Why Was King Wrong
On the 27th of May 1939 the St.Louis was refused entrance to Havana after a 14 day long journey. It had left its port two weeks earlier in Hamburg on the 13 of May. It was carrying 937 passengers(Holocaust memorial). Most of the passengers were Jewish German citizens but there was also some Europeans, Spanish and Cubans aboard the ship(Historica Canada). Most of these were refugees searching for a new home where they would be safe from Hitler. Once the ship was refused entrance to Havana Its captain was forced to ask Canadian Prime Minister William Mackenzie King if he would be willing to take the refugees. King was Prime minister at this time and he had been head of the Liberal party since 1919(Historica Canada). King declined and even though
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it may seem terrible now, by the standards of the day King acted correctly. The Prime Minister recognized the threat from Hitler, He also knew how hard it would be to bring that many immigrants into Canada and he did not see how badly everything would turn out. King was not at fault for the decision not to take in the Jewish refugees.
We can assume King knew there was definitely some threat from Hitler and by doing this we assume he did not want to put his country at risk. It was said that King was hoping to avoid war through appeasement saving his and other countries from harm(Historica Canada). But at this time Hitler was definitely a huge threat and Canada had barely been able to protect itself and was now asked to help arm others(Britain and allies) (Reader's Digest 53). Supplies were short and the country was concerned that it would not have the supplies to protect itself(Veterans Affairs). Hitler was invading many countries such as Austria and Czechoslovakia(Hundey and Magarrey 144). Canada as well as many other countries were feeling the threat. Hitler also never looked at Canada as a concern and by taking in the Jews it might make them a target. Countries where Jewish refugees were going were soon captured by Germany. Hitler was also putting out a bad image on any country accepting Jews “If only one country, for whatever reason, tolerates a Jewish family in it, that family will become the germ center for fresh sedition.” - Adolf Hitler(SimpleToRemember). Hitler is saying if a country lets a Jewish family live there it will be taken over by the Jews way of life and they will rebel against the state or monarch. This was also what scared King into not accepting the Jewish refugees.
When King was debating letting the Jews into Canada he had to think about many issues, one of them being the fact that it would be extremely difficult to bring that many immigrants into Canada at once. There were 937 people aboard the st louis and Canada had never brought that many immigrants into the country at once. Big questions were asked, where would they live?, would they cause trouble?. Canada at this time was also very anti-semitic which raised another question, how would they be treated?. King himself was also known to be very anti-semitic which obviously impacted his decision(Anti Semitism in Canada). Although he was known as very anti-semitic he did not believe in Hitler's theory that the Aryan race being superior. Frederick Blair said “We do not want to take too many Jews, but in present circumstances,we do not want to say so. We do not want to legitimize the Aryan mythology by introducing any formal distinction for immigration purposes between Jews and non-Jews.”(Anti semitism in Canada). After the massive immigration from 1903 to 1913 Canada had massive economic problems so the immigration policy had to be restricted(Historica Canada). This made it even harder for King to accept so many immigrants at once. Frederick Blair, director of the Government of Canada’s immigration Branch said “No country could open its doors wide enough to take in hundreds of thousands of Jewish people”(Vanier College). King believed Blair when he said this in the way that it is a lot of immigrants to take in at once.
Although many can argue today that what King did by refusing the refugees was wrong, we now have insight into the situation that King did not have back then.
For example we now know what Hitler did to all the Jews and how many were killed. We also know that the boat would not find anywhere else for the refugees to go and would end up distributing its passengers among Belgium, France, The Netherlands and Great Britain. Soon after France and the Netherlands would be captured by Germany and 254 of the passengers would not survive the holocaust(Historica Canada). It is also discussed in modern day if we would have made the same decision as King made all those years ago. Gerry Lunn, curator of exhibits at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic says “Would I have behaved any different, have said to let them in, had I been alive at that time?” “It would be self-deceiving to claim to know. My sense of values and how they have been guided are a product of a different time and different experiences.”(Holocaust Memorial). This statement again proves that King was going off what he knew and the information he had been given in that time and era. To have insight into a situation is to have a deep understanding of it and King did not have a deep understanding of the situation when he refused the refugees. King knew something bad was happening to the Jewish because of Hitler but he also didn’t know what Hitler’s potential was at the time. If King was given other options he may have let the refugees in as he claims in a letter written to Blair in which King tells of how George Wrong and a group of others had asked him to grant sanctuary to the refugees on humanitarian grounds. King advised Bair in this letter to “Strongly consider this request”(Holocaust Memorial). King also met Hitler roughly 2 years before the war began on June 29, 1937 and Hitler seemed to make a good impression on him during his visit. In the book Canada: Understanding Your Past by Ian Hundey and Michael
Magarrey on page 147 it mentions King's visit to Hitler and claims “Like many other world leaders, he did not think Hitler would start a war”. King says in his diary “Hitler is really one who truly loves his fellow man”(Historica Canada). King may have believed that whatever Hitler was doing it must have been for good reason. Canada is now frowned upon for not accepting Jewish refugees off the St. Louis and Prime Minister Mackenzie King took the blame. But by going off what King knew at the time he was not at fault for the decision he made. Prime Minister Mackenzie King was aware of the threat from Hitler, He was also cautious that bring that many immigrants into Canada at once might cause a problem and King did not have any insight into the situation that was occurring. Based off those three points it is safe to say that Prime minister mackenzie King was in no way at fault for the decision he made to refuse the Jewish refugees from Canada.
it may seem terrible now, by the standards of the day King acted correctly. The Prime Minister recognized the threat from Hitler, He also knew how hard it would be to bring that many immigrants into Canada and he did not see how badly everything would turn out. King was not at fault for the decision not to take in the Jewish refugees.
We can assume King knew there was definitely some threat from Hitler and by doing this we assume he did not want to put his country at risk. It was said that King was hoping to avoid war through appeasement saving his and other countries from harm(Historica Canada). But at this time Hitler was definitely a huge threat and Canada had barely been able to protect itself and was now asked to help arm others(Britain and allies) (Reader's Digest 53). Supplies were short and the country was concerned that it would not have the supplies to protect itself(Veterans Affairs). Hitler was invading many countries such as Austria and Czechoslovakia(Hundey and Magarrey 144). Canada as well as many other countries were feeling the threat. Hitler also never looked at Canada as a concern and by taking in the Jews it might make them a target. Countries where Jewish refugees were going were soon captured by Germany. Hitler was also putting out a bad image on any country accepting Jews “If only one country, for whatever reason, tolerates a Jewish family in it, that family will become the germ center for fresh sedition.” - Adolf Hitler(SimpleToRemember). Hitler is saying if a country lets a Jewish family live there it will be taken over by the Jews way of life and they will rebel against the state or monarch. This was also what scared King into not accepting the Jewish refugees.
When King was debating letting the Jews into Canada he had to think about many issues, one of them being the fact that it would be extremely difficult to bring that many immigrants into Canada at once. There were 937 people aboard the st louis and Canada had never brought that many immigrants into the country at once. Big questions were asked, where would they live?, would they cause trouble?. Canada at this time was also very anti-semitic which raised another question, how would they be treated?. King himself was also known to be very anti-semitic which obviously impacted his decision(Anti Semitism in Canada). Although he was known as very anti-semitic he did not believe in Hitler's theory that the Aryan race being superior. Frederick Blair said “We do not want to take too many Jews, but in present circumstances,we do not want to say so. We do not want to legitimize the Aryan mythology by introducing any formal distinction for immigration purposes between Jews and non-Jews.”(Anti semitism in Canada). After the massive immigration from 1903 to 1913 Canada had massive economic problems so the immigration policy had to be restricted(Historica Canada). This made it even harder for King to accept so many immigrants at once. Frederick Blair, director of the Government of Canada’s immigration Branch said “No country could open its doors wide enough to take in hundreds of thousands of Jewish people”(Vanier College). King believed Blair when he said this in the way that it is a lot of immigrants to take in at once.
Although many can argue today that what King did by refusing the refugees was wrong, we now have insight into the situation that King did not have back then.
For example we now know what Hitler did to all the Jews and how many were killed. We also know that the boat would not find anywhere else for the refugees to go and would end up distributing its passengers among Belgium, France, The Netherlands and Great Britain. Soon after France and the Netherlands would be captured by Germany and 254 of the passengers would not survive the holocaust(Historica Canada). It is also discussed in modern day if we would have made the same decision as King made all those years ago. Gerry Lunn, curator of exhibits at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic says “Would I have behaved any different, have said to let them in, had I been alive at that time?” “It would be self-deceiving to claim to know. My sense of values and how they have been guided are a product of a different time and different experiences.”(Holocaust Memorial). This statement again proves that King was going off what he knew and the information he had been given in that time and era. To have insight into a situation is to have a deep understanding of it and King did not have a deep understanding of the situation when he refused the refugees. King knew something bad was happening to the Jewish because of Hitler but he also didn’t know what Hitler’s potential was at the time. If King was given other options he may have let the refugees in as he claims in a letter written to Blair in which King tells of how George Wrong and a group of others had asked him to grant sanctuary to the refugees on humanitarian grounds. King advised Bair in this letter to “Strongly consider this request”(Holocaust Memorial). King also met Hitler roughly 2 years before the war began on June 29, 1937 and Hitler seemed to make a good impression on him during his visit. In the book Canada: Understanding Your Past by Ian Hundey and Michael
Magarrey on page 147 it mentions King's visit to Hitler and claims “Like many other world leaders, he did not think Hitler would start a war”. King says in his diary “Hitler is really one who truly loves his fellow man”(Historica Canada). King may have believed that whatever Hitler was doing it must have been for good reason. Canada is now frowned upon for not accepting Jewish refugees off the St. Louis and Prime Minister Mackenzie King took the blame. But by going off what King knew at the time he was not at fault for the decision he made. Prime Minister Mackenzie King was aware of the threat from Hitler, He was also cautious that bring that many immigrants into Canada at once might cause a problem and King did not have any insight into the situation that was occurring. Based off those three points it is safe to say that Prime minister mackenzie King was in no way at fault for the decision he made to refuse the Jewish refugees from Canada.