Voyage of the St Louis Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Night of Broken Glass ('Kristallnacht')

The Night of Broken Glass ('Kristallnacht') was a co-ordinated pogrom on the night of 9-10 November 1938. Stormtroopers smashed every synagogue in Germany and Austria, several Jewish shops and other businesses and many homes of Jews the length of breadth of Germany and Austria (and in the Sudetenland).

It continued for some days afterwards. Jewish women were raped with impunity, despite Nazi laws against sexual intercourse between Germans and Jews. An estimated 400 Jews were murdered or driven to suicide. About 30,000 were sent to concentration camps and by Christmas of 1938 2,000 of these were dead.

The pogrom represented a sudden and drastic intensification of the antisemitic actions by the Nazis. To cap it all, the Jewish community in Germany had to pay for the cost of the damage done to their own property by the Nazis.

Answer: No

From 1938 onwards refugees were allowed to take only RM 10 (ten Reichsmarks) out of the country. At the then current rate of exchange that was equivalent to about US$3.70 - not much if one is starting a new life abroad.

Answer: The Hamburg-America Line (HAPAG)

The ship was German. It had been built in the 1920s as a transatlantic liner, but during the Great Depression was used mainly for cruises. For some reason, the ship is often referred to as the 'SS St Louis', though it was not a steamship. Later, many commented that the outward journey was strangely unreal. For most it was the first time they had ever been on a luxury liner. The captain insisted that they should be treated with the customary courtesy and hospitality of the Hamburg-America Line.

(The NDL and Cunard are well known. The Blue Funnel Line operated between Liverpool and the Far East).

Answer: The passengers (and their families)

At the time people emigrating from Germany were allowed to pay for their fares (including meals) in full in Germany before leaving. (Until August 1941 the Nazi authorities were generally keen to see German Jews emigrate).

Answer: Landing certificates

These were, however, completely worthless and didn't even mean what they said. The Cuban Director of Immigration, Manuel Benitez, had issued them in order to make money for himself, knowing that they were worthless bits of paper. When the ship arrived at Havana, Benitez tried yet again to make money out of the unfortunate refugees.

Answer: 28

Twenty-two of these were refugees, the other six came from the 30 non-refugees on board. (This explains why some sources give the number as 22, others as 28). The rest of the passengers were victims of a fierce battle within the Cuban government. The Cuban President, Frederico Bru, had been forced to curb the corruption of his Director of Immigration.

The latter tried to extort further money from an American Jewish group that tried to intervene but he was unable to guarantee that the refugees would be allowed to stay in Cuba.

Answer: Sailed along the Atlantic Coast of Florida

The ship could be seen from Miami. The hope was that President Franklin D. Roosevelt would intervene and somehow admit the unfortunate passengers. He did not (or could not) do so. He did not reply to the first radio telegramme from the ship, the State Department rejected an appeal to admit them, and President Roosevelt rejected a second radio telegramme appeal.

The ship's captain, Gustav Schroeder, who was very sympathetic to the passengers, was in contact by radio with various bodies and governments and also with the ship's owners, HAPAG, which by this stage was also very concerned. An appeal to the Canadian government to accept the refugees also fell on deaf ears.

Answer: You see, other countries also have a 'Jewish problem'

The Nazi-controlled German media reported the voyage with glee. They took the whole saga as 'evidence' that Jews were loathed throughout the world. The American and West European media were on the whole sympathetic.

Answer: France, Belgium, The Netherlands

For those accepted by France, Belgium and the Netherlands it was only a brief respite, as these countries were invaded by Germany within a year. An estimated 200-250 perished.

Answer: Voyage of the Damned

Some details in the film are not entirely accurate. For example, it is claimed in the film that all the refugees accepted by Continental Europe were killed in the Holocaust. A number of survivors piped up to say they were still alive.