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Teaching the Holocaust and other Genocides

What Actually Happened?

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The US refused entry and the MS St Louis was forced to return to Europe. Some European nations accepted some of the refugees: The Netherlands (181), France (224), Belgium (214), and Great Britain (287); others on board were forced to return to Germany. As the Nazis overran the Continent, many on the St Louis were sent to concentration camps, where 254 of them died.  

The US Department of State formally apologized to the survivors in 2012.

Ashamed Political Cartoon

"Ashamed!" Published June 6, 1939

Discussion Questions

1. What is the Statue of Liberty doing or holding in this cartoon, and how does it differ from her traditional depiction? 

2. What is the overall mood or tone of the cartoon? 

3. How does the cartoon reflect attitudes toward immigration and refugees in 1939? 

4. What symbols, labels, or text are included in the cartoon, and how do they clarify the message? 

5. Who or what is the target of the cartoon's critique? 

6. How does the Statue of Liberty's role as a symbol of American values contrast with the message of the cartoon? 

7. What emotions or reactions might this cartoon have provoked in its original audience? 

Sources

RG-45.01.08, Daily Mirror editorial about the rejection of St. Louis, 1939 | Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust. (2017). Lamoth.info. http://www.lamoth.info/index.php?p=digitallibrary/digitalcontent&id=5704