Expert: Michel Cahier - 1/7/2009

Question
I have to defend racial discrimination in the denial of the S.S. St. Louis. What are some arguments I could use?

Answer
I am not sure I understand   your  question. How can you defend racial discrimination in general and racial discrimination in a case where there was no such thing ?
The issue in this case was that Hitler wanted to prove there was a Jewish problem in so far as foreign countries  would not accept  936 Jewish refugees embarked on the boat by the  Nazis. Effectively Cuba, the USA and Canada refused to accept people form the SS St  Louis and the  ship returned to Europe where different countries accepted some refugees.
But unfortunately for the Nazis, eventually the United Kingdom accepted 288 of the passengers and the remaining 619 passengers disembarked at Antwerp :  224 were accepted by France, 214 by Belgium and 181 by the Netherlands. So Hitler missed  his point in so far as there was not a Jewish problem given that 4 European countries accepted to take most of the embarked passengers.
If there was a Jewish  problem it was in the mind of Hitler and of the Nazis. You will have  great difficulties to defend racial discrimination in this case as people were not allowed to enter Cuba, America and the USA because they were Jews but because they did not have the required visa. The whole thing was a sinister trick played  by the Nazis to prove their point but they miserably failed.
Furthermore  you must not forget that in 1939 the world is still in the midst of a huge depression, notably the  USA, and that no countries were keen on accepting  immigrants for whatever reason.
Best regards and I hope to have addressed  your point although this question is almost out of the range of my expertise.
Michel Cahier