During World War II, the Struma vessel, carrying Jewish refugees who were fleeing Nazi persecutions sank after it was torpedoed on 24 February 1942 in the international waters of the Black Sea. On the anniversary of the incident, a commemoration ceremony, in memory of the victims of the tragedy, was hosted as in previous years by the Governorship of Istanbul, on 22 February 2018, with the participation of representatives of the Turkish Jewish Community.

We commemorate in sorrow all those who lost their lives in the Struma tragedy, while escaping from the Holocaust, one of the gravest disasters in human history.