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at The 92nd Street Y, New York. Supported by The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity
Apr 08, 2010
Professor Wiesel retells the story of the St. Louis, which he likens to a moral Titanic. He sets the scene with the victims (more than 900 Jewish passengers), the indifferent spectators who refused to offer the passengers sanctuary (the Latin American, European countries and the United States) and the heroes, the captain of the ship, Gustav Schröder, and the Joint’s European director, Morris Tepper. Professor Wiesel acknowledges that America’s attitude towards Jewish refugees was “deplorable, to say the least” and asks the question: how are we to understand America’s policy in the late ‘30s? In the light of new archival evidence that suggests it was known even before departure that Cuba would not allow the passengers to disembark, Professor Wiesel considers why Germany allowed them to set off on their journey. Professor Wiesel wonders whether it was to prove a point made at the Evian Conference that the Jews were unwanted globally and that Germany need not be kinder to them. Professor Wiesel draws lessons from the tragedy of St. Louis: to wait in certain crises is a sin; not to rely on others to help and not to despair.
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