Struma
Encyclopedia
The Struma was a ship chartered to carry Jewish refugees from Axis
-allied Romania
to British-controlled Palestine during World War II
. On February 23, 1942, with its engine inoperable and its refugee passengers aboard, Turkish
authorities towed the ship from Istanbul
harbor through the Bosphorus out to the Black Sea
, where they abandoned it without food, water, or fuel. Within hours, in the morning of February 24, it was torpedo
ed and sunk by the Soviet
submarine
Shch 213, killing 768 men, women and children, with only one survivor, a 19 year old man, making it the largest exclusively civilian naval disaster of the war.
The Struma sinking, along with the Patria disaster
which preceded it, became a rallying point for the Irgun
and LEHI
Jewish underground movements, encouraging their violent revolt against the British presence in Palestine.
n ship sailing under the Panamian flag
, was commissioned by the Revisionist Zionist
organizations in Romania, especially Betar, to carry Romanian Jews
as immigrants to Palestine
. Apart from the crew, there were approximately 790 passengers. They included some Betar members but were mostly wealthy Romanian Jews who could afford to pay the high price of a ticket. The voyage had the approval of the Ion Antonescu
government.
Most of the passengers were not permitted to see the vessel before the day of the voyage. When they finally saw it they were shocked to discover it was far worse than they had imagined. Sleeping quarters were extremely cramped without enough space to sit up, and the ship had only two lifeboats. Passengers were not told that the engine was in even worse condition: it had been recovered from a wreck on the bottom of the Danube River.
The engine gave out several times after the Struma set sail from Constanţa
, on the Black Sea
on 12 December 1941. After three days, the ship was towed to Istanbul
where it remained at anchor while secret negotiations were conducted over the fate of the passengers. In the wake of violent unrest within Palestine, the British
government was determined to uphold its policy of restricting mass Jewish immigration and urged the Turkish
government of Refik Saydam
to prevent the ship from sailing onwards. Turkey refused to allow the passengers to disembark. After weeks of negotiation, the British agreed to honour the expired Palestinian visas
possessed by a few passengers, who were allowed to continue to Palestine overland. With the help of influential friends, a few others also managed to escape. One woman was admitted to an Istanbul hospital following a miscarriage.
On February 12, British officials agreed that children aged 11 to 16 on the ship would be given Palestinian visas, but a dispute occurred over their transportation to Palestine. The United Kingdom declined to send a ship, while Turkey refused to allow them to travel overland.
, visible to those who lived on the banks of the strait. Despite weeks of work by Turkish engineers, the engine would not start. The Turkish authorities abandoned the ship in the Black Sea, about 10 miles north of the Bosphorus, where it drifted helplessly.
On the morning of February 24, there was a huge explosion and the ship sank. It was later alleged that the ship had been torpedoed by the Soviet ShCh (Scuka) class submarine
SC-213, which had also sunk the Turkish vessel Çankaya the evening before. 768 people were killed, among them more than one hundred children. Only one person survived: a 19-year-old man named David Stoliar
, who was found clinging to the wreckage by the crew of a rowboat sent out from one of the watchtowers along the Turkish coast, twenty-four hours after the sinking. Stoliar was imprisoned in Turkey for six weeks, then released and admitted to Palestine. He served in North Africa
with the British Army
during World War II
. He later served in the Israel Defense Forces
during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
. Later, he moved to Japan
and then the United States
.
opened the debate in the British House of Lords
by urging that the mandate over Palestine be transferred to the United States
, since Britain had reneged on its commitments. He stated with bitterness: "I hope yet to live to see those who sent the Struma cargo back to the Nazis hung as high as Haman
cheek by jowl with their prototype and Führer, Adolf Hitler
".
For many years there were competing theories about the explosion that sank the Struma. In 1964 a German
historian discovered that a Soviet Shchuka class submarine
, the SC-213 (sometimes referred to as ShCh-213), had fired a torpedo
that sank the ship. Later this was confirmed from several other Soviet sources. The submarine had been acting under secret orders to sink all neutral and enemy shipping entering the Black Sea to reduce the flow of strategic materials to Nazi Germany
.
In July 2000, a Turkish diving team found a wreck on the sea floor at approximately the right place, and announced that they had discovered the Struma. A team led by a British technical diver
and a grandson of one of the victims, Greg Buxton, later studied this and several other wrecks in the area but could not positively identify any as the Struma; the wreck found by the Turks was far too large.
On 3 September 2000 a ceremony was held at the site to commemorate the tragedy. It was attended by 60 relatives of Struma victims, representatives of the Jewish community of Turkey
, the Israel
i ambassador and prime minister's envoy, as well as British and American delegates. There were no delegates from the former Soviet Union.
In November 2008, a team of Dutch, German and Romanian divers of the Black Sea Wreck Diving Club discovered the wreck of the SC-213 off the coast of Constanţa
in Romania
. Since the registration markings that could help identify the wreck were missing due to damage to the submarine, it took divers until 2010 to identify the wreck as the SC-213.
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
-allied Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
to British-controlled Palestine during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. On February 23, 1942, with its engine inoperable and its refugee passengers aboard, Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
authorities towed the ship from Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
harbor through the Bosphorus out to the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
, where they abandoned it without food, water, or fuel. Within hours, in the morning of February 24, it was torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
ed and sunk by the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
Shch 213, killing 768 men, women and children, with only one survivor, a 19 year old man, making it the largest exclusively civilian naval disaster of the war.
The Struma sinking, along with the Patria disaster
Patria disaster
The Patria disaster on 25 November 1940 was the sinking by the Haganah of a French-built ocean liner in the port of Haifa, in which 260 people were killed and 172 injured....
which preceded it, became a rallying point for the Irgun
Irgun
The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
and LEHI
Lehi
Lehi refers to:In Mormonism:* Lehi , a prophet in the Book of Mormon of the 7th-6th centuries BC* Lehi, son of Helaman, another prophet in the Book of Mormon of the late 1st century BC...
Jewish underground movements, encouraging their violent revolt against the British presence in Palestine.
History
The Struma, a BulgariaBulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n ship sailing under the Panamian flag
Flag of Panama
The flag of Panama was made by Maria Ossa de Amador. It has been officially adopted by the "ley 48 de 1925"; the flag is celebrated on November 4, one day after Panamanian independence from Colombia....
, was commissioned by the Revisionist Zionist
Revisionist Zionism
Revisionist Zionism is a nationalist faction within the Zionist movement. It is the founding ideology of the non-religious right in Israel, and was the chief ideological competitor to the dominant socialist Labor Zionism...
organizations in Romania, especially Betar, to carry Romanian Jews
History of the Jews in Romania
The history of Jews in Romania concerns the Jews of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is nowadays Romanian territory....
as immigrants to Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
. Apart from the crew, there were approximately 790 passengers. They included some Betar members but were mostly wealthy Romanian Jews who could afford to pay the high price of a ticket. The voyage had the approval of the Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu
Ion Victor Antonescu was a Romanian soldier, authoritarian politician and convicted war criminal. The Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II, he presided over two successive wartime dictatorships...
government.
Most of the passengers were not permitted to see the vessel before the day of the voyage. When they finally saw it they were shocked to discover it was far worse than they had imagined. Sleeping quarters were extremely cramped without enough space to sit up, and the ship had only two lifeboats. Passengers were not told that the engine was in even worse condition: it had been recovered from a wreck on the bottom of the Danube River.
The engine gave out several times after the Struma set sail from Constanţa
Constanta
Constanța is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region....
, on the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
on 12 December 1941. After three days, the ship was towed to Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
where it remained at anchor while secret negotiations were conducted over the fate of the passengers. In the wake of violent unrest within Palestine, the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
government was determined to uphold its policy of restricting mass Jewish immigration and urged the Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
government of Refik Saydam
Refik Saydam
Dr. Refik Ibrahim Saydam was the 4th Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey from 25 January 1939 to 8 July 1942.-Biography:...
to prevent the ship from sailing onwards. Turkey refused to allow the passengers to disembark. After weeks of negotiation, the British agreed to honour the expired Palestinian visas
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
possessed by a few passengers, who were allowed to continue to Palestine overland. With the help of influential friends, a few others also managed to escape. One woman was admitted to an Istanbul hospital following a miscarriage.
On February 12, British officials agreed that children aged 11 to 16 on the ship would be given Palestinian visas, but a dispute occurred over their transportation to Palestine. The United Kingdom declined to send a ship, while Turkey refused to allow them to travel overland.
Towing to sea and sinking
On February 23, after negotiations between Turkey and Britain seemed to reach an impasse, Turkish authorities boarded the disabled ship, and towed it through the Bosphorus to the Black Sea. As the ship was towed along the Bosphorus, many passengers hung signs over the sides that read "SAVE US" in English and HebrewHebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, visible to those who lived on the banks of the strait. Despite weeks of work by Turkish engineers, the engine would not start. The Turkish authorities abandoned the ship in the Black Sea, about 10 miles north of the Bosphorus, where it drifted helplessly.
On the morning of February 24, there was a huge explosion and the ship sank. It was later alleged that the ship had been torpedoed by the Soviet ShCh (Scuka) class submarine
Shchuka class submarine
The Shchuka class submarines , also referred to as Shch or SC class submarines were a medium-sized class of Soviet submarines, built in large numbers and used during World War II...
SC-213, which had also sunk the Turkish vessel Çankaya the evening before. 768 people were killed, among them more than one hundred children. Only one person survived: a 19-year-old man named David Stoliar
David Stoliar
David Stoliar is the sole survivor of the torpedo-sinking of the Holocaust refugee ship the Struma by a Soviet submarine, the Shchuka 213 in the Black Sea in the early morning of February 24, 1942. All of the other 781 Jewish refugees and 10 crewmen perished...
, who was found clinging to the wreckage by the crew of a rowboat sent out from one of the watchtowers along the Turkish coast, twenty-four hours after the sinking. Stoliar was imprisoned in Turkey for six weeks, then released and admitted to Palestine. He served in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
with the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He later served in the Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
. Later, he moved to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and then the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Aftermath
On June 9, 1942, Lord WedgwoodJosiah Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood
Colonel Josiah Clement Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood, DSO, PC, DL sometimes referred to as Josiah Wedgwood IV was a British Liberal and Labour politician who served in government under Ramsay MacDonald...
opened the debate in the British House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
by urging that the mandate over Palestine be transferred to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, since Britain had reneged on its commitments. He stated with bitterness: "I hope yet to live to see those who sent the Struma cargo back to the Nazis hung as high as Haman
Haman (Bible)
Haman is the main antagonist in the Book of Esther, who, according to Old Testament tradition, was a 5th Century BC noble and vizier of the Persian empire under King Ahasuerus, traditionally identified as Artaxerxes II...
cheek by jowl with their prototype and Führer, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
".
For many years there were competing theories about the explosion that sank the Struma. In 1964 a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
historian discovered that a Soviet Shchuka class submarine
Shchuka class submarine
The Shchuka class submarines , also referred to as Shch or SC class submarines were a medium-sized class of Soviet submarines, built in large numbers and used during World War II...
, the SC-213 (sometimes referred to as ShCh-213), had fired a torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
that sank the ship. Later this was confirmed from several other Soviet sources. The submarine had been acting under secret orders to sink all neutral and enemy shipping entering the Black Sea to reduce the flow of strategic materials to Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
.
In July 2000, a Turkish diving team found a wreck on the sea floor at approximately the right place, and announced that they had discovered the Struma. A team led by a British technical diver
Technical diving
Technical diving is a form of scuba diving that exceeds the scope of recreational diving...
and a grandson of one of the victims, Greg Buxton, later studied this and several other wrecks in the area but could not positively identify any as the Struma; the wreck found by the Turks was far too large.
On 3 September 2000 a ceremony was held at the site to commemorate the tragedy. It was attended by 60 relatives of Struma victims, representatives of the Jewish community of Turkey
History of the Jews in Turkey
Turkish Jews The history of the Jews in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey covers the 2,400 years that Jews have lived in what is now Turkey. There have been Jewish communities in Asia Minor since at least the 5th century BCE and many Spanish and Portuguese Jews expelled from Spain were welcomed to the...
, the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i ambassador and prime minister's envoy, as well as British and American delegates. There were no delegates from the former Soviet Union.
In November 2008, a team of Dutch, German and Romanian divers of the Black Sea Wreck Diving Club discovered the wreck of the SC-213 off the coast of Constanţa
Constanta
Constanța is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region....
in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. Since the registration markings that could help identify the wreck were missing due to damage to the submarine, it took divers until 2010 to identify the wreck as the SC-213.
See also
- MefkureMefkureMefkura was a motor schooner chartered to carry Jewish Holocaust refugees from Romania to Istanbul, sailing under the Turkish and Red Cross flags....
- a similar sinking which occurred 5 August 1944 - Voyage of the Damned
- SS NavemarSS NavemarSS Navemar was a Spanish freighter that was used in 1941 to evacuate about 1,120 European Jewish refugees to the United States in grossly overcrowded and insanitary conditions.-Pre-World War II:...
, a Spanish vessel designed for 28 passengers that in 1941 carried 1,120 Jewish refugees to New York in a voyage lasting 7 weeks. - Exodus 1947
- Patria disasterPatria disasterThe Patria disaster on 25 November 1940 was the sinking by the Haganah of a French-built ocean liner in the port of Haifa, in which 260 people were killed and 172 injured....
- List by death toll of ships sunk by submarines
- Simcha JacoboviciSimcha JacoboviciSimcha Jacobovici is a Canadian film director, producer, free-lance journalist, and writer. He is a three-times Emmy winner for Outstanding Investigative Journalism....
Filmography - Soviet submarine Shch-213
External links
- Struma: A Romanian Tragedy - Incomplete list of victims
- Greg Mossfeldt - diving the Struma, dir. Simcha JacoboviciSimcha JacoboviciSimcha Jacobovici is a Canadian film director, producer, free-lance journalist, and writer. He is a three-times Emmy winner for Outstanding Investigative Journalism....
- www.struma.org
- Story of Struma's sole survivor
- Database of Struma victims