Trudeau To Apologize For Canada Turning Away Jewish Refugees On MS St. Louis In 1939
TORONTO — Canada will formally apologize for turning away a boat full of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany in 1939, resulting in scores of them dying, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
In a well-received speech to a sold-out Jewish fundraising event, 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 and the ensuing Holocaust, 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.
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