The Voyage of the Damned…

In 1939, Germany's Hamburg-America Line announced a special voyage to Havana on the St. Louis Ship, departing May 13. The 937 tickets were quickly sold out, with more than 900 of them purchased by Jews. The St. Louis arrived in Havana harbor on May 27, but Cuban officials denied entry to all but 28 passengers. For a week, while the ship sat at anchor in sweltering heat, representatives of the American Jewish Committee (JDC) negotiated with Cuban president. The Cuban government rejected their proposals and forced the ship to leave the harbor.

St. Louis surrounded by smaller vessels in Havana

The ship's captain piloted the St. Louis to the Florida coast in hopes that the U.S. would accept the passengers. The State Department, however, refused to intervene in Cuban affairs, and the Coast Guard denied the ship entrance into American waters. The St. Louis turned back to Europe. Fearful of returning to Germany, the passengers pleaded with world leaders to offer them refuge. Through the efforts of the JDC and other agencies, the governments of France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Belgium granted the refugees temporary haven. After being at sea for over a month, the St. Louis docked in Antwerp on June 17, 1939.

After the ship left the Havana harbor, it sailed so close to the Florida coast that the passengers could see the lights of Miami. The captain appealed for help, but in vain. U.S. Coast Guard ships patrolled the waters to make sure that no one jumped to freedom and did not allow the ship to dock in the U.S. The St. Louis turned back to Europe. Belgium, the Netherlands, England, and France admitted the passengers. But within months, the Germans overran western Europe. Hundreds of passengers who disembarked in Belgium, the Netherlands, and France eventually fell victim to the Nazi "Final Solution."

 1. What is your initial reaction upon learning this tidbit of history?  2. While America had the right to deny entrance, was it a necessary decision?  3. What part did America have in the Jewish Holocaust?  4. Was it America’s responsibility to come to the prisoner’s aid?

Refugee Blues by W.H. Auden

Let’s read  While reading annotate the poem Diction Syntax Imagery Figurative Language

Questions for Discussion 1. Explain what is taking place in stanzas 4, 5, and 6? What is taking priority over human lives? 2. What literary device does Auden employ in every stanza to convey the reality of the world of refugees? How does it affect you? 3. Auden moves from the world of humans to the realm of nature in various stanzas, thereby creating distinct comparisons on the fate of man versus the state of other creatures on earth. Explain how these comparisons are ironic.

Listen to an audio of the poem.audio Annotate as we go

1. Study the picture. In your opinion, explain what is taking place in the background and what the child could be thinking or feeling. 2. Consider the boy in the poem and the boy in the novel. Compare Wiesel’s statement on page 23 that the little boy’s words to his mother upset him more than Madame Schacther’s screams and the author’s decision in the poem to focus only on the little boy in the photo. 3. Explain the reason the author uses a refrain in the poem. 4. Explain the 3 things the author wishes to create in memory of the little Polish boy. 5. These 3 things serve another purpose: to punish the Holocaust bystanders. Explain how. 6. Explain why the author expresses his desire to punish the bystanders but not the perpetrators. 7. Imagine that you were a child who survived the Holocaust. Explain whether or not you would be a different person than you are now.

 Write a poetic response to one of the pictures we discussed in class. You may: Address a subject in the work Take on the identity/persona of a subject in the work. Imagine what that subject is thinking or about to do. Or, let the subject speak. Express what the poem makes you feel. Address the picture itself. It does not have to rhyme but it does have to reflect critical thought and emotion. Must be 20 lines! Must use imagery and a refrain. Art work in background with color Poem explantation-explain your choices in half a page. Worth a test grade.