Refugee ship Struma is floating helplessly in the Black Sea, crammed with 769 Jewish passengers fleeing fascist Romania. British govt. in Palestine refused to allow them to land, fearing to encourage more Jewish immigration, & Turkish authorities set the ship adrift. 
Colossal explosion wracks the hideously overcrowded MV Struma- Soviet submarine Щ-213 has torpedoed the stricken refugee ship, following orders to sink any neutral vessels in Black Sea.
Struma sinking is the worst civilian naval disaster yet. Perhaps 100 of the almost 800 aboard survive the torpedo, floating in freezing waters of the Black Sea. By time rescuers arrive, just one is left alive: 19-year-old refugee David Stoliar.
David Stoliar spends 24 hours clinging to floating cabin door. In despair, he tries to slit his wrists, but "my hands were too swollen from the frost." Returned to Istanbul, he's arrested by Turkish authorities for entering the country illegally. spiegel.de/international/…
