On December 12,
1941, the MV Struma sailed from Constanza in
Romania with 769 immigrants
aboard. The
vessel, commissioned by the New Zionist Organization and
the Irgun, was the last
to leave
Europe in wartime. The ship was actually an old cargo
barge used to carry cattle along
the
Danube.
The objective
was to anchor in Turkey, and from there to await
certificates for Palestine. The
small,
unseaworthy ship sailed for three days, just making it to
Istanbul before the engine died.
The Turkish
authorities prevented the disembarkation of the
passengers for fear that the British
would not
give them certificates and Turkey would be forced to give
them refuge. The ship
remained in
Istanbul for 70 days. The British refused to grant
permission for them to enter
Palestine
and the Turks would not let them repair the engine,
disembark or remain in Turkey.
The only
food and water available for the passengers was provided
by the local Jewish
community.
Despite the
despairing appeals of the captain that the ship was
unable to continue on its way, the
Turkish
authorities sent the ship back to the Black Sea on
February 23, 1942. On the following
day a mighty
explosion was heard and the ship went down. Much later it
was determined the
ship had
been sunk by a torpedo from the Soviet submarine
Shch-213. Only one passenger, the 19-year old
David
Stoliar,
survived and
eventually reached Palestine. Among the dead were 103
children.
