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Jewish Man Who Fled Nazis Reflects on Layered History of U.S. Refugee Policy

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In December, 1945, President Harry Truman issued a directive allowing displaced people from Europe to come to the United States. But it wasn't only for humanitarian reasons. The U.S. was concerned about geo-political stability in Europe. Truman's decision to accept those refugees came just in time for 95-year-old Ben Stern of Berkeley. He was one of the passengers on the SS Marine Flasher, the very first ship carrying Holocaust survivors to arrive in the U.S. after the war.

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