In 1944 an incident eerily similar to the SS Struma sinking took place. In this instance 350 Jewish refugees bound for Palestine from Hitler’s Europe were lost at sea.
The Mefkure (sometimes known as Mefkura) sailed from the port of Constanta on August 5, 1944, accompanied by two other ships. Their destination was to be Istanbul, in neutral Turkey. The Jewish refugees would then attempt to enter Palestine by whatever means that could be devised.
After midnight the Mefkure was illuminated by flares from an unknown vessel, then fired upon, and finally torpedoed. The captain and 6 of the crew escaped the sinking ship in a lifeboat. Of the passengers – only 5 of a suspected total of 350 survived. After WWII it was revealed that the Mefkure, like the Struma three years earlier, had been torpedoed and sunk by a Soviet submarine – in this case the SC-215.
The first monument to the left shows the routes of the fateful final voyages of both the Struma and the Mefkure – the incidents were three years apart, but joined together forever in this monument. The second sculpture is a memorial to the motor schooner Mefkure and to all her lost souls resting on the bottom of the Black Sea…
Dino said:
My uncle Dinu (David) Solomon and his wife Fanny (nee Visman) lost theirs lives on this ship.
After 60 years we found passanger list in Yad Vashem data base.Iehie zichram baruh !
adrienne barr said:
My mother was one of the five survivors on the Mefkure. I would like to hear from anyone who has more information
Bill R said:
Is there any way to access Russian naval records for the periods when both the Struma and the Mefkure sank? This might shed some knowledge on these tragedies.
Is it possible that the ship was a German submarine patrolling the Black Sea? Or a German ship of some kind? Many surface ships were capable of launching torpedoes and carried large caliber guns on deck as well. Are German naval records available for the periods?
Neither Russia nor Germany ever held any compassion for Jews and either country is certainly capable of the atrocity discussed. Somehow someone should be able to find the truth.
TF said:
see remarks on SCH-215
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_Shch-215
Anat said:
The two only children of my grandmother’s sister were on the Mefkure, yet I can’t find a list of the passangers anywhere online. Please help.
Thank you