Memorialize the victims of Jewish refugee ship in 1942

BY|Anadolu Agency

768 people died when vessel carrying Jewish refugees was torpedoed during WWII

Türkiye on Friday marked the anniversary of the 1942 Struma disaster in which hundreds of people were killed when a vessel carrying Jewish refugees was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine in the Black Sea.

“We will commemorate with respect those who lost their lives in this tragic incident that occurred 81 years ago with a ceremony to be held in Istanbul today,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said in a statement.

The Struma vessel, carrying Jewish refugees fleeing the persecution of Nazis and their allies during World War II, was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine in the international waters of the Black Sea on Feb. 24, 1942, resulting in the deaths of 768 people, including 108 children.