Voyage No. 5. Bremerhaven, German - Valparaiso, Chile ...

£1,500 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

A rare survival: though comic in execution, this image provide a rare glimpse of life on board US Army Transport General W.M. Black , one of several ships involved in the settling of displaced persons from Europe to the Americas in the immediate aftermath of World War II. Over a four year period, forty ships made 150 separate trips from Bremerhaven, which served as the embarkation point for all transports of displaced persons, who had otherwise been held in camps run by the International Relief Organization. Writing in preface of the final report of the United States Displaced Persons Commission, the contributor describes the optimism of the project: “From the sordid and spirit-crushing atmosphere of the displaced persons camps and refugee centers came men and women of diverse faiths and national backgrounds to find a new life and a new hope …” Indeed, to get a sense of the variety of passengers travelling on these ships, here is a breakdown of those who travelled on the USAT General W.M. Black to New York on 21 October the same year: “338 Poles, 168 Lithuanians, 53 Czechs, 32 Latvians, 17 Ukrainians, 6 Hungarians, and 83 who were listed as stateless” ( ibid , 64) They were predominantly farmers but over 60 different types of occupations (or skills) were listed. The artist depicts carnival atmosphere on board. Starting on the left, a game of cards takes place, the players serenaded by an accordionist, two people suffering sea-sickness, there are dogs, a sunbather, two romanti

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