The Arndt family sits on deck of the St. Louis.
Overview
- Caption
- The Arndt family sits on deck of the St. Louis.
Pictured from left to right are Arthur Arndt, Hertha Arndt, Lieselotte Arndt, and Paula Kahnemann. - Date
-
May 1939
- Locale
- En Route To Cuba
- Photo Credit
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Lottie Brown
- Event History
- The St. Louis was a German luxury liner carrying more than 930 Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany to Cuba in May 1939. When the ship set sail from Hamburg on May 13, 1939, all of its refugee passengers bore legitimate landing certificates for Cuba. However, during the two-week period that the ship was en route to Havana, the landing certificates granted by the Cuban director general of immigration in lieu of regular visas, were invalidated by the pro-fascist Cuban government. When the St. Louis reached Havana on May 27 all but 28 of the Jewish refugees were denied entry. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) dispatched Lawrence Berenson to Cuba to negotiate with local officials but Cuban president Federico Laredo Bru insisted that the ship leave Havana harbor. The refugees were likewise refused entry into the United States. Thus on June 6 the ship was forced to return to Europe. While en route to Antwerp several European countries were cajoled into taking in the refugees (287 to Great Britain; 214 to Belgium; 224 to France; 181 to the Netherlands). Only those who were accepted by Great Britain found relative safety. The others were soon to be subject once again to Nazi rule with the German invasion of western Europe in the spring of 1940. A fortunate few succeeded in emigrating before this became impossible. In the end, many of the St. Louis passengers who found temporary refuge in Belgium, France and the Netherlands died at the hands of the Nazis, but the majority survived the war.
Rights & Restrictions
- Photo Source
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumProvenance: Lottie Brown
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Biography
- Lottie Brown (born Lieselotte Arndt) is the daughter of Arthur and Hertha Arndt, from Berlin. When Lieselotte was eleven years old, the family sailed to Cuba on the St. Louis together with Arthur's sister, Paula Kahnemann. After the ship was forced to return to Europe, the Arndts and Paula Kahnemann were among the passengers sent to England. The Arndts remained in England after the war. Paula immigrated to the United States in 1943.
- Record last modified:
- 2018-09-18 00:00:00
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1134429
