JOSEF

The St. Louis reaches Cuba and drops anchor a fair distance from Havana. The St. Louis is visited by a Cuban doctor who asks to conduct a medical inspection of the passengers. Josef and his family stand in line with the other passengers in the social hall, but Josef worries that his father’s mental state will get them in trouble. Josef decides that he must be the man of the family and slaps his father. He tells his father that the Cuban doctor is checking to see who should be sent back to Dachau, and Josef’s father stands at attention, just as he did when he was a prisoner. The doctor approves the passengers, but the man beside Josef says that it was just a charade. “A giant waste of time.” After the doctor leaves, several Cuban police officers block the only way off the ship and tell the passengers that they will go to Havana “tomorrow.”