the left side of the breast and on the back. The requirement to wear the Star of David with the word Jude (German for Jew) inscribed was then extended to all Jews over the age of six in the third reich and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (by a decree issued on September 1, 1941, signed by Reinhard Heydrich), and was gradually introduced in other German-occupied areas ..... continuing the long tradition in Europe. At first Jews brought to camps would be branded by sewing numbers onto their uniforms, but as Auschwitz and other death factories expanded the tattooing started .... and branding for Jews was re-introduced to Modern Europe.
This horrific event in Oslo this week follows a study by an Oslo Holocaust centre that claims that anti-Semitism in Norway is not as prevalent as previously suggested. The report by the Oslo Centre for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities found that 8% of Norwegians do not want Jews as neighbours or friends, with 11% claiming they feel antipathy towards Jews and 12.5% of the population admitting to being prejudiced against Jews. When further delved into, the statistics yielded by the survey show that 38%of those polled equate Israel’s treatment of 'palestinians' to Nazi treatment of Jews during the Holocaust, emulating an emerging phenomenon in Europe of anti-Semitic sentiment. And I'm not going to say too much about it here as this 'study' actually warrants a blog to itself!!!
What I will say is this ....... This is just the latest incarceration of Jew Hatred in Norway and the wider European continent as a whole. It is not a new innovation or phenomonen. It is intrinsic to the goy psyche in Europe and worldwide. Norway, Nazi, Nasty ..... Europe is not place for Jews. America is not place for Jews. It is time to come home for Jews. To Eretz Yisrael ~ the land Ha'Shem has bequeathed B'nei Yisrael. For this boy (who although not halacically Jewish may have residency rights in Israel under the law of return). For All Jews. Aliyah is the Answer!!!!
Anne Frank wrote on this 1942 photo .... 'This is the photo as I would wish myself
to look all the time. Then I would maybe have a chance to come to
Hollywood.'
Anne Frank's diary detailing the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in
the early 1940s, from her own personal incarceration, has inspired more than just plays and films since her
death in the German Concentration Camp of Belsen Bergen in 1945 at age 15. She started
writing it 70 years ago today, June 12th , 1942, on her 13th birthday.
Her first entry reads, "I hope I will be able to confide everything to
you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will
be a great source of comfort and support."
The
Diary of Anne Frank is amazing for many reasons. It is remarkably
easy to read, giving an extraordinarily intimate and detailed view of
the thoughts of a teenage girl, revealing her cognitive patterns and
concerns.
Whether
she knew it or not, she used the diary as self-therapy to try to find
some solace and reason in the midst of a world full of irreconcilable
contradictions. She used writing to define her personal moral and
ethical questions, and to articulate the best answers and definitions
she could find. For example, as seen above, she defines multiple
(equally accurate and co-existing) definitions for the word
"contradictions.” In the midst of her insane world, she never stopped
trying to improve her reasoning, knowledge, and character.
The
Diary of Anne Frank reveals a brilliant mind trying to find “truth”
amidst overwhelmingly contradictary data, forces, and ideologies. Her work exudes modesty and self
deprecation. Why do some of the finest female artists so often feel
this way about themselves? About their art?
“Anyone
could ramble on and leave big spaces between the words, but the trick
was to come up with convincing arguments to prove the necessity of
talking.”
~ June 21, 1942 ... 'The Diary of a Young Girl' byAnne Frank ~
If
you’ve never read the Diary of Anne Frank, you may mistakenly think
the diary is only interesting and relevant because Anne later died in
the Holocaust. It is an essential & important work for Holocaust
Studies. But if you’ve read the Diary of Anne Frank, you may agree
that the work is meritorious completely independent of her subsequent
history. Her diary is a remarkable record of a young woman developing
mentally, sexually, and spiritually. And for that reason too it should
be required reading for girls as they develop into womanhood. Even
without her holocaustic demise, her diary would still have tremendous
independent worth ~ it is timeless and universal in its juvenile
perspectives and thoughts.
Her
loss is a loss for the world. While I posit that her precious work
stands on its own without context, it is the context which makes the
tragic destruction of such innocent beauty a thousand times more
terrible. No, actually six million times more terrible.
Sometimes
tragedies are felt in the actions of Kings and Nations. Sometimes
equal tragedies can be experienced in the heart and mind of just one
girl. And Anne Frank was 'Just one Jew Girl' !!
What follows is Anne's Last Diary Entry
... Ever. Three days later, Anne Frank was found and imprisoned.
Later, she was transported to Auschwitz, then in march 1945 died of
disease in Bergen-Belsen.
August 1, 1944
Dearest Kitty,
“A
bundle of contradictions” was the end of my previous letter and is the
beginning of this one. Can you please tell me exactly what “a bundle
of contradictions” is? What does “contradiction” mean? Like so many
words, it can be interpreted in two ways: a contradiction imposed from
without and one imposed from within. The former means not accepting
other people’s opinions, always knowing best, having the last word; in
short, all those unpleasant traits for which I’m known. The latter, for
which I’m not known, is my own secret.
As
I’ve told you many times, I’m split in two. One side contains my
exuberant cheerfulness, my flippancy, my joy in life and, above all, my
ability to appreciate the lighter side of things. By that I mean not
finding anything wrong with flirtations, a kiss, an embrace, a saucy
joke. This side of me is usually lying in wait to ambush the other one,
which is much purer, deeper, and finer.
No
one knows Anne’s better side, and that’s why most people can’t stand
me. Oh, I can be an amusing clown for an afternoon, but after that
everyone’s had enough of me to last a month. Actually, I’m what a
romantic film is to a profound thinker ~ a mere diversion, a comicinterlude, something that is soon forgotten: not bad, but not
particulary good either.
I
hate having to tell you this, but why shouldn’t I admit it when I know
it’s true? My lighter, more superficial side will always steal a march
on the deeper side and therefore always win. You can’t imagine how
often I’ve tried to push away this Anne, which is only half of what is
known as Anne - to beat her down, hide her. But it doesn’t work, and I
know why.
I’m
afraid that people who know me as I usually am will discover I have
another side, a better and finer side. I’m afraid they’ll mock me,
think I’m ridiculous and sentimental and not take me seriously.
I’m
used to not being taken seriously, but only the “lighthearted” Anne is
used to it and can put up with it; the “deeper” Anne is too weak. If I
force the good Anne into the spotlight for even fifteen minutes, she
shuts up like a clam the moment she’s called upon to speak, and lets
Anne number one do the talking. Before I realize it, she’s disappeared.
So
the nice Anne is never seen in company. She’s never made a single
appearance, though she almost always takes the stage whem I’m alone. I
know exactly how I’d like to be, how I am . . . on the inside. But
unfortunately I’m only like that with myself. And perhaps that’s why –
no, I’m sure that’s the reason why – I think of myself as happy on the
inside and other people think I’m happy on the outside. I’m guided by
the pure Anne within, but on the outside I’m nothing but a frolicsome
little goat tugging at its tether.
As
I’ve told you, what I say is not what I feel, which is why I have a
reputation for being a joy-chaser, a flirt, a smart aleck and a reader
of romances. The happy-go-lucky Anne laughs, gives a flippant reply,
shrugs her shoulders and pretends she couldn’t care less. The quiet Anne
reacts in just the opposite way.
If
I’m being completely honest, I’ll have to admit that it does matter to
me, that I’m trying very hard to change myself, but that I’m always up
against a more powerful enemy. A voice within me is sobbing, “You see,
that’s what’s become of you. You’re surrounded by negative opinions,
dismayed looks and mocking faces, people who dislike you, and all
because you don’t listen to the advice of your own better half.
”Believe
me, I’d like to listen, but it doesn’t work, because if I’m quiet and
serious, everyone thinks I’m putting on a new act and I have to save
myself with a joke, and then I’m not even talking about my own family,
who assume I must be ill, stuff me with asprins and sedatives, feel my
neck and forehead to see if I have a temperature, ask about my bowel
movements and berate me for being in a bad mood, until I just can’t
keep it up any more, beause when everybody starts hovering over me, I
get cross, then sad, and finally end up turning my heart inside out,
the bad part on the outside and the good part on the inside, and keep
trying to find a way to become what I’d like to be and what I could be
if . . . if only there were no other people in the world.
Yours,
Anne M. Frank.
"I
don't want to have lived in vain like most people. I want to be useful
or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I've never met. I want to
go on living even after my death!"
From Swerve of Shore to Bend of Bay ~ Dublin, James Joyce
Music for Monday!!
From the Irish Movie 'Once'. Made in Dublin. Like me. A Story of an Irish Boy, a Czech Girl & a Song.
He plays guitar, she plays piano. They jam together. They make Music. And Magic.
And it is totally true .... Glen Hansard is an Irishman & Marketa Irglova is a Czech Girl, who met in Dublin, Ireland. The Movie is their story???
This track ~ Falling Slowly ~ won an Oscar & a Grammy in 2007.
(And last night in NYC, a Musical based on this movie won 8 Tony awards
WTG Indie Irish Filmakers!!!)
How Often do you meet the 'right' Person? .... Once
"I don't know you
But I want you
All the more for that
Words fall through me
And always fool me
And I can't react
And games that never amount
To more than they're meant
Will play themselves out
Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you have a choice
You've made it now
Falling slowly, eyes that know me
And I can't go back
Moods that take me and erase me
And I'm painted black
You have suffered enough
And warred with yourself
It's time that you won
Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you have a choice
You've made it now
Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You've made it now
Falling slowly sing your melody
I'll sing along ....."
The S.S. St. Louis was a Jewish Refugee ship that set sail from Hamburg on May 27th, 1939,
with 938 Jews from Germany headed for Cuba. The short version is
that it was turned away, not only by Cuba but also by the United States of America
and Canada. As a result the ship was forced to take the Jews aboard back to
Germany, where most were murdered at the hands of the Nazis. Slaughtered in the Shoah.
Darkness overtook the Steamship St. Louis as it approached the Florida
coastline on June 3rd, 1939. The lights of Miami blinked in the distance,
representing life to more than 900 Jewish refugees aboard the German
luxury liner. The Jews, who had sailed across the Atlantic to
escape the encroaches of Nazi Germany, were close enough to see
hotels and automobiles along the beach. Darkness surrounded the ship as South Florida became a shore never reached. A Refuge
Refused. And on June 6th, 1939, today, the Ship Set to Sea .... Sent back to the Shoah.
So, I'm reproducing a Blog I previously penned. The Sad Story of the SS St. Louis.
The SS St. Louis in Havana Harbour
If I were to say that America is Anti-Semetic I wonder how many would jump to it's defence & declare "Certainly Not .... Never". Well, actually, the Anti Defamation League just released its annual report which decries that very firmly. Despite the over-attention to perceived slights or hurts against the Muslim community, it is Jews who are being victimized the most world-wide. In America, 76% of hate crimes are directed towards Jews, with Muslims a distant second with less than 6% of attacks ..... Three anti-Semitic incidents occur every day in America, according to this new audit, and 23 percent of those happen in California. Surprised??
It is not a new phenomonen. My mind travels back to the period before the Holocaust when hundreds of thousands of Jews were on the move, seeking refuge from the Nazi onslaught. There were very few places in the world that would have them. And America was NOT one of them. America's borders were closed. In fact, anti-Semitism was prevalent in 1930s America, and no event more poignantly illustrates this than the tragic fate of the Steamship St. Louis, a ship carrying a thousand German Jewish refugees which sailed around the western hemisphere seeking refuge until it was turned back to Europe where many of the passengers died at the hands of the Nazis Genocide.
After Kristallnacht in November 1938, many Jews within Germany decided that it was time to leave. Though many German Jews had emigrated in the preceding years, the Jews who remained had a more difficult time because emigration policies had toughened. By 1939, not only were visas needed to be able to enter another country but money was also needed to leave Germany. Since many countries, especially the United States, had immigration quotas, visas were nearly impossible to acquire within the short time spans in which they were needed. For many, the visas were acquired after it was too late. The opportunity that the Steamship (S.S.) St. Louis presented seemed like a last hope to escape. It was a 'Ship of Dreams'!
The S.S. St. Louis, part of the Hamburg-America Line (Hapag), was tied up at Shed 76 awaiting its next voyage which was to take Jewish refugees from Germany to Cuba. Once the refugees arrived in Cuba they would await their quota number to be able to enter the United States. The black and white ship with eight decks held room for four hundred first-class passengers (800 Reichsmarks each) and five hundred tourist-class passengers (600 Reichsmarks each). The passengers were also required to pay an additional 230 Reichsmarks for the "customary contingency fee" which was supposed to cover the cost if there was an unplanned return voyage.
German Jews Board Ship of Dreams ....
As most Jews had been forced out of their jobs and had been charged high rents under the Nazi regime, most Jews did not have this kind of money. Some of these passengers had money sent to them from relatives outside of Germany and Europe while other families had to pool resources to send even one member to freedom. On Saturday, May 13th, 1939, the passengers boarded. Women and men. Young and old. Each person who boarded had their own story of persecution.
One passenger, Aaron Pozner, had just been released from Dachau. On the night of Kristallnacht, Pozner along with 26,000 other Jews had been arrested and deported to concentration camps. While interned at Dachau, Pozner witnessed brutal murders by hanging, drowning, and crucifixion as well as torture by flogging and castrations by a bayonet. Surprisingly, one day Pozner was released from Dachau on the condition that he leave Germany within fourteen days. Though his family had very little money, they were able to pool enough money to buy a ticket for him to board the S.S. St. Louis. Pozner said goodbye to his wife and two children, knowing that they would never be able to raise enough money to buy another ticket to freedom. Beaten and forced to sleep amongst bloody animal hides on his journey to reach the ship, Pozner boarded with the knowledge that it was up to him to earn the money to bring his family to freedom.
Many other passengers had either left family members behind while some were also going to be meeting relatives that had traveled earlier. As the passengers boarded they remembered the many years of persecution that they had been living under. Some had come out of hiding to board the ship and none were certain that they would not receive the same kind of treatment once aboard. The Nazi flag flying above the ship and the picture of Hitler hanging in the social hall did not allay their fears. Earlier, Captain Gustav Schroeder had given the 231 member crew stern warnings that these passengers were to be treated just like any others. Many were willing to do this, two stewards even carried Moritz and Recha Weiler's luggage for them since they were elderly. But there was one crew member who was disgusted by this policy and was ready to make trouble, Otto Schiendick the Ortsgruppenleiter. Not only was Schiendick ready to make trouble and was constantly trying, he was a courier for the Abwehr (German Secret Police). On this trip, Schiendick was to pick up secret documents about the U.S. military from Robert Hoffman in Cuba. This mission was code-named Operation Sunshine.
The captain made a note in his diary: ~
" There is a somewhat nervous disposition among the passengers. Despite this, everyone seems convinced they will never see Germany again. Touching departure scenes have taken place. Many seem light of heart, having left their homes. Others take it heavily. But beautiful weather, pure sea air, good food, and attentive service will soon provide the usual worry-free atmosphere of long sea voyages. Painful impressions on land disappear quickly at sea and soon seem merely like dreams."
At 8:00 p.m. on that Saturday (May 13th) evening, the ship sailed!
Only a half an hour after the S.S. St. Louis set sail, it received a message from Claus-Gottfried Holthusen, the marine superintendent of Hapag. The message stated that the S.S. St. Louis was to "make all speed" because there were two other ships (the Flandre and the Orduna) carrying Jewish refugees and heading for Cuba. Though there was no explanation for the need to hurry, this message seemed to warn of impending trouble.
The passengers slowly started adjusting to life aboard a large ship. With lots of good food, movies, and swimming pools the mood began to relax a little. Children enjoyed each others' company and made new friendships as well as played childish pranks including locking bathroom stall doors and then climbing out underneath as well as soaping doorknobs. Several times Schiendick attempted to disturb this calm by posting copies of Der Stürmer, by substituting a newsreel with Nazi propaganda for the intended film, and by singing Nazi songs.
For Recha Weiler, who was helped by a steward with her luggage, her main concern was for her husband since his health continued to deteriorate. For over a week, the ship's doctor continued to prescribe medicine for Moritz Weiler but nothing helped. On Tuesday, May 23, Moritz passed away. Captain Schroeder, the purser, and the ship's doctor helped Recha to lay out her husband, provided candles, and found a rabbi on board. Though Recha wanted her husband buried once they reached Cuba, there was no storage facility where the body could be kept. Recha agreed to a burial at sea for her husband. To not unduly disturb the other passengers, it was agreed to hold the funeral at eleven o'clock the same night.
After the funeral rites were observed, the body was wrapped in a large Hapag flag that was then sewn up. Schiendick, trying to make trouble, insisted that the Party regulations stated that the bier, in a burial at sea, should be draped in a swastika flag. Schiendick's proposal was refused. That evening, after a short funeral service the body slid into the sea.
Within half an hour, a depressed crew member jumped overboard at the same location that the body had left the ship. The S.S. St. Louis turned around and sent out search parties. The likelihood of finding the man overboard was small and the delay cost the ship valuable time in its race to Cuba against the Flandre and the Orduna. After several hours of searching, the search was called off and the ship resumed its course.
The news of the two deaths disturbed the passengers and suspicions and tensions increased. For Max Loewe, who was already on edge, the deaths increased his psychosis. Max's wife and two children were increasingly worried about Max but tried to hide it.
Once the Captain received a cable on May 23 which stated that the S.S. St. Louis passengers might not be able to land in Cuba because of Decree 937, he felt it wise to establish a small passenger committee. The committee was to explore possibilities if there were problems landing in Cuba.
Jewish Refugees on Board the St. Louis
In Cuba in early 1939, Decree 55 had passed which drew a distinction between refugees and tourists. The Decree stated that each refugee needed a visa and was required to pay a $500 bond to guarantee that they would not become wards of Cuba. But the Decree also said that tourists were still welcome and did not need visas. The director of immigration in Cuba, Manuel Benitez, realized that Decree 55 did not define a tourist nor a refugee. He decided that he would take advantage of this loophole and make money my selling landing permits which would allow refugees to land in Cuba by calling them tourists. He sold these permits to anyone who would pay $150. Though only allowing someone to land as a tourist, these permits looked authentic, even were individually signed by Benitez, and generally were made to look like visas. Some people bought a large group of these for $150 each and then resold them to desperate refugees for much more. Benitez himself had made a small fortune in selling these permits as well as receiving money from the cruise line. Hapag had realized the advantage of being able to offer a package deal to their passengers, a permit and passage on their ship.
The President of Cuba, Frederico Laredo Bru, and his cabinet did not like Benitez making a great deal of money - that he was unwilling to share - on the loophole in Decree 55. Also, Cuba's economy had begun to stagnate and many blamed the incoming refugees for taking jobs that otherwise would have been held by Cubans.
On May 5, Decree 937 was passed which closed the loophole. Without knowing it, almost every passenger on the S.S. St. Louis had purchased a landing permit for an inflated rate but by the time of sailing, had already been nullified by Decree 937.
Anticipation grew as the S.S. St. Louis neared the Havana harbor. No new mysterious or foreboding telegrams. No more deaths. Passengers enjoyed their last remaining days on ship and wondered what their new lives would be like in Cuba.
Late Friday afternoon, the last full day before the ship was to arrive, Captain Schroeder received a telegram from Luis Clasing (the local Hapag official in Havana) which stated that the St. Louis would have to anchor at the roadstead. Originally planning to dock at Hapag's pier, anchoring at the roadstead had been a concession by President Bru since he still disallowed the St. Louis passengers to land. Captain Schroeder went to sleep that night wondering about this change.
At three o'clock in the morning, the pilot boarded. Captain Schroeder was anxious to ask the pilot about the reasons that they were to anchor in the harbor but the pilot used the language barrier as a reason not to answer the captain's questions. A bell was rung at four in the morning to awaken the passengers and breakfast was served at half past four.
Cuban police and immigration officials boarded the St. Louis Saturday morning. Then the immigration officials suddenly left with no explanation. The police stayed on board and guarded the accommodation ladder. Several officials boarded but then left without an explanation as to why they had to anchor in the harbor nor gave an assurance that the passengers would be allowed to disembark. As the morning elapsed, family and friends of the passengers who were in Cuba began renting boats and encircling the St. Louis. The passengers on board waved and shouted to those below, but the smaller ships weren't allowed to get too close.
The passengers remained anxious to disembark, not realizing the international and political negotiations which surrounded their fate.
Children on Board
Though a major player in the fate of the refugees since it was he who had signed their landing permits, he continually underestimated President Bru's stance. Benitez constantly maintained that Bru would back down since the St. Louis was allowed in the harbor. He wanted $250,000 in bribes so that he could try to amend his relations with Bru and rescind Decree 937. President Bru refused to listen to Benitez' requests. Though he no longer had access to Bru, he continued to espouse his assurance that Bru would back down. His confident attitude and slick talk convinced a number of influential people that the circumstances were not as serious as they seemed, thus action was not taken.
Clasing met several times with Benitez, hoping that Benitez could assure that the passengers would be allowed to disembark. Benitez wanted $250,000 - enough to pay President Bru what would seem a share in the landing permit profits. This was too much for Hapag to pay. Hapag had already given Benitez many "bonuses;" Benitez' request was in response to his lack of influence to change Bru's opinion.
Hoffman needed the ship to land so that he could meet with Schiendick and give him the secret documents. Captain Schroeder had refused to give shore leave to the crew so Hoffman needed to find a way on to the ship or a way to get Schiendick off.
Before the St. Louis arrived in Havana, Goldsmith had repeatedly asked the Joint for additional funds to help the refugees already in Cuba and those about to arrive. The Joint refused. The local Jewish community donated to the Relief Committee but felt that the world should be helping. After the St. Louis arrived, the Joint began to realize the seriousness of the predicament. They would send two professionals to negotiate - but they would not arrive until four days later.
Goebbels had decided to use the S.S. St. Louis and her passengers in a master propaganda plan. Having sent agents to Havana to stir up anti-Semitism, Nazi propaganda fabricated and hyped the passengers' criminal nature - making them seem even more undesirable. The agents within Cuba stirred anti-Semitism and organized protests. Soon, an additional 1,000 Jewish refugees entering Cuba was seen as a threat.
Denied Refuge ..... Denied Life!!
The anxiousness and expectation of imminent departure transformed into anxiety and suspiciousness as the waiting was prolonged from hours to days.
On Monday, two days after arriving in Cuba, Hoffman found a way to board the St. Louis. Clasing had allowed Hoffman to go aboard in his place since Clasing was currently occupied about what he was to do with the 250 passengers who were supposed to board the St. Louis on a return voyage to Germany. Would President Bru allow 250 refugees to land so that these passengers waiting in Havana could make their return journey?
Hoffman had already hidden the secret documents in the spine of magazines, inside pens, and inside a walking cane, so he brought these with him to the ship. At the accommodation ladder, Hoffman was told he was allowed onto the ship but that he couldn't bring anything on board. Leaving his magazines and cane behind, Hoffman boarded with the pens. Sent directly to Captain Schroeder, Hoffman used the influence of the Abwehr to force Schroeder into allowing the crew to go to shore. Schroeder, shocked that the Abwehr was connected to his ship, acquiesced. After a quick meeting with Schiendick, Hoffman left the ship. With the change in shore leave policy, Schiendick was able to pick up the magazines and cane and reboard the St. Louis. Now, Schiendick became a major push to head back to Germany with no stop in America for fear of being caught with the secret documents.
On Tuesday, Captain Schroeder called the passenger committee for a meeting for only the second time. The committee had become distrustful of the captain. The St. Louis had sat in the harbor for four days before they were called. No good news had come forward and the passenger committee was asked to send telegrams to influential people, family, and friends asking for help.
Each day that the St. Louis sat in the harbor, Max Loewe became increasingly paranoid. His family had worried before, but Max became extremely disturbed believing that there were many SS and Gestapo on board plotting to arrest him and put him in a concentration camp.
On Tuesday, Max Loewe slit his wrists and jumped overboard at the same spot that the body had gone over the side. Splashing around as he clawed at his arms attempting to pull out his veins, Max Loewe drew the attention of many on board. The siren wailed for man-overboard and a courageous crew member, Heinrich Meier, jumped into the water. The siren and uproar drew police crafts to the area. After some struggle, Meier was able to grab Loewe and push him into a police boat. Loewe kept screaming and had to be tackled to keep him from jumping back into the water. He was taken to an awaiting ambulance and then to a hospital. His wife was not allowed to visit him.
The days continued to progress and the passengers all became increasingly suspicious and fearful. If they were forced back to Germany, they would surely be sent to concentration camps. The possible consequences of their return were loudly suggested in German newspapers and magazines.
For anyone thinking about jumping overboard, the chances were slim of their success with the increased number of police crafts, the searchlights that scanned the ship, and the dangling lights used to illuminate the water.
The world followed the fate of the passengers aboard the St. Louis. Their story was covered around the world. The U.S. Ambassador to Cuba met with an influential member of the Cuban government and spoke diplomatically about the precarious position the Cubans were now in. The Ambassador had spoken without direct instructions from the President but he made the concerns of the U.S. known. The Cuban Secretary of State stated that the subject was to be determined by the cabinet.
On Wednesday, the cabinet met. The passengers aboard the St. Louis would not be allowed to land, not even 250 to allow room for return passengers.
The USA denies entry to the Jewish Refugees
Captain Schroeder began to fear mass suicides on board. Mutiny was also a possibility. With the help of the passenger committee, "suicide patrols" were created to patrol at night.
The two Americans from the Joint had arrived in Havana and by Thursday, June 1, had befriended a couple of influential people who convinced President Bru to reopen negotiations. To their shock though, Bru would not negotiate until the St. Louis was out of Cuban waters. The St. Louis was given notice to leave within three hours. Pleading by Schroener that he needed more time to prepare for departure, the deadline was set back until Friday, June 2 at 10 a.m.
No options were left for the St. Louis, if they did not leave peacefully, they were to be forced out by the Cuban navy.
On Friday morning, the S.S. St. Louis roared up its engines and began to take its leave. Farewells were shouted overboard to friends and family in rented boats below.
The St. Louis was going to encircle Cuba, waiting and hoping for the conclusion of negotiations between the Joint representative, Lawrence Berenson, and President Bru.
The Cuban government wanted $500 per refugee (approximately $500,000 in total). The same amount as required for any refugee to obtain a visa to Cuba. Berenson didn't believe he would have to pay that much, with negotiations, he believed, it would only cost the Joint $125,000.
During the following day, Berenson was approached by several men claiming affiliation with the Cuban government, one identified himself as having powers to negotiate bestowed by Bru. These men insisted that $400,000 to $500,000 were needed to ensure the St. Louis passengers' return. Berenson believed that these men just wanted a cut in the profit by negotiating a higher price. He was wrong.
While the negotiations continued, the St. Louis milled around Cuba and then headed north, following the Florida coastline in the hopes that perhaps the United States would accept the refugees. [Accounts often mention that U.S. Coast Guard ships were following the St. Louis to prevent it from landing, but those ships had actually been sent at the request of Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr., because the location of the ship was unknown and he wanted to keep track of it in case a change in policy would allow it to land.]
At this time, it was noticed that because of the lack of time to prepare for leaving port, the St. Louis would run into food and water shortages in less than two weeks. Telegrams continued to arrive insisting the possibility of landing in Cuba or even the Dominican Republic. Once a cable arrived stating the S.S. St. Louis passengers could land on the Isla de la Juventud (formerly Isle of Pines), off of Cuba, Schroeder turned the ship around and headed toward Cuba.
The good news was announced to those on board and everyone rejoiced. Ready and awaiting a new life, the passengers prepared themselves for their arrival the next morning.
The next morning, a telegram arrived stating that landing at the Isla de la Juventud was not confirmed. Shocked, the passenger committee tried to think of other alternatives.
Around noon on Tuesday, June 6, President Bru closed the negotiations. Through a misunderstanding, the money allotment had not been agreed upon and Berenson missed a 48 hour deadline that he didn't know existed. One day later, the Joint offered to pay Bru's every demand but Bru said it was too late. The option of landing in Cuba was officially closed.
Back in Nazi Europe to Disembark
With a diminishing supply of food and pressures from Hapag to return to Germany, Captain Schroeder ordered the ship to change heading to return to Europe.
The following day, Wednesday, June 7, Captain Schroeder informed the passenger committee that they were returning to Europe. Though the situation was desperate there was still hope that negotiations for their landing in Europe somewhere other than Germany could be possible.
While massive negotiations were beginning, Aaron Pozner rallied some youths aboard to participate in a mutiny. Though they succeeded in capturing the bridge, they did not capture the other strategic locations of the ship. The mutiny was overcome. A crew members suicide by hanging also marked dread on the return voyage.
Through miraculous negotiations, the Joint committee was able to find several countries that would take portions of the refugees. 181 could go to Holland, 224 to France, 228 to Great Britain, and 214 to Belgium. The passengers disembarked from the S.S. St. Louis from June 16 to June 20. Other ships were transformed to carry the passengers to their locations.
Having crossed the Atlantic Ocean twice, the passengers' original hopes of freedom in Cuba and the U.S. turned into a forlorn effort to escape sure death upon their return to Germany. Feeling alone and rejected by the world, the passengers returned to Europe in June 1939. With World War II just months away, many of these passengers were sent East with the occupation of the countries to which they had been sent. And Sadly were not heard from again. After their return to Europe, 250 of the 937 St. Louis passengers died in the Holocaust.
After the trial run with public opinion that was Kristallnacht, this was the beginning of the Shoah proper, because once the ship returned to Europe, the Nazis realized that no one in the world would care if European Jews were Slaughtered. Even the Land of Liberty did not afford these Jews the Liberty to Live!!!
