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Canadian President Justin Trudeau on Wednesday apologized on behalf of his country for his refusal to grant asylum to Jewish people fleeing the Holocaust in the 1930s.
"Although decades have passed since we turned our backs on Jewish refugees, time has not absolved Canada of its guilt or lightened the burden of our shame," Trudeau said in a speech.
"Today, I rise in the House of Commons to make long-awaited apologies to Jewish refugees that Canada has refused," he said.
"We are sorry for the harshness of Canada's response," he said. "We're sorry we did not help them sooner."
"We refused to help them when we could, we helped seal the cruel fate of far too many people in places like Auschwitz, Treblinka and Belzec, we failed, we are sorry."
In 1939, Canada refused MS St. Louis and the 907 Jewish refugees on board.
"The Liberal government of Mackenzie King has not been touched by the tragic fate of these refugees," Trudeau explained. "Despite the desperate appeals of the Canadian Jewish community, despite repeated calls from both members of the government's Jewish caucus … the government has chosen to turn its back on these innocent victims of the Adolf Hitler regime."
The ship was originally supposed to go to Cuba, where all the passengers had a visa, but the Cuban government turned it back.
They then sought asylum in other countries, including Argentina, Uruguay and the United States, before eventually seeking refuge in Canada. In the end, Jewish passengers got asylum in Europe, but many then suffered during the Second World War.
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