Jewish history 1939: refugees and Trumpzism

Letter to the editor published in PennLive.com

For a person with Jewish roots, the recent events in Pittsburgh coupled with the Trump administration's stand on blocking refugees from entering this country,  a flashback that harks back to 1939, one of the most shameful periods in this nation's history.

History's forgotten results in history repeated. Few living today, and few that may have been exposed to a class on history, are likely to remember the significance of the events surrounding the voyage of the MS St. Louis.

In 1939, the German steamship carried some 900 Jewish refugees fleeing across the Atlantic just prior to the outbreak of World War II. Cuba, Canada, and most shamefully, the administration of this country, denied them asylum.

Unfortunately in 1939, for many on-board the MS St. Louis who resettled on the continent, gas chambers awaited after the war with Germany broke out.

Today, our reaction is to turn back refugees to equally uncertain, dangerous futures.

Worse for us, the current administration fosters a culture of intolerance, characterizing modern era refugees as criminals, rapists, murderers and invaders while refusing to take a hard stand against our own native Nazis, skinheads, white supremacists and the like.

Our administration embraces xenophobia while the rest of the leadership stands passively by signaling that civilized society no longer demands restraint or that we hold our prejudices in check.

Can America find its moral compass again? Or will it take another World War, a Great Depression, a global pandemic or some near extinction level event to level the playing field and make us realize every human has dignity and we are all in this world together and equally worthy of existence?

NANCY Urciuolo, Lower Paxton Township