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OTTAWA — The federal Liberals are working on an apology for the Canadian government’s decision in 1939 to turn away a boat of German Jews hoping to seek asylum in Canada, The Canadian Press has learned.

Some wanted the apology for the MS St. Louis to come in concert with today’s inauguration of the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will instead only make reference to the issue in his speech.

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Photo by The Canadian Press courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

The ship bearing 900 Jews was turned away from both Cuba and the United States before a group of Canadians tried to convince then-prime minister Mackenize King’s government to let it dock in Halifax.

While history records King trying to convince Frederick Blair — his immigration minister at the time — to consider their plea, the minister ultimately refused.

The ship returned to Europe. While some passengers were taken in by Belgium, France, Holland and the U.K., about 500 ended up back in Germany, half of whom did not survive the Holocaust.