This year is the 50th anniversary of a tragic event that took place during World
             War II, involving 769 Jews who perished in a ramshackle ship called STRUMA
             while escaping from Romania.

             The woeful circumstances that surrounded this event were a grim global war,
             clumsy diplomatic maneuvers conducted by the British to keep the Jews away
             from Palestine, and also a hypocritical international politics. Jews all over
             Europe were desperately trapped in this chaos relentlessly haunted by a
             pathological Nazi hatred.

             In 1941, the war had already been going on for two years. The German troops
             scored whirlwind victories throughout Europe, and marched on eastward to
             Russia, forcing the Jewish émigrés from Poland, Austria, Hungary and
             Czechoslovakia to Romania, on riverboats and barges, each filled to over
             capacity, traveling down the river Danube. Their destination was the port city of
             Constanza in Romania, and their dream was to travel to Palestine via the only
             route open, the Black Sea and Turkey.

             During the war, the Arab factor was a sensitive issue for both the Allies and the
             Axis blocks. Hitler coveted the rich oil fields in the Middle East, and aggressively
             sought the Arab alliance. He made a pledge to the Grand Mufti (the highest
             religious figure of the Palestine Arabs) of Jerusalem that no Jews would be
             allowed to escape to Palestine. His notorious anti-Semitism won enormous
             sympathy in the Arab world.

             At that time, Palestine was a British mandate administered by a British governor.
             Under the circumstances, the British policy was not to offend the Arabs. They
             were afraid that even a perception of leaning towards the Jews could provoke a
             wide-spread Arab revolt. Furthermore, admitting any Jewish refugees to
             Palestine would have triggered a rush of Jewish immigration to Palestine from
             all over Europe and Balkans, which could lead to a grand scale settlement and
             relief problem. Therefore, the British blockaded Palestine to-prevent any
             clandestine entry by the Jews. Their excuse was possible infiltration of German
             spies under the guise of Jewish refugees.

             Turkey, as a neutral country. in a global war, and in geographically ideal location,
             was already flooded with refugees escaping the German invasion in the central
             Europe. The pressure from the British, the Germans, and from the Arabs not to
             admit any Jewish refugees to Turkey, and not to accommodate the refugee ships
             coming through the Black Sea, was enormous.

             Before World War II, Romania's Jewish population was about 900,000. About
             half-a-million Jews perished in Romania during the war, some of them under
             the German occupation and in the territories ceded to Bulgaria and to the Soviet
             Union. Some of them were deported to Nazi death camps, but a large majority
             died in the pogroms organized by the State and the militia.

             However, the persecution of the Jews in Romania began long before the war.
             Under the oppression of the Romanian Iron Guards (the equivalent of the
             German SS) the Jews began fleeing the country from the port of Constanza to
             Palestine in 1938. An Associated Press dispatch dated March 2, 1939 described
             the city of Constanza as a huge refugee camp with thousands of
             Palestine-bound Jews forming lines in front of travel agencies that sold tickets
             for fly-by-night shipping companies. This inaugurated an era of the so-called
             "coffin ships" as all the vessels chartered for this purpose were rickety,
             unseaworthy boats devoid of amenities, crammed 5 to 10 times their normal
             capacities, and their destination was, in most cases, fatal.

             The Romanian authorities cashed in on this bonanza enormously as the
             passengers had to ransom their way out of the country illegally. In early
             December 1940, a Uruguayan registry rotten ship called "SALVADOR" ventured a
             voyage to Palestine. SALVADOR had no cabins or bunks, no compass, no
             weather instruments, and no life-jackets. It could carry only 30-40 passengers,
             but instead,327 refugees were packed in tightly. SALVADOR miraculously made
             it to Istanbul. However, after she departed, a severe storm raged across the
             Marmara Sea, and the dilapidated ship sank on December 15, 1940, causing
             204 passengers, including 66 children to die. Out of 123 survivors, 63 were
             deported back to Bulgaria, and '--O managed to stay in Istanbul. They were
             picked up by another refugee ship, DARIEN II, bound to Palestine with 723
             passengers on board. DARIEN II almost made it to its destination, but the British
             captured the ship near the coast of Palestine on March 19,1941, and interned.

             The tragic fate of SALVADOR did not discourage the Jews of Romania to flee the
             country. Their living conditions were unbearable, and deteriorated by day. Many a
             Jew saw the handwriting on the wall, and they wanted to get out of Romania at
             all cost, and soon.

             Judging from the developments in the world scene, the Turks expected more
             refugee ships in the Istanbul harbor in the near future and more calamities at
             sea. In an effort to solve this problem, the Turkish government approached the
             United States government with a plan for an orderly transportation of 300,000
             Romanian Jews through Turkey to Palestine with the concurrence and
             cooperation of the British. However, Cavendish W. Cannon of the State
             Department's Division of European Affairs rejected the Turkish proposal on the
             grounds that there were not sufficient ships to handle the migration, and also it
             was contrary to the British White Paper published in 1939, allowing only 75,000
             Jewish immigrants to Palestine within the next five years. He further cited the
             Arab reaction to a Jewish exodus to Palestine.

             However, the Romanian Jews were quite resolute for their salvation. Around that
             time, a shipping agency began advertising a voyage to Palestine on a luxury
             liner. Their posters and brochures even featured the picture of Queen Mary.

             In reality, a cruel scheme was underway. In those days, the Germans
             requisitioned all ships, large and small, to transport foodstuffs and cattle from
             Romania to Germany via the river Danube. Therefore, to find an available ship
             was a major problem. The Germans, however, were not impressed at all by a
             ramshackle riverboat called MACEDONIA, abandoned in a dock. She was too old
             to risk cattle. This was a fluke for the ship owner, and he immediately took
             possession of the vessel. At that time MACEDONIA was 74 years old, and
             measured only 50 feet long and 20 feet wide (later on these measures were
             confirmed in a New York Times article dated March, 13, 1942).

             After a cursory repair, she was put under Panamanian registry, and renamed
             STRUMA. Within a short period of time 769 Jews responded favorably to the
             offer; 269 women,, some of whom were pregnant, 103 infants or toddlers,
             several professionals, including 30 physicians, 30 lawyers, 10 engineers, a
             number of businessmen, merchants, craftsmen, students and a select group of
             youth leaders called Betarim.

             When all these people saw the ship, their disappointment was beyond
             description. She had only 100 bunks, and not a single toilet! The ship owner had
             prepared himself for that moment; he soothed the worries of the passengers by
             saying that as the advertised ship carried an American flag she had to lay
             outside the territorial water of Romania; therefore, STRUMA was merely an
             intermediate transportation.

             On December 7,1941 the attack on Pearl Harbor took place, and the world
             seemed to be heading for a widespread conflagration. The prevailing mood for
             the Jews might have been not to waste any more time, and leave as soon as
             possible. In that haste STRUMA sailed from Constanza on December 12,1941.
             When they reached the open sea the passengers faced the harsh reality. There
             was no luxury liner waiting for them; yet, it was too late, there was no way they
             could go back to Romania.

             They arrived in Istanbul on December 15, 1941. The engine was malfunctioning,
             and there was leak in the hull. The captain of the ship requested a permit to stay
             in the harbor until those repairs were completed. The Turkish authorities,
             considering the recent catastrophe that befell SALVADOR and its Jewish
             passengers in the Sea of Marmara, generously accorded the permission to stay
             beyond what the transit regulations provided.

             In view of the unbearable conditions on the ship, the Turkish authorities were
             willing to permit the passengers to disembark while the ship was in repair;
             however, it became known that none of the passengers had entry visas to
             Palestine. As a compromise, the Turkish Foreign Office requested at least an
             assurance from Mr. Adrian Knatchbull-Hugessen, the British ambassador in
             Ankara, that all the passengers were to be issued visas to Palestine. However,
             the British refused to give such assurance.

             Thereupon, the Turkish-Red Crescent, The American-Jewish Joint

             Distribution Committee in Turkey, and the Jewish community in Istanbul
             mobilized to feed all 769 people on board.

             STRUMA stayed in the Istanbul harbor 71 days, during which time the Turkish
             government conducted intense negotiations with the concerned states to find a
             viable solution to the STRUMA affair. To that end, the British were reminded that
             the yearly quota of 10,000 allowed by the White Paper was still unfilled. Could it
             possibly be allocated for the passengers of STRUMA? The British dismissed
             this possibility claiming that as Romanians, these passengers were enemy
             aliens; as such they did not qualify for this quota.

             Shortly afterwards, the Turkish Foreign office engaged to an another initiative,
             this time on the part of the Romanian ambassador in Ankara, Alexandre
             Cretzianu, and proposed that STRUMA be allowed to return to Romania. The
             ambassador asserted that those Jews had left the country in an illegal manner,
             therefore, it was impossible to re-admit them to Romania.

             On January 19,1942, the United States entered the war. Panama followed suit,
             and Joined the Allies. These developments affected the status of STRUMA
             unfavorably, in that the captain and some crew members were Bulgarian
             citizens, and now Bulgaria was officially at war with Panama. The captain
             declared that they could not stay on a ship that belonged to an enemy country.
             Besides, he claimed, the Mediterranean was dangerous to travel with a crippled
             ship and a large number of Jews on board. The port authorities refused to
             relieve the captain from his post in such a critical time.

             In February, the British made a vague concession. They indicated that they might
             issue visas to the 70 children on board to enable them to travel to Palestine via
             the land route. It was not a firm, official declaration; in fact, shortly thereafter they
             revised the age category to include only those ages between 11 and 16. Yet, the
             Turkish government declared that such a decision was never confirmed to them.
             In fact, days passed and nothing further was heard from the British.

             In the meantime, a communication was received from London with regard to the
             Jewish quota to Palestine for the year of 1942. This triggered a new attempt on
             the part of the British government with a renewed hope. Yet, the British
             dismissed this initiative as well, asserting that this quota was not applicable to
             the persons who were traveling under an immigrant status prior to the
             announcement of this quota.

             Amidst all this turmoil, there was a case of miscarriage in the ship. A pregnant
             passenger, Medea Solomonowitz was in critical condition, and was permitted to
             be taken to the Or-Haim Jewish hospital in Balat, Istanbul. Four more
             passengers were allowed to leave STRUMA. A Turkish businessman, Vehbi
             Koc, interceded on behalf of a Socony Vacuum Oil Company (present day Mobil)
             executive and his family, and obtained visas for them from the British Consul in
             Istanbul. They left the ship to go to Palestine via a land route.

             Two months had passed with endless negotiations, high level contacts, and
             diplomatic stunts without any remedy to the stalemate, and the Turkish
             government became convinced that it had exhausted all the ways and means to
             find a viable solution to-this dilemma. All the sincere and constructive efforts the
             Turks put forth to bring about a happy ending to this human tragedy were to no
             avail. Their frustration, and their indignation with the profound hypocrisy that
             shrouded the whole affair kept mounting. The barriers were raised deliberately
             by the British to obstruct the Jewish immigration to Palestine; they had resorted
             all along to twisted dilatory tactics to drive the matter into the maze of politics. The
             Turks finally resigned themselves to the fact that no goodwill and humanitarian
             efforts, no concession or compromise could overcome the British intransigence.

             Thereupon, on February 23,1942, the captain of STRUMA was ordered to leave
             the harbor. A tugboat towed STRUMA to the Black Sea. Mrs. Solomonowitz had
             lost her child, and was recuperating in the hospital when the ship pulled out
             slowly, leaving her behind.

             The following day, February 24 at 9:00 A.M. the tragic news came through. An
             unexplained explosion had torn apart STRUMA while she was about 4-5 miles
             from the Cape Igne Ada. Several Turkish rescue teams were immediately
             dispatched to the area. They arrived on the scene struggling with huge waves
             and high wind. Alas, with the exception of one survivor all- 763 women, men and
             children had perished. The survivor was David Stoliar, a 21-year old Romanian
             Jew.

             He and Mrs. Solomonowitz were later granted admission to Palestine.

             There were speculations about the cause of the explosion. A German, Russian,
             Romanian, as well as a Bulgarian submarine was a strong possibility. The
             engine of the ship being rather small was ruled out as the source of explosion. A
             mine was a remote possibility, but was not ruled out entirely. Sea storms and
             freezing weather contributed to the fatalities, but did not account for the
             explosion. Or, what was thought to be an explosion was a sudden crack that
             caused the ship to come apart at the seams. Whatever it was, even today it is
             still a mystery.

             The STRUMA incident, painful though for the Jews, had been an eye-opener for
             the Romanian authorities. They figured that instead of exterminating the Jews
             they could let them buy their own freedom. This option had been exercised in the
             case of STRUMA, and proved very lucrative.

             The World Jewish Congress found out about this prospect and appealed to the
             U.S. State Department to allow money to be transferred through Switzerland to
             ransom Jews out of Europe, especially from Romania. The State Department
             agreed on condition that those freed would be admitted to Palestine by the
             British. To raise money for this likelihood, the Jews in the U.S. launched a
             fundraising campaign to buy freedom for their brethren. A Jewish American
             organization ran the following full-page advertisement in the New York Times on
             February 16,1943:

                       "For sale to the humanity. 70,000 Jews!
                       Guaranteed human beings at $50 a piece."

             However, the British refused any cooperation in that respect, and the venture fell
             through.

             The loss of STRUMA provoked heated debates in the British Parliament. Sir
             Harold Mac Michael, the High Commissioner for Palestine, was blamed for
             deliberately delaying the information to the Turks in regard to the admittance of
             the children to Palestine, and was transferred to Malaysia. Josiah G. Wedgwood
             in the House of Commons, and Lord Davis in the House of Lords accused the
             Palestine authorities and the British policy with respect to immigration to
             Palestine, and urged the British government to repeal the prohibition imposed-,
             on the Jews to immigrate to the Holy Land.

             The most reliable and detailed account about STRUMA's stay in Istanbul was
             chronicled by Mr. Abraham Galante, a prominent Turkish Jew who served two
             terms in the Turkish Parliament (1939-1946), and who was deeply involved in
             the STRUMA affair. He was in contact with the ship, with the authorities, as well
             as with the Jewish organizations in Turkey and on an international level on a
             daily basis. Furthermore, thanks to his legislator status he was privy to the
             behind the scenes efforts.

             Besides being a politician, Mr. Galante was a scholar, journalist, and a linguist.
             He was fluent in seven languages. He authored several books in Turkish and in
             French. About the STRUMA affair, he wrote:

             We, the authors of these lines, who followed closely the events during the stay of
             STRUMA in the harbor of Istanbul bear witness that the government of Turkish
             Republic did everything possible within its power to alleviate the lot of those
             involved in this tragedy. Besides the activities of the Work for Refugees in Transit
             Committee, which was composed of Henry Soriano, the president of the Jewish
             community in Istanbul; Edmond Goldberg, the former director of Deutsche Bank
             of Istanbul; and several notable Jews, such as Simon Brod, Rifat Caraco, Daniel
             Angel and others, the municipality of Istanbul, the Health Department, and the
             Turkish Red Crescent worked diligently and with solicitude to satisfy the needs
             of the passengers. Therefore, we express our gratitude to the government
             authorities for their hospitality during the extended stay of the ship, as well as for
             their intercession with the foreign governments to enable the passengers to
             immigrate to Palestine."

             The STRUMA was not the end of the expeditions from Romania to the Holy Land
             via Istanbul. Rather, this outrage brought the predicament of the Jews to the
             attention of the world, whereby admittance to Palestine was considerably
             relaxed. Furthermore, the land route via Syria, which was under Allied occupation
             at that time, was also established; therefore, the sea-crossing was needed only
             between Romania and Istanbul, which was shortened considerably. Thus, even
             smaller ships could be used for that purpose.

             The Presidential archives in Hyde Park, N.Y. records an initiative by the President
             Roosevelt in early 1944 that coincides with that newly adopted relaxation policy
             for the Jewish immigration to Palestine. According to On the Record, November
             1979 issue published by the General Service Administration, president
             Roosevelt authorized a cloak-and-dagger mission to rescue 50,000 Jews from
             the Nazi-occupied Southern Europe. The plan was to transport them with the
             Turkish boats to Istanbul and then to Palestine via the land route. For that
             purpose, president Roosevelt sent a department store executive, Mr. Ira
             Hischmann, to Turkey as his special envoy to make a deal with the Romanian
             ambassador to Turkey, Alexandre Cretzianu, Mr. Hirschmann had $5 million in
             gold sovereigns at his disposal to be used as needed. He met with the
             ambassador in the woods outside Ankara, and told him that the Soviet army was
             advancing, and not only his life but his family's life was also in danger. If he
             helped to get the Jews out of Romania on Turkish boats, in return, he and his
             family would be granted visas to the United States. According to Mr. Hirschmann,
             both sides kept their part of bargain, and the deal worked. Around that time, eight
             ships carried 2,936 Jewish refugees from Romania to Istanbul, and the Turks
             provided transit visas and trains to transport the Jewish refugees to Syria.

             In that period of time, some rather small, enterprising boats were shipwrecked
             or ran aground near the Turkish coasts, however, all of them were rescued by
             the Turkish coast-guards without any fatality; they were taken care of and then
             sent to Palestine.

             This operation ran successfully until August 1944, at which time, a Turkish ship,
             MEFKURE, was chartered to carry 350 Jews from Romania to Istanbul. The ship
             flew a Turkish flag and also a Red-Cross banner. Unfortunately, MEFKURE was
             dastardly torpedoed in the Black Sea by an unidentified warship. All the survivors
             were machine-gunned in the water while they were struggling to escape. Only
             five passengers, but none of the crewmembers, were able to survive in that
             carnage.

             This incident closed shut the only escape route for the Jews from Europe,
             leaving behind thousands more Jews abandoned to their grim fate.
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