May 13, 1939. German transatlantic liner, the Saint Louis set sail from Hamburg, Germany bound for Havana, Cuba. There were nine hundred and thirty eight passengers on board, almost all of them Jews fleeing the Third Reich. The bulk of the Jewish passengers had applied for United States visas and had planned to only be in Cuba until they could enter the United States. When they arrived in Cuba, however, all but twenty eight passengers were denied entry.
As the political turmoil and uncertainty of the passengers' destination unfolded, the children among the passengers on the Saint Louis played a game later related to the world by ship captain Gustav Schroeder Children created a barricade of chairs along one of the ship's corridors. Two children served as "guards" as the other children formed a line in front of the barricade. As each child approached the barricade, one of the guards would ask, "Are you a Jew?" If they said no, they were admitted past the barrier. If they said yes, the guard would shout, "Jews not admitted." The child would then plead, "Oh please let me in. I'm only a very little Jew."
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