A vacation cruise to freedom that ended in a tragic odyssey

Technology · Published 18 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 1939, 937 people boarded a luxury liner seeking a life free from Nazi persecution. They expected a path to safety in the Americas; instead, they were met with closed borders, dwindling supplies, and a voyage that would leave 255 of them dead in the Holocaust.

The MS St. Louis, a diesel-powered ocean liner owned by the Hamburg-American Line, departed Hamburg on May 13, 1939. On board were 937 passengers, the vast majority of whom were Jewish refugees fleeing Germany following the state-sponsored violence of Kristallnacht. The ship was headed for Havana, Cuba, a common waypoint for those seeking U.S. visas. However, the voyage was compromised before it even began. In early May, Cuban President Federico Laredo Brú invalidated the passengers' landing certificates, fearing the immigrants would compete for jobs during the Great Depression.

The ship arrived in Havana on May 27, 1939, where the government admitted only 28 passengers with proper paperwork, refusing the other 908. During the standoff, morale plummeted; one man attempted suicide by jumping overboard. Negotiations by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) occurred as reports, potentially circulated by Nazi operatives, branded the displaced people as communists and criminals. On June 2, Laredo Brú ordered the ship to leave Cuban waters. Captain Gustav Schröder then sailed for Florida, but the U.S. government refused entry, citing its yearly immigration quota and telling the refugees to wait for a spot on a list that was several years long.

The narrative of the 'Voyage of the Damned' continued as the Canadian government also denied entry. With supplies running low, the ship was forced back to Europe on June 6, 1939. It eventually reached Antwerp on June 17, where negotiations led to the refugees being accepted by England, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium. While many survived, 255 of the 907 passengers who returned to Europe are believed to have died in concentration camps during the Holocaust. In 2018, the Canadian government formally apologized for its failure to grant asylum.

The ship itself was a marvel of its era, built by Bremer Vulkan shipyards and powered by four double-acting six-cylinder two-stroke diesel engines. Despite the geopolitical tragedy, Captain Schröder maintained a sense of dignity on board, providing childcare, religious services, and even covering a bust of Hitler with a tablecloth to preserve the passengers' sense of humanity.

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