Synopses & Reviews
On the morning of February 24, 1942, on the Black Sea near Istanbul, an explosion ripped through a ship filled with Jewish refugees. One man clung fiercely to a piece of deck, fighting to survive. Nearly eight hundred others -- among them, more than one hundred children -- perished.
From this dramatic prologue Death on the Black Sea unfolds as a powerful story of endurance and the struggle for survival aboard a decrepit former cattle barge called Struma. The only path to escape led through Istanbul, where the desperate passengers found themselves trapped in a closing vise between the Nazis and countries that refused them sanctuary.
The story of the Struma, its passengers, and the events that led to its destruction is investigated and revealed fully in two vivid, parallel accounts set six decades apart. One chronicles the diplomatic maneuvers and callousness of Great Britain, Romania, Turkey, and the rest of the international community, which resulted in the largest maritime loss of civilian life during World War II. The other part of the story recounts a recent attempt by a team of divers to locate the Struma at the bottom of the Black Sea, an effort initiated and pursued by the grandson of two of the victims.
A vivid reconstruction of a grim exodus aboard a doomed ship, Death on the Black Sea illuminates a forgotten episode of World War II and pays tribute to the heroes, past and present, who keep its memory alive.
Review
“A meticulous, judicious, at times searing chronicle... It will leave no reader unmoved. Chicago Tribune
Review
“A balanced, textured account that juxtaposes byzantine, coldly calculating diplomatic maneuverings with the suffering of the refugees.” Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Review
“Among the countless books about the Holocaust, Death on the Black Sea is particularly important.” Washington Times
Review
“Mr. Frantz and Ms. Collins have performed a vital act of reclamation.” New York Times
Synopsis
Death on the Black Sea is the chronicle of the desperate exodus of nearly 800 Jews from Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe to Palestine on board a decrepit former cattle barge called Struma. Quarantined in Istanbul for two months, freedom blocked by war-time intrigue on an international scale, the disabled ship was towed to the Black Sea and sunk mysteriously by a Russian submarine on February 24, 1942. One person survived. The story of the Struma, its passengers, and the events that led to its demise are investigated and revealed fully for the first time in this book.
The narrative follows two parallel story lines. One chronicles the diplomatic maneuvers and callousness in Great Britain, Palestine, Romania, and Turkey that resulted in the largest civilian maritime loss of life of the war. The other recounts the recent attempt by a team of divers to locate the remains of the Struma. In vivid, compelling detail, Death on the Black Sea evokes powerfully a forgotten World War II episode.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 345-349) and index.
About the Author
Douglas Frantz, the investigations editor at the
New York Times, is the newspaper's former Istanbul bureau chief and a former investigative reporter the
Los Angeles Times and
Chicago Tribune.Catherine Collins covers Turkey for the Chicago Tribune and has written for the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. Frantz and Collins have written several nonfiction books, most recently Celebration, U.S.A.
Table of Contents
pt. 1. The coming cataclysm -- pt. 2. Holocaust at sea -- pt. 3. Istanbul intrigues -- pt. 4. After the sinkng.