Not Welcomed Here: Turning ships around

Komagata Maru

In 1914, a ship called the Komagata Maru was hired to carry Indian passends to Vancouver from India. When the ship entered Vancouves harbour, Canadian officials refused to allow the passengers off the boat. For two months, the Komagata Maru sat in the harbour while the passengers remaind on the boat. The public at the time was against allowing Indians from coming to Vancouver. The ship was sent back to India. When the ship arrived back to India many of the passengers were arrested by police and some were killed!

The Saint Louis

Prior to the WW2 many Jews in Germany were being arrested, beaten and harrased for their cultural background. Many Jews from Germany left for Canada and the USA on a boat called the Saint Louis. 900 Jews were on board the ship trying to seek a new home. The ship first arrived in Cuba but the Cuban government would not let the Jews off the boat. The Jews on the boat the Saint Louts tried to land in the USA but were denied entry again. The people on the Saint Louis tried to enter Halifax harbour as most ships carrying immigrants had at the time. The Canadian government would not allow the Jews to dock and the Saint Louis was forced back across the atlantic to Germany. All 900 passengers were arrested and thrown into prison camps when they arrived back to Germany. All 900 died in these camps.