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For These Doomed Passengers, There Was No Refuge in Cuba

JL;DR SUMMARY Through examining Armando Lucas Correa's novel 'The German Girl,' the article explores the historical tragedy of the SS St. Louis, a ship carrying Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany in 1939. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

HolocaustJewish RefugeesDisplacementMemorySs St. LouisHistorical FictionCubaHannah RosenthalArmando Lucas CorreaThe German Girl

Places mentioned

Berlin, Germany
"She is 11 and living in Berlin in 1939 when the novel begins."
Havana, Cuba
"Raised by Hannah in Havana, he immigrated to New York, married, and lost his life in yet another tragedy: the 9/11 terrorist attacks."
Cuba
"In retrospect, the St. Louis has come to embody the worlds indifference to the plight of European Jewry a tough, sad, inculpating symbol of bias and missed opportunity."
New York, United States
"The narrative switches back and forth between her voice and that of her grandniece, Anna, also 11 when we meet her in the New York of 2014."
Canada
"To their discredit, the United States and Canada both declined to accept the ship."
United Kingdom
"Finally, Great Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands agreed to take the remaining passengers."
France
"Finally, Great Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands agreed to take the remaining passengers."
Belgium
"Finally, Great Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands agreed to take the remaining passengers."
Netherlands
"Finally, Great Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands agreed to take the remaining passengers."
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
"Jewish history is one long story of seeking refuge. From Hitlers Berlin to Soviet Moscow, from fundamentalist Teheran to chaos-ridden Addis-Ababa read more of Jewish refugees stories here."
Moscow, Russian Federation
"Jewish history is one long story of seeking refuge. From Hitlers Berlin to Soviet Moscow, from fundamentalist Teheran to chaos-ridden Addis-Ababa read more of Jewish refugees stories here."
Tehran, Iran
"Jewish history is one long story of seeking refuge. From Hitlers Berlin to Soviet Moscow, from fundamentalist Teheran to chaos-ridden Addis-Ababa read more of Jewish refugees stories here."

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Cairo Item ID 59853
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2025-08-22 05:31:33 UTC
Curated 2025-08-22 08:30:57 UTC