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Voyage of the Doomed: Commemorating the SS St. Louis

Tuesday, June 14, 2022, 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
HIAS Pennsylvania Zoom

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Voyage of the Doomed: Commemorating the SS St. Louis

HIAS Pennsylvania’s June 2022 Advocacy Event

On Tuesday, June 14th, 2022, at 7PM, HIAS Pennsylvania commemorated the SS St. Louis with a virtual conversation over Zoom. In 1939, the SS St. Louis, a ship that carried more than 900 Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust, was turned away from Cuba, the United States, and Canada and then forced to return to Europe, where many SS St. Louis passengers perished in the Holocaust. This event is also known as the “Voyage of the Damned”.

HIAS Pennsylvania’s virtual program featured Gratz College Professor Paul Finkelman, who shared his knowledge about the doomed voyage in the context of US immigration history, and then participated in a Q&A with Executive Director of HIAS PA, Cathryn Miller-Wilson, about how this event and its context are being experienced again now, and where we go from here.

As an immigration legal and social services and refugee resettlement organization, HIAS Pennsylvania is dedicated to helping refugees and immigrants from all over the world. In addition to providing direct services to regional newcomers, we advocate for immigrants at the policy level and provide educational activities about immigration-related events, past and present, in US history. As we go from worldwide refugee crisis to worldwide refugee crisis, we see these events repeating themselves.

Faced with the three current crises in Haiti, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, this is a singular moment to be on the right side of history while learning about a time when we, as a nation, refused to open the doors of opportunity for people from all parts of the world.

“Now, more than ever, at this time when our world is being pummeled by war and natural and political disasters, it is critical to learn about past events in US history, which brought us to where we are today, so we do not repeat them,” says HIAS PA’s Executive Director, Cathryn Miller-Wilson.

 

This program was generously supported by Dveera Segal & Bradley Bridge

 


 Here’s a documentary we recommend if you want to learn more about the Voyage of the Damned.

G'mar chatima tova.

HIAS Pennsylvania's office will be closed on Monday, September 25th, in observance of Yom Kippur. 

TONIGHT (4/20) - Join us ONLINE at the 2023 Golden Door Awards!

Join us ONLINE at 6:45PM TONIGHT, Thursday, April 20th, for HIAS PA's 2023 Golden Door Awards: United for Immigrants!

Happy Passover from HIAS Pennsylvania!HIAS PA is closed in observance of the Jewish holiday of Passover

HIAS Pennsylvania will be closed in observance of the Jewish holiday of Passover from 1PM on Wednesday, April 5th through Friday, April 7th, and on Wednesday, April 12th and Thursday, April 13th.

Join us at the 2023 Golden Door Awards!United for Immigrants

The Golden Door Awards is HIAS Pennsylvania's annual fundraiser. Your generous support helps us serve low-income immigrants from all over the world as they build new lives in our community.

Building closed until further noticeHIAS PA remains open!

HIAS PA’s physical offices at 600 Chestnut Street are CLOSED until further notice due to a burst pipe in the building.

Our organization remains open, and HIAS PA staff continue to work remotely at this time.

Please call (215) 832-0900 with any questions.

Building closed until further noticeHIAS PA remains open!

HIAS PA’s physical offices at 600 Chestnut Street are CLOSED until further notice due to a burst pipe in the building.

Our organization remains open, and HIAS PA staff continue to work remotely at this time.

Please call (215) 832-0900 with any questions.

TONIGHT: Join us at the table!Join us for Thankful Together!

Thankful Together, formerly known as Refugee Thanksgiving, is happening TONIGHT at 6PM!

Register here to join us tonight: https://hiaspa1.wpengine.com/event/thankful-together-2021/

TONIGHT: Join us at the table!Register now for Thankful Together!

Thankful Together, formerly known as Refugee Thanksgiving, is happening TONIGHT at 6PM!

Register here to join us tonight: https://hiaspa1.wpengine.com/event/thankful-together-2021/

Celebrate our volunteers who make this all possible!Click here at 11:45AM to join our Annual Meeting!

Click here to join our virtual Annual Meeting!

The Annual Meeting starts at noon, but join us at 11:45AM for an informal chat before the event!

POSTPONED! Speed Advocacy: Afghanistan

Today's Speed Advocacy: Afghanistan Facebook Live event has been postponed due to a worldwide Facebook outage. We will update you as soon as possible about rescheduling the event.