Revisiting the voyage of the damned

On May 13, 1939, the St Louis sailed from Germany with 936 passengers, 930 of them Jewish refugees, among the last to escape from the Nazis. Having been rebuffed by both Cuba and the United States, they were forced to return to Europe, where many perished during the subsequent German occupation of their lands. In 1974, journalist Gordon Thomas published the best known book about this tragedy 'St. Louis, Voyage of the damned'