In honor of Yom Hashoah, we will gather for a Q&A to discuss "Complicit", a documentary film about the voyage of the S.S. St. Louis. The ship departed Germany for Cuba, and then the U.S., in May 1939 with more than 900 Jewish refugees, and was ultimately denied entry into both countries and returned to Germany. We will be joined on Zoom by SS St Louis Legacy Project Founder, Robert Krakow, along with three S.S. St. Louis Legacy survivors. Their bios are below. SCROLL DOWN TO REGISTER. 

The community will have an opportunity to screen the film in advance of the Q&A event. You may now view the film in preparation for the discussion at THIS LINK (password: complicit). The program will be held solely on Zoom.

Click Here to Participate on Zoom

If prompted, enter Meeting ID: 485 443 7598 / Passcode: 4854437598

Bios of presenters

John Shilling

John Shilling was a 3-year-old child when he and his parents boarded the SS St. Louis in 1939 to escape the Nazis. Shilling was born Jan Schillinger in Prague in what is now the Czech Republic. When the SS St. Louis was turned back to Europe, John’s family ended up in the Netherlands and then to Ecuador before finding their way to the United States. Shilling’s wife, Wynne, recounts the family’s journey in the book, “Over the Big Water,” which contains notes and diary entries that the family wrote and Wynne compiled.

Eva Wiener

Eva's parents, Cypora and Jakob Safier, fled Poland during World War I and ended up in Berlin, where she was born. Her family was fortunate to end up in England upon return of the SS St. Louis, where they waited out the war before going to the U.S.

Hans Fisher

Hans was born in Germany. He was an 11-year-old boy when his family boarded the SS St. Louis. Upon the return of the ship to Europe, Fisher’s family went to France where they managed to survive the war.

Mr. Krakow

Robert Krakow is the creator of the documentary film, COMPLICIT, which won 1st prize at the Rhode Island International Film Festival for the festival’s Judaica category for films celebrating the Jewish Experience. His foundation was responsible for bringing 14 surviving passengers from the refugee ship, SS  (MS) St Louis, to the US Department of State in September, 2012, where Deputy Secretary of State William Burns (current Director of the CIA) welcomed the passengers on behalf of President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton. The ceremony included the first ever “Admission of Wrongdoing” by the State Department for refusing to address the Jewish refugee crisis during the pre-war and wartime period.

In November, 2018, his foundation lead a delegation of 5 St. Louis passengers to the House of Commons in Ottawa, where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed the passengers on behalf of the Government of Canada and made the official apology statement for Canada’s refusal to grant them safe haven in June, 1939.  In 2014, he was honored by the City of Miami for his “Champion of Justice and Human Rights” in connection with his work on raising awareness on the significance of the Voyage of the St. Louis.

In June of 2021, the foundation’s St. Louis Project was selected by the South African Holocaust and Genocide Foundation to commemorate 2021 World Refugee Day.

Mr. Krakow earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law School.