Braun, Gerda Elsa geb. Oster * 17. August 1913 in Elberfeld wohnhaft in Berlin Deportation: ab Berlin 19. Januar 1942, Riga, Ghetto 01. Oktober 1944, Stutthof, Konzentrationslager Personendaten   Familienname:     Oster, verh. Braun Vorname:     Gerda Geschlecht:     w Beruf:     unbekannt Geburtsdatum:     17.08.1913 Geburtsort:     Elberfeld Todesdatum:     verschollen Todesort:     KZ Stutthof bei Danzig Vater:     Oster, Leopold Mutter:     Oster, Else, geb. Friedl?nder Wohnadresse:     Alsenstr. 32 (Elternhaus 1917); Bahnstr. 7 (Elternhaus 1913) Haft / Internierung:     KZ Stutthof Deportation:     unbekannt   The Voyage of the St. Louis Refused Entry One effort to get out of Germany was made by German Jews who were able to secure passage to Cuba on the S.S. St. Louis. On May 13, 1939, a total of 937 Jews departed Hamburg on this luxury liner. All had visas, permits that assured them the right to land. But when they arrived, Cuba refused them entry.When they then attempted to reach the shores of the United States, the ship was forced out of U.S. territorial waters by the Coast Guard, on orders of the U.S. government. Jane Keibel was a child on that voyage. Jane Keibel Remembers the S.S. St. Louis Voyage We had our visas to America for quite a while, because my father had two brothers who lived here. But my immigration number was very high. And after Kristallnacht, my father decided he could not wait in Europe for that number to come up. So he had to explore different ways of getting out of Germany. One of them was Shanghai, China, and he was not looking forward to that, so he opted for Cuba. And he bought visas for my family, my sister, myself, and my parents. And if I remember correctly, they were $1,500 apiece. And after he got the visas, the entry visas to Cuba, he purchased places on the ship. And the ship that had room was the St. Louis. And that left on May 13, 1939.My father spent all his money on this, we went first class. And my sister and I shared our cabin with a distant relative, a lady who was supposed to chaperone us. We boarded the ship on May 13, 1939. It was a German ship and it sailed out of Hamburg in the afternoon. It took about 10 days to reach Havana. And when we got to Havana, we weren’t supposed to land at the port, but we had to stay out in international waters. And the excuse was that the Cuban authorities had to come and inspect passports and visas. And they came on board, and they inspected, and they left, and we still couldn’t land.We were told after a couple of days that the reason we couldn’t land was the Cuban government wanted more money. And the passengers on the ship, of course, had no money—all we were allowed to take out of Germany was 10 dollars. So Jewish organizations got involved and tried to raise money, mostly out of America. But whatever money they raised was not enough for Cuba. And from the ship we appealed to Mr. Roosevelt, who was the American President then, and the children sent a telegram to Mrs. Roosevelt, but nothing became available. They did not want to let us in. The orders were from the shipping company 234 Resistance and Rescue William Shulman, Voices and Visions: A Collection of Primary Sources (Woodbridge, CT: Blackbirch Press, 1998), 28–29. Reprinted by permission. QUESTIONS 1. Why did Jane Keibel’s family decide to leave Germany? 2. What obstacles did they face once they made the decision? 3. Why might some Jews have chosen to stay in Germany? 4. The St. Louis was not the only ship carrying refugees to be turned away from the United States in the late 1930s.What do such incidents suggest about America’s “universe of obligation”? to come back to Europe, to Germany. So we went up the coast, we saw Miami, and we went up as far as New York, and nothing happened, so we sailed to Europe…Just before we reached the English Channel, four countries said they would take a quarter of the passengers. And we On June 6, 1939, the St. Louis returned to Europe. Only last-minute decisions by Great Britain, Holland, France, and Belgium prevented the refugees from returning to certain incarceration in Nazi concentration camps. Still, many of those who remained on the continent ended up in the camps. Braun, Gerda geb Oster (10)(21)(14)(25/6) w % °1913.08.17 (10)(21)(14)(25/6) W: -Elberfeld (14)(25/6); W: Wuppertal (21) verschollen (10)(21) KZ Stutthof (10)(21)(25/6) V: Oster, Leopold; M: Oster, Else geb. Friedländer (14) % Berlin (permanent residence) (10)(25/6); W: Alsenstr. 032 (Elternhaus 1917); W: Bahnstr. 007 (Elternhaus 1913) (14) % % % Riga (Ghetto) / Lettland: 1942.01.19, von Berlin aus (25/6); von Riga dann später offensichtlich nach Stutthof (KZ) (21)