Canada to apologize for barring ship

TORONTO • Canada will formally apologize for turning away a ship full of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany in 1939, resulting in hundreds dying, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

In a well-received speech to a sold-out Jewish fundraising event Tuesday evening, Trudeau said the decision by Canada to force the German ocean liner MS St. Louis to return to Europe was a blight on our collective past.

“An apology in the House of Commons will not rewrite this shameful chapter of our history,” Trudeau said. “It will not bring back those who perished or repair the lives shattered by tragedy. But it is our hope that this long overdue apology will bring awareness to our failings, as we vow to never let history repeat itself.”

In the run-up to the Second World War, the Canadian government heeded anti-semitic sentiment by severely restricting Jewish immigration. From 1933 to 1945, only about 5,000 Jewish refugees were accepted due to what Trudeau called “our discriminatory ‘none is too many’ immigration policy” in place at the time. He called the turning away of the ship a “most egregious” example of the misguided policy.

The St. Louis was carrying 907 German Jews fleeing Nazi persecution. Its captain tried in vain to find homes for his passengers. In addition to Cuba, the U.S. also turned away the refugees. Forced to return to Europe, 254 of those aboard eventually died in the Holocaust.

In a statement, the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre applauded Trudeau’s announcement. “While an apology can never change the past, it can awaken the national conscience to ensure such grave mistakes are never repeated in the future,” president Avi Benlolo said.

The Toronto-based Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs also applauded Trudeau’s announcement. “A formal apology will be a powerful statement to Holocaust survivors and their families, including St. Louis passengers who live in Canada today,” CIJA CEO Shimon Koffler Fogel said in a statement.