annette lachmann: in the 1930's, antisemitism was spreading more intensely throughout europe, but my family felt relatively safe because we were in belgium, a neutral country during the war. we lived in a community that was accepting of us, but as the war broke out it was only a matter of time. [ominous music] [pensive music]

simone neufeld: life in belgium, for me, was wonderful. it's a very, very catholic country, but therwas very little antisemitism. i lived a very protected life. [simone neufeld at age 13] "my family likes to go sightseeing in brussels on the weekends, but my brother and i love going into the city with my dad and we ride with him on his motorcycle." irving redel: life in brussels. there was some antisemitism, but we didn't really feel it. [irving redel at age 17] "we don't really feel the antisemitism, but my friends and i think it's just a matter of time before this widespread hatred will come to us in belgium too." [crowd chanting] [music turns dark] annette lachmann: my sister told me about the antisemitism. in gym, malvina recalled that they had to lie on

the floor head to head and there was a blond girl, who was non-jewish, who refused to have her head touch my sister's head. [malvina lachmann at age 11] "some of the kids knocked my head against the wall, and the teachers have been examining my scalp for lice. they say i'm clean and well groomed for a jewish child. they are calling me "sale juif" which means "dirty jew" in french." redel: i had certain opinions already. i was very politically minded. i felt that it was time to leave the country believing that it was just a matter of time that pro-nazi sentiments would come into belgium much more. [irving redel at age 17] "the hauser jews are leaving the country by car and on foot. hitler is becoming more and more powerful." [overwhelming yells from crowd]

the french and the english aren't doing anything to subdue the germans. redel: naturally, the first thought was to go to the united states. [music softens] unfortunately wasn't easy. we had to follow thquota stem. wasn't an easy one to . 1937-38 it became much more imperative to start to find a place to go somewhere else. [irving redel at age 17] the tenth of may came along, belgium was invaded by the germans. everything we've created and wanted to do has become nonsense. annette lachmann: we had decided to leave because,

you know, we knew that war was imminent. [malvina lachmann at age 11] "my dad tried to get us on a ship for may 23rd, but it didn't happen because on may 10th, the war broke out." [canons, gunfire, plane engines roar] neufeld: on may 10th 1940, we woke up 5:00 am, i remember the time. everybody ran out into the streets, we were still in our nightclothes, there were hundreds of planes overhead. "what's going on?" and then all of a sudden, we saw great big puffs, like cotton balls, and my father said, "that's anti-aircraft, those are german planes." [plane engines roar] and then my father turned around, i remember he turned around to us and he said, "get back in the house and start packing. we are leaving." right there and then. [simone neufeld at age 13] "my dad said that each of us

can only pack one bag per person. that's it? how do i choose what to leave behind?" that's it? lachmann: i was terrified. my mother was with me the whole time. [malvina lauchmann at age 11] "we have to go down to the basement as fast as we can in case a bomb hits our house and my little sister annette, won't stop crying. we have to get out of this house, but where will we go?" [piercing ringing] neufeld: we knew that the germans were bad, but we didn't have any idea how bad it was going to get. that's the problem. [sinister music] redel: the germans were marching and circumventing the maginot line coming from the north, through holland, through e albert canal and coming down south, towards antwerp,

towards brussels. [irving redel at age 17] "two days ago, the bombing started coming down in full force and we're trying to get out as fast as we can because the germans are advancing alarmingly fast. we're leaving with the hopes that the french, the british will counterattack and somehow we will be able to come back. my father just wants to go back to get some of our possessions, but we can't let him go. we can't separate from each other, we can't take that risk." redel: it's very hard for someone to leave a lifetime of possessions... and not come back. lachmann: the problem was to get out of antwerp belgium, we thought it was safer to go to france. lee sterling: thousands of belgiums, jews and others, were escaping the nazi onslaught.

it's indescribable what the roads were like. jammed, absolutely jammed. [irving redel at age 17] "the streets are so crowded with other children and their families and none of us have anywhere to go. we've been in paris for about ten days, but the germans are once again marching through, closer and closer to us." redel: the germans, they were advancing and we were running. lachnn: there were alot of refugees leaving antwerp and taking the same roads into france right ere the refugeeserens and a few were killed. [malvina lachmann at age 11] "we're running into ditches to dodge the bombs and i'm not sure if we're going to make it out alive. i don't know what directio the planes are going to be coming from next." lachmann: my mother was terrified when they started bombing and they were on the roadot in the cars.

she ran into a ditch with me and covered me with her body. [irving redel at age 17] "through some luck, i got us transit visas through spain to portugal, and my dad managed to get us transit visas from portugal to mexico. we've traveled over one thousand kilometers and we must keep moving." stephen morewitz: hitler was taking over europe and it was a dangerous war situation. jews were fling europe at the time, and lisbon was one of the few ports that jews could escape from and christians as well. the rand family, were bribing their way to get to lisbon. kathi rand: my father ended up leaving, six hours before the arrival of hitler and s nazis. [wolf rand at age 36] "we've been in bordeaux with no visas and no papers. i've nothing that would help us get out of the country and the germans are fast approaching.

i hear there's a man from portugal who can help us." kathi rand: my father, he had heard that in the town of bordeaux in southern france that there were people who were able to get visas. my father called sousa mendes "the man," the man who gave the visas. he had absolutely no idea what his name was. sterling: this man, aristides de sousa mendes, he was the portuguese consul in bordeaux. he had already started violating this infamous circular fourteen, issued by the portuguese dictatorship which basically said, don't allow any refugees into portugal, especially jews that have been expelled from their country. [aristides de sousa mendes] "i will obey my conscience and grant these visas. i do not have the right to let so many women, children, and men die.

if thousands of jews are suffering because of one man, hitler, surely i can suffer for so many jews." sterling: nobody is quite sure of how many visas sousa mendes issued. rand: it was just people exiting, pushing and shoving and trying their best. [aristides de sousa mendes] "the portugese foreign office warned me not to issue any more visas however, i am continuing to issue them to as many people as i can. i only wish i could save more." sterling: some people say the portuguese state police charged him with having issued thirty thousand visas. ten thousand of which were to jews. rand: my father managed to get the necessary transit visas to cross through the border from france to spain, and the border from spain to portugal.

redel: in perpignan where we tried to get that spanish visa, it was a horrible situation. the lines were tremendously long. we tried to get to the spanish consulate. [irving redel at age 17] "the police are keeping us in line and i need to get my transport papers co-signed but these papers can only be signed by spanish people and spanish people aren't allowed to do it. it's such a cynical game going on." "i think i found someone who can help us get visas, the germans will be here any minute. it's a nightmare, but what can we do?" redel: we crossed the border, on the 25th of june at about twelve o'clock, the border was closed by the germans at about two or three o'clock in the afternoon. [music rises with emotion]

lachmann: we got to lisbon, it was terribly hot, humid and hot. rand: my father was in lisbon, heasn't at allure that he was going to be able to get on a boat. he was searching around for visas and boats. morewitz: the quanza was . normally, the quanza was a ship that went down neufeld: they went to the cthe office,a. who owned that ship, you know, and they said we have people who want to go on the ship and the guy says, "i'll take you, as long as you pay." see that's when money comes in. [simone neufeld at age 13] we're bribing our way through, we have to pay for everything. our survival seems to depend on money. if we have enough money, hopefully we'll get help. morewitz: the captain of the quanza believed that a lot of those passengers ha forged their papers. the passengers were charged a return fee. they were exploited, even though they wanted to go one way.

the ship owners forced them to pay for return passage. three hundred and sixty-two passengers embarked lisbon portugal on board the quanza. the majority of the quanza passengers were from belgium, belgium jews... and they we luy to get visa. many of them had visas to mexico. lachmann: and my sister took a look at this ship and said, "this is going to take me to america?" it was a very crowded ship. redel: the ship was a five thousand ton ship, nothing to brag about. neufeld: it was not the queen mary. [she laughs] that's for sure. harry a morewitz: the company that ran the ship, it was a fly by night organization which had been formed strictly to bring the refugees at a great expense to the refugees,

to the united states. [simone neufeld at age 13] "i'm so relieved to be on this ship but i hope they will allow us into the united states. i heard that another ship was turned away and sent back to europe. what if america doesn't want us?" morewitz: it was a neutral vessel. it could cross the atlantic and not be torpedoed because it was a portugese ship and it was neutral. lachmann: i know how desperate i felt and i was terrified that my mother would disappear and i would be left all alone. my sister, mal, was so seasick she couldn't stand it. [malvina lachmann at age 11] "i'm spending most of the time on deck, even when the weather is bad. i can't wait to get off this ship because i can't keep any food down with all this rocking on the ocean.

the younger kids on the ship have no idea that there's a chance that america doesn't want us either. who's to say that we'll even be allowed in?" [suspenseful music] h.a. morewitz: there was a very, very strong isolationist tendency in the united states at the time and people didn't want to get involved in the european affairs. morewitz: there was anti-alien feelings because the american public did not want to get involved in trench warfare and have their young kids die over needless war and taking these refugees could complicate matters and get them into war. germany could respond by threatening the u.s. and starting a war with the u.s. father charles e. coughlin: we are christian iso far as we believe in christ's principle of

"love your nghbor as yourself," and with that principle i challenge every jew in this nation to tell me that he does not believe in it. [crowd cheers] blanche wiesen cook: father coughlin, he was very popular and he was preaching hate on the radio on a weekly basis and he had one of the most popular shows on the rad and he had a column, it was that bad. roosevelt era is dominated by bigotry... of all kinds. morewitz: there was antisemitism in the country. there were speeches being made, madison square garden, they had antisemetic, they had brownshirt presentations. fritz julious kuhn: we as german american bund organized as american citizens with american ideals and determined to protect ourselves, our homes,

our wives and children against the slimy conspirators and the parasite hand of jewish communism in our schools, our universities, our very homes. in our schools, [thunderous applau and cheers] s. morewitz: steamship st. louis, turned away with about 990 refugees. this was a big issue. hitler at the time was turning away the jews and was using it as political foer forimself because he would say, "look, none of these other countries are taking the jewish fugees and i'll dece what to do." so, he was gting polical munitiony expelling the jews at this time, letting them escape, and then jews were not being accepted into other countries. wiesen cook: the refugee laws inhe united states, and the immigration laws in the united states, are such that about a 150,000 people

could have been admitted annually and in 1940 for example, less than 4,000 were admitted in that whole year. lachmann: on the quanza it took us more than a week to get to new york. morewitz: those who had american visas, u.s. visas disembarked in new york city in brooklyn. neufeld: and we stood there on the railing and watched them get off. [simone neufeld at age 13] "i don't understand why we can't just get off this ship. why won't any of the adults explain it to me?" neufeld: when we watched the people get off in new york city, it was a low part of the... you know like, "where are we? nobody wants us."

that was it, yeah- yeah. [malvina lachmann at age 11] "it feels like slong since i've seen my father. he came to new york last year to find a job and a plac for us to live. we're all going to feel so much sar once we are with him." lachmann: my father was allowed to board the ship in new york and he brought me a big doll and he brought us clothes, and food, salami. [she laughs] redel: we had hope. we were writing to the state depament, everybody had a hope. everybody had someone who knew someone they thought, but it didn't work. [irving redel at age 17] i thought the authorities were going to let us get off the ship in new york, but no. we'll go to mexico. we'll make a life in mexico. the captain says the ship will t take us to vera cruz. lachmann: my sister was crying because she felt

there was no hope. they would not let us off the ship because we were over the quota, we didn't have visas for america. so, everybody was in great despair there on that ship. [irving redel at age 17] the newspapers are writing that 80 jews are going to mexico but in vera cruz the authorities received orders not to let us disembark. redel: mexico at that time was a socialist, pro-communist government and didn't particularly care to let in quote, unquote "rich jews". lachmann: they said our visas were illegitimate. [malvina lachmann at age 11] a lot of garbage is piling up and there is no place to dump it because nobody is taking it away. this ship is starting to stink. it's awful. it's hot and it's smelly. lachmann: they said we have to go back to lisbon. there were lawyers there who offered to get you

off the ship if you had enough money but we didn't have that kind of money. [simone neufeld at age 13] "where do we go from here? we're getting really worried. my mother and father are very upset. who's going to take us in? what do we do? we're sailing from port to port and we've been traveling for about a month. morewitz: the remaining were in a no man's land, no woman's land. the state department was trying to track the quanza. they didn't know where the ship was going after she left vera cruz, mexico. they were trying to figure out what was happening to the ship so that they would be able to respond if the ship came to the u.s. neufeld: that's how we made our way back, to north america. that's how we ended up in virginia and we were in virginia for one reason and one reason only, to buy fuel to go back to europe.

[suspenseful music] morewitz: the port of hampton roads is in southeast virginia at the mouth of the chesapeake bay. at the time, a lot of steam ships were coming in and out of hampton roads and my grandparents were busy as maritime attorneys. [gulls calling] david morewitz, esq.: my father is jacob l., also known as j.l. morewitz, and my mother sally rome morewitz, they were attorneys in virginia in 1940. h.a. morewitz: our family, we were deviants from the norm. my mother passed the state bar exam and became a partner with my father in his law practice. instead of mewitz, it became morewitz and morewitz. [jl morewitz, esq in 1940] "we've been notified that the steamship quanza is docked at the norfolk harbor. i'm taking the hampton roads ferry to norfolk to visit

the refugees and the captain on that ship." [sallie rome morewitz in 1940] i have to quickly prepare this paperwork so that j.l. can bring it all to both the u.s. district court and the coastguard in norfolk. they're going to sail away if he doesn't get over there to put this claim in immediately." h.a. morewitz: she handled all the office work and he did the court proceedings. morewitz: they just wanted to stay in port long enough to load up for coal, they were going to detain the passengers, not let them disembark in virginia. d. morewitz, esq: patrick malin was a member of what was called the president's committee for political refugees. [patrick murphy malin] "under secretary of state breckenridge long wants us to make it very difficult for new refugees to come into the country. he's directed me to go down to norfolk and assess the situation. i'm to determine if we should grant any of the people on the ship political refugee status and how many we should send back to europe." [from the war diary of breckinridge long]

"mr. malin, before you issue a visa to these refugees, procrastinate. delay, delay, delay!" s. morewitz: breckinridge long was very much against these refugees coming to shore, except for five. according to his war diary he had only authorized about five refugees coming ashore from the quanza. one was marcel dailo, a year later he was the card dealer in casablanca. breckinridge long wrote in his war diary that marcel dailo was wanted by the nazis and so we'll give him sanctuary and we'll give a few pregnant wen and cldren sanctuary and that's it. [jl morewitz in 1940] "some people will be allowed off the ship but most are being held hostage. so, i've been hired by one of the families to help them. i'm heading down to the court in norfolk to get this ship held at port while activists try to sort this out with the state department. meanwhile, some of the local women

are getting involved." duke rosenberg: my mother and her friends were members of the national council of jewish women, and they wanted to help out. which they did. [elise margolius] "yesterday, i got a call that a ship is here with 86 jewish war refugees, and they've been denied entry into the united states. while they're stuck here on this ship, the least we can do is try to comfort them with some kosher meals." [dramatic music] [irving redel at age 17] "our ship has stopped in norfolk for coal, and our relatives and people in the community are crusading for a release. even first lady eleanor roosevelt stepped in! but the us government isn't happy about us coming in." [from the war diary of breckinridge long] "as soon as it became known that they were to arrive at norfolk, i have been flooded with pressure from groups and telegrams and telephone calls and personal visits

to permit these people off this boat." [jl morewitz in 1940] "my strategy is to delay the ship long enough for the refugee advocates toome down morewitz: and fdr was very hesitant to get involved. it was unpopular, accepting these refugees. breckinridge long told fdr the quanza represents a threat to homeland security. there were potential nazis on board the ship, in breckinridge long's view, and potential communist spies. [melancholy music] it was a very dramatic time because in 24 hours, they were going to go back to lisbon and face the nazi regime and face the bombs. i can tell you what happened on board the quanza that illustrates the concern that the refugees had. they were afraid of going back and dying. one passenger, hildman wolfe,

jumped ship and he was picked up by the military police and returned to the ship. the captain was so concerned that the passengers would start jumping ship that he had armed guards on the deck of the quanza. [malvina lachmann at age 11] "my father was able to board the ship in new york, but now that we're in virginia he's not allowed to anymore." lachmann: looking through the porthole was my sister, my mher, and i. and my father was on the dock, and he was reaching with his hand up to us. and the journalist took this photograph. [malvina lachmann at age 11] i feel like we're never getting off this ship. i just want to be back on land.

a local newspaper reporter interviewed us. [sighs] maybe this will help. lachmann: my sister was in despair. we had already been sent back from vera cruz, and she was sure the same thing was going to happen here. the headline was, "are you going to send these people back to the camps of germany?" everybody was in great despair, there on that ship. wiesen cook: these refugees were running for their lives, against mass roundups into faraway camps that were established as early as 1933. morewitz: and at that time, eleanor roosevelt was trying to coince the state department, breckenridge long, and her husband, fdr, to allow the refugees to disembark in norfolk. [first lady eleanor roosevelt] "my family came here a very long time ago. someday everyone will realize we are connected.

everything that happens anywhere ultimately affects everyone everywhere." [from the war diary of breckinridge long] "mrs. roosevelt called me up and expressed her interest in the children. i'm consistently declining to deviate from the procedure which we had adopted. the fact that these people are on the boat does not constitute an emergency of any kind." [mournful music] [jl rewitz, esq 1940] "last year, the st. louis, , was turned away and sent back to europe. i can't let this happen to these people too." [sad violin music] neufeld: there was a man, an ael, by t name of

jacob morewitz who came on board. he was this jewish lawyer who was a maritime lawyer, which is such an unusual thing! and he said, "i'll see what i can do." h.a. morewitz: my father, jacob l. morewitz he had handled a number of cases involving various immigration problems, mostly dealing with chinese who re actuly very badly treated by the immigration authorities. morewitz: my grandfather was a fighter for the underdog. he didn't have any fear. he would take the case regardless of the political ramifications. my grandfather represented the rand family. [wolf rand] "we've hired a maritime lawyer in virginia. if he doesn't help us get off the ship, i don't know what's going to become of us."