“Complicit ” Film Discussion & Screening | SF Main Library

Submitted by the Event Organizer

This film tells the untold story of why the Roosevelt Administration denied safe haven to Jewish refugees.

The SS St. Louis was a luxury liner that left Hamburg, Germany on May 13, 1939 bound for Havana, Cuba. The ship carried 937 Jewish refugees attempting to escape Nazi Germany. When the St. Louis was refused entry by the Cuban authorities the ship went to southern Florida and waited for FDR to grant entry to the US. Their pleas were denied and the ship was forced to return to Europe where many of the passengers perished in Auschwitz.

The story reflects the tensions between Roosevelt’s political aspirations and the humanitarian emergency. It is also similar to the issues we face today with refugees from the Middle East. A discussion with Fred Rosenbaum, director of Lehrhaus Judaica, follows the film. Co-sponsored by Lehrhaus Judaica and the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.

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