Atlanta Author Delves Into Story Of Jewish Refugees Turned Away From U.S.
Pam Sampson has covered stories around the world with her work appearing in The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Courtesy of Pamela Sampson
80 years ago, in 1939, Henry Gallant boarded a ship with 900 other Jewish refugees fleeing from Germany, only to be turned away in the U.S., Canada and Cuba and sent back to Europe.
Gallant told his story and of the fate of those aboard the MS St. Louis in the book “No Reply: A Jewish Child Aboard the MS St. Louis and the Ordeal That Followed,” co-authored by Atlanta writer Pamela Sampson.
As a journalist for the Associated Press, Sampson has covered stories around the world with her work appearing in The New York Times and The Washington Post. She is the featured speaker at this year’s Community-Wide Holocaust Remembrance Day Observance at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta.
“When the St. Louis was not allowed to land in Cuba, the captain turned toward the United States,” Sampson tells “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes. “Passengers sent telegrams to the White House and pleas to the state department. Pleas even went to [Eleanor] Roosevelt. There was no reply.”
The ship was eventually forced to turn around and made port in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Many of the passengers did not survive.
“I think the voyage of the St. Louis serves as a lesson, and did in itself help spur change in America’s immigration practices,” Sampson says. “I think over time, Americans have realized that our country is a beacon of hope to the oppressed around the world and that we should embrace that role. Immigration will always be controversial, but we are obligated to be the welcoming country that we are and also to remember that we are a country of immigrants and that immigrants built this great country.
The Community-Wide Holocaust Remembrance Day Observance takes place in the Marcus JCC’s Besser Holocaust Memorial Garden on Sunday, April 28.
Top Stories
