No sanctuary here

As Canada prepares to apologize for turning away Jewish refugees in 1939, Newfoundland should remember its own dark past

The news that Canada is preparing to apologize for denying asylum to Jewish refugees aboard the MS St. Louis in 1939 — many of whom were banished to certain death in Germany — made me think of Gerhard Bassler.

In 1992, Dr. Bassler, a history professor at Memorial University, published “Sanctuary Denied: Refugees from the Third Reich and Newfoundland Immigration Policy 1906-1949,” a well-documented account of Newfoundland’s policy toward refugees, particularly during our 15 years under Commission of Government, 1934-49.

These days, Newfoundland and Labrador has a well-deserved reputation for being welcoming, due to the hospitality and genuine kindness shown to displaced passengers from the United States during 9-11 — a reputation fortified by the Broadway success of “Come From Away.”

But we have skeletons in our closet, too.

During the dark days of the Second World War, as millions fled the Nazis in an exodus of fear, Newfoundland was among the nations to close doors in the faces of those seeking refuge.

As The Telegram’s forerunner, The Evening Telegram, proclaimed in a somewhat xenophobic editorial on Nov. 16, 1938, “To-day, more than ever before, the right to come in and settle is likely to be pressed, and unless the regulations are very considerably stiffened, the country runs the risk of being over-run by peoples who could not possibly be absorbed into the population, for whom occupation is not available, or who, living on a lower standard, could compete unfairly with residents, or who for other reasons would not be desirable immigrants.”

Newfoundland was then still reeling from the Depression, and many forward-thinkers — including Commissioner Sir John Hope Simpson — felt that allowing outsiders in with the specialized skills needed to bolster medical services, resource development, manufacturing, farming and other industries, could boost the economy and increase employment prospects for all.

Yet time and again, Jews literally fleeing for their lives had their applications rejected.

In 1939, the St. Louis was anchored off Miami carrying 907 German Jewish refugees hoping for sanctuary in America or Canada. When none was given, they were forced to return to Europe, where “254 of those aboard eventually died in the slaughter that became the Holocaust,” The Canadian Press reports.

In his book, Bassler notes that while St. John’s newspapers —The Daily News, The Evening Telegram and others — had reported extensively on Nazi atrocities, particularly the orchestrated horror of Kristallnacht (Nov. 9-10, 1938), “As the St. Louis passed by Newfoundland on its way back to Europe, the local press response was characterized by a notable lack of any editorials or expressions of humanitarian concern of the kind voiced on the occasion of Kristallnacht.”

Perhaps the terrible plight of its human cargo was too close for comfort, Bassler surmises.

Newfoundland was approached many times during the war with ideas for settling refugees who could bring skills, money and expertise to the struggling economy. Bassler points out that most of the opposition came from the ranks of the St. John’s elite — who wanted to maintain their positions of privilege and financial dominance — while people in the outports saw how the newcomers might contribute to prosperity and industry, not add to the misery.

Canada had accepted fewer than 4,000 refugees by 1939, and was termed “arguably the worst of all possible refugee-receiving states,” Bassler notes.

“That Newfoundland might have saved thousands of lives by letting in European refugees is a sad realization. …” he writes. “Can one avoid the conclusion that Newfoundland’s record vies with that of Canada?”

Pondering the contributions of the late Andreas Barban, the renowned music educator who was one of the very few Third Reich refugees permitted to settle in Newfoundland, Bassler muses: “can one imagine what positive contributions more such refugees would have made to the economic, social, cultural and intellectual life of Newfoundland?”

Newfoundland’s rigid immigration practices came to an end with Confederation.

Yet here we still are, hobbled by a stagnant economy and a shrinking population.

And dogged by the interminable question — what if?