This breakfast menu comes from the SS Exeter, an American ocean liner. The ship carried the Shadurs, a Jewish refugee family, to the United States in February-March 1941. The Shadurs were among the many Jewish refugees who journeyed on the SS Exeter from Lisbon, Portugal, to New York during World War II. Joseph Shadur was twelve years old at the time. He marveled at the ship’s bountiful meals, especially in light of the hunger his family had faced on their journey to the port of Lisbon.
The course of World War II altered international travel to and from Europe. Luxury ocean liners once used for tourism became an unexpected means of escape for those fleeing the Nazis. Routes also changed as the war progressed. In 1940, Lisbon, the capital city of neutral Portugal, became one of the few possible escape routes out of Europe. Tens of thousands of Jewish refugees made their way to the city, where they often struggled to secure visas and passages on ships. Ticket prices skyrocketed. Refugees often turned to Jewish aid organizations for help affording steamship travel.
The Shadur family fled through a number of European countries to get to the port of Lisbon to board the SS Exeter. Investigate the Shadur family’s story and how they ultimately got to the United States.
The Shadur Family Papers include two different memoirs written by family members about their flight. Why are firsthand accounts of refugee flight important?
Jewish refugees like the Shadurs took many different escape routes out of Nazi Europe. What causes often make people flee their homes? What do refugees generally have to give up in their search for safety?
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