The Ms St. Louis was carrying 937 jewish refugees to Cuba in Spring, 1939, they were denied entry and tried to gain entry to other Western Countries. They tried Canada but unfortunately the government wanted nothing to do with these jewish people, this is because most of the english speaking Canadians were anti-semenis. Prime minister Mackenzie King didnt want to lose votes so he completely ignored these jewish people in need. I Believe, if Canada hadnt been judgemental and let these people into the country, they would have saved all 937 lives instead of forcing them back to europe where they were to get slaughtered by the Nazis. This is a disappointing time in Canadaian History, however we can only learn from this and never repeat this again.
Graham, I very much agree that this was a disappointing time in Canada's history. The fact that maintaining votes was more important than saving lives is hard to accept.
ReplyDeleteI know that some people have disagreed with me about this, but I would argue that Canada has learned from its mistake and, as a nation, is more accepting of refugees.