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OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is formally apologizing on behalf of his nation for turning away a ship full of Jewish refugees trying to flee Nazi Germany in 1939. But coming soon after what may have been the deadliest attack on Jews in American history, at a time when anti-Semitic memes and conspiracy theories abound, Trudeau’s remarks felt urgent. The apology is months in the making and will focus on the decision by the government of William Lyon Mackenzie King in 1939 to reject an asylum request from more than 900 German Jews aboard an ocean liner that was nearing Halifax. “Today I rise to issue a long-overdue apology to the Jewish refugees Canada turned away,” Trudeau said Wednesday in a speech to Parliament

Canada denied asylum to the 907 German Jews on board the MS St. Louis when it arrived on its shores. Today, I issue an official apology on behalf of the Government of Canada to the passengers of the MS St. Louis and their families for this injustice,” he said in both English and French. He called on Canadians to stand up against those “xenophobic and anti-Semitic attitudes.”

Prior to the apology, Trudeau met with Ana Maria Gordon, who was a passenger on the St. Louis and who now lives in Canada.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issues an apology for the country's role in turning away the MS St. Louis, a ship carrying over 900 Jewish refugees fleeing persecution in Nazi Germany.