Disaster on the Black Sea: The Sinking of the Struma

In December 1941, approximately 780 Jews gathered at Constanța port, Romania and went on board the Struma, an old cargo barge used to carry cattle, in order to make their way to Eretz Israel (Mandatory Palestine). These were Jews who had survived the pogroms in Bucharest and Iași, and those who had reached Bucharest after evading the deportation to Transnistria and escaping from detainment and labor camps. Among them were laborers and traders, members of the free professions – doctors, engineers and others – Zionist activists and young pioneers. Almost all of them had relatives and friends in Eretz Israel. Continue reading >>>