The closed border · Canada · 1939
Immigration policy turned prejudice into a refusal with life-changing consequences.
Explore CanadaPublished by WTJPublication updated
1939
The closed border · A ship of refugees finds no Canadian welcome
Immigration policy turned prejudice into a refusal with life-changing consequences.
The St. Louis passengers
In 1939, the St. Louis carried more than 900 Jewish refugees seeking escape from Nazi persecution. After rejection elsewhere, appeals for admission to Canada also failed. The passengers returned to Europe, where countries accepted them, but the later war placed many under Nazi control.
Exclusion is an official decision
Antisemitism influenced Canadian immigration leadership and wider attitudes toward admitting Jews. Restrictions were not merely an unfortunate absence of sympathy. Officials possessed the authority to open or close routes, and their decisions narrowed the options of people facing persecution.
The consequences extend beyond the border
More than a quarter of the St. Louis passengers later died in the Holocaust. Canada did not operate the Nazi killing system, but its refusal contributed to the failure of refuge. Keeping those responsibilities distinct makes it possible to explain both the perpetrators’ crimes and the effects of other governments’ choices.