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**'The New Colossus'
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
**poem on the Statue of Liberty in NY Harbor
Follow these links for more in depth information:
Jewish
Emmigration From Germany, 1933-1941
The
Evian Conference
Voyage
of the SS St. Louis
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On May 13, 1939, refugees
fleeing Nazi Germany, left Hamburg toward what they thought would
be a place of safety. Their journey was not a successful one.
The more than 900 Jewish refugees aboard the ship bound for Cuba and expecting
to be welcomed when they arrived, were turned away without ever setting
foot on the island. The ship then turned toward the coast of Florida
in hopes that the United States would offer them assylum from the tyrrany
of the Third Reich and Hilter's death camps. The travel weary refugees
looked to the United States, the country whose giant statue titled
'Liberty Enlightening the World' has become a symbol of the United States
and of freedom to oppressed people everywhere. But to these refugees,
there was no welcome. Lady Liberty's flame had grown dim during the
dark days of the Great Depression.
The United States ignored the pleas to take in the Jews
aboard the St. Lewis. The St. Louis was forced to return to
Europe where four European countries agreed to accept the passengers.
Their safety in these countries was shortlived. In just a few months
after their acceptance into these countries, war broke out and the
Nazis quickly occupied three of the four countries that had accepted the
passengers. Jews in these occupied countries were sought out and
when found were sent to concentration camps. Many of these 900 people
died during the Holocaust.
Why did the United States turn these 900 away?
One reason could be the Depression the U.S. was just recovering from.
Another reason could be the decision at the Evian Conference in 1938.
In 1938, thirty-two nations met in Evian, France to find new homes for
endangered European Jews. Only one country, the Dominican Republic ruled
by dictator Rafael Trujillo, offered sanctuary. In 1940, a group
of Jews escaping the Nazi terror found a haven on this beautiful Caribbean
island. |
