President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order dramatically reducing the number of refugees the United States admits as early as today—a stark choice of timing, as it is also International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
In 1939, American officials turned away a ship bearing more than 900 refugees, almost all of them German Jews. The St. Louis was forced to turn back, and 254 of its passengers died in the Holocaust. Today, the St. Louis Manifest account is tweeting the names of the victims.
My name is Lutz Grünthal. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered in Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/DyS8NXrk2P
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Johanna Dingfelder. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/sAJQBSjNVH
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Evelyn Greve. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Italy pic.twitter.com/j8qEfw1rj3
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Walter Greve. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Italy pic.twitter.com/upVGyt1xTV
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Luise Klein. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Auschwitz
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Leopold Klein. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Auschwitz
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Hans Klein. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Majdanek
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Fritz Lichtenstein. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at The Netherlands
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Hedwig Lissberger. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Switzerland
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Erich Dublon. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/wlVcCiUt2P
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
My name is Carl Simon. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Sobibor pic.twitter.com/B7f3lvWAts
— St. Louis Manifest (@Stl_Manifest) January 27, 2017
See the US Holocaust Memorial Museum for more on the history of the St. Louis.
