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St. Louis - Grade 6

Yad Vashem Team

Created on November 1, 2023

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Ana Maria Gordon's Journey

Start Here

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Next

  • Košice

Czechoslovakia

Germany

Next

Czechoslovakia

Back

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Hamburg

Germany

Czechoslovakia

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Next

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United States

Mexico

Havana

Cuba

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Next

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Netherlands

Ravensbrück

Westerbork

Amsterdam

Rotterdam

Germany

Antwerp

Belgium

Next

Back

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Sweden

Denmark

. Malmö

. Ravensbrück

. Amsterdam

Germany

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Next

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United States

Mexico

Havana

Cuba

Veracruz

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Canada
Toronto
United States
Los Angeles
Mexico
Veracruz

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May 27th, 1939 Havana, Cuba

The St. Louis arrives at the coast of Havana, Cuba. Passenger visas have been revoked by Cuba, which means refugees aren't allowed to enter the country.

June 2nd, 1939 Coast of Florida, US

After leaving the Havana Harbour, the St. Louis sails to the coast of Florida. But the refugees were not accepted by the United States or Canada.

Ana Maria Gordon, 2020

May 13th, 1939 Hamburg, Germany

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington. D.C., photograph 88358

A Jewish family boarding the ship St. Louis, (Yad Vashem Archives)

March, 1946 Mexico

Ana Maria and her parents sail across the Atlantic Ocean to Mexico to begin a new life.

April, 1945

Shortly before the end of the war, Ana Maria and her mother were released by the Danish and Swedish Red Cross. They were sent to Denmark and later on to Sweden where they started their rehabilitation. There they also reunited with Ana Maria's father who also had survived. After a short time past in Amsterdam again, Ana Maria and her parents eventually left Europe in 1946 and sailed to Mexico to start a new life.

June 17th, 1939 Antwerp, Belgium

The St. Louis arrives at Antwerp, from where the Jewish refugees took different destinations. Four countries accepted to receive them; GreatBritain (288 passengers), The Netherlands (181), Belgium (214), and France (244). Ana Maria and her parents continued with the MS Saint Louis to Rotterdam, Netherlands. After a quarantine they moved to the refugee Camp in Westerbork. From there they joined in March 1940 her Uncle and Aunt's house in Amsterdam.

May 10th, 1940 Nazi Germany invades the Netherlands.

When Ana Maria was 5 year old in 1940, they were arrested by the German occupying forces and sent to Westerbork which became a Transit camp. On February 5th, 1944, Ana Maria and her mother were sent to the concentration camp of Ravensbrük in Germany. the tranport in a catlle car took two days. She was separated from her father who was sent to another concentration camp.

For more information about the transport from Westerbork to Ravensbrük.https://collections.yadvashem.org/en/deportations/11846284

In 1983, Ana Maria met her second husband who was living in Los Angeles, United States. He was a Holocaust survivor also born in Czechoslovakia. Ana Maria lived in the U.S until 2009.

May 13th, 1939 Hamburg, Germany

A total of 937 passengers embark the St. Louis from Hamburg, Germany. Most of the passengers are Jewish refugees. With her parents, aunt, and uncle, Ana Maria boards the St. Louis with the rest of the passengers. The boat sailed to Cuba.

Ana Maria and her parents in Amsterdam, 1939

A synagogue, Košice, Czechoslovakia.

Ana Maria Gordon: Pre-war Jewish Life

Ana Maria Gordon (née Karman) was born on April 14, 1935 in Košice, Czechoslovakia. As a result of the rise of Antisemitism on the continent her parents, Richard and Sidoni Karman, decided in 1939 to escape Europe by taking a boat from Hamburg, Germany.

After the passing of Ana Maria's mother, she moved to Toronto in order to be close to her son. After four years, she got her Canadian citizenship. In 2018 Ana Maria was invited to attend the official apology from Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, concerning the events of The MS St. Louis.

May 27th, 1939 Havana, Cuba

(National Archives and Records Administration, College Park Source Record ID: 306-NT-648-E-5 Copyright: Public Domain)

The St. Louis in Havanna harbor, Cuba, 1939