Welcome
In 1938, Germany welcomed the world. As the travel advert below advises us, “Here you will find 20th Century progress” (perhaps signaled by the swastikas flapping in the background).
Passengers were welcomed aboard Hapag German ships to England, France, and Germany. Among the ships was the Bremen, which, interestingly enough, served kosher food to Jewish passengers. Officials of the steamship line said that
there are usually thirty or forty Jews aboard on a trip and that about a dozen of these want kosher meals. On a recent westward crossing, the Bremen carried two rabbis.
The officials of the German line are by no means astonished at the extent of their Jewish trade. "There are a lot of American Jews who are regular customers," Mr. Weickum told us.
"And Jews sailing from Germany probably feel that they ought to take a German ship.” (1)
Another of the Hapag ships was the St. Louis, which offered a round trip to England or Ireland in Third Class for a mere $136.
Not Welcome
Less than a year later, the same MS St. Louis was involved in one of the most outrageous episodes of the pre-war years:
In May 1939, the German liner St. Louis sailed from Hamburg, Germany, to Havana, Cuba. The 937 passengers were almost all Jewish refugees. Cuba's government refused to allow the ship to land. The United States and Canada were unwilling to admit the passengers. The St. Louis passengers were finally permitted to land in western European countries rather than return to Nazi Germany. Ultimately, 254 St. Louis passengers were killed in the Holocaust. (2)
Welcome
The year 1938 saw the introduction of the Kindertransport program, which transferred Jewish children from Germany and elsewhere in Europe to safety in Great Britain. Here’s The New Yorker’s take on it:
(3)Not Welcome
While Jews were (allegedly) enjoying kosher cuisine aboard German ships and welcomed aboard German railroad trains which would later serve to transport their fellow religionists to the death camps in Eastern Europe, there were places in the United States where one could not conceivably obtain a knish or a piece of matzo. Here are just a few resorts in the Northeastern United States advising in their advertisements in The New Yorker in 1938 that they catered to a “restricted clientele,” a coded term for "no Yids allowed":
Welcome
Headline in The Guardian:
White Afrikaner brought to US by Trump administration has history of antisemitic posts
Charl Kleinhaus posted on X in 2023 that “Jews are untrustworthy and a dangerous group.” In another post last fall, he shared a rightwing, nationalist YouTube video that was later removed, titled: “‘We’ll shoot ILLEGAL Immigrants!’ – Poland’s Illegal Islamic immigrant solution,” with clapping emojis. (4)
Not Welcome
Over the past several months, Mr. Trump has revoked the legal status afforded to some Ukrainians displaced by Russia’s invasion and Afghan citizens who helped the American war effort in their country. He has also canceled the protected status of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who fled instability and political violence back home — potentially leaving them vulnerable to deportation.
Perhaps most prominent has been Mr. Trump’s targeting of nearly 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants who had been allowed to stay under a program known as Temporary Protected Status. (5)
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To sum up the year 1938:
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It’s too early to sum up the year 2025—and it’s only going to get worse.
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Coda
Morris Cohen decided to retire from the schmatte trade.
"What are you going to do with yourself?" his friend Irving inquired.
"I'm going to join the New York Athletic Club," Morris replied.
"But they don't admit Jews."
"However, I'm going to become a member!" Morris was emphatic.
For the next two years he worked on his project. He had his name legally changed. He moved from the Bronx to Fairfield, Connecticut. He took elocution lessons to sound like a lockjawed Yankee. And he got a new wardrobe from Brooks Brothers.
On the day of his appointment for an interview at the NYAC, he was dressed in a blue blazer, white button-down shirt, striped tie, gray slacks, and penny loafers.
"Thank you, for coming in, Mr. Maurice Cabot," said the club manager. "I see that your application is all filled out. You reside in Fairfield and are retired. May I ask what business you were in before retiring?"
"I was an entrepreneur in women's couture."
"It says here that you are married . . ."
"With one daughter--Muffy--who attends Bryn Mawr."
"Very good school. What sport are you interested in?"
"I thought I'd take a swing at squash racquets, if you don't mind a pun."
"You would be very welcome. Now, you must excuse me, but I must ask a personal question. What is your family's religious affiliation?"
"Goyim."
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(1) The New Yorker, May 14, 1938
(2) https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/voyage-of-the-st-louis
Also, see my blog: https://drnormalvision.blogspot.com/2018/06/spirits-of-st-louis.html
(3) December 10, 1938.
(4) https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/15/south-african-refugee-antisemitic-posts
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