Struma
Struma is a medical term for the enlargement of the
thyroid; it is sometimes used in reference to
scrofula, a form of
tuberculosis.
The
Struma was a ship commissioned by the
Zionist organizations in
Romania to carry 769
Romanian Jews to
British-controlled Palestine. It set sail on
December 12 1941 from
Constanta and after three days it reached
Istanbul where it had to wait for the British permits to enable them to continue their journey toward Palestine. The ship remained in the Istanbul harbour and the Turkish government forced the passengers to remain on the ship since they were afraid that the British would refuse to grant the permits and they'd have to remain in Turkey.
During the secret negotiations between the Zionist organizations and the British, the most that Britain offered was permits for the children to enter Palestine. This offer was rejected (by the passengers or by the Turks; it isn't clear). After 70 days, the Struma was forced back into the Black Sea, where it was sunk by a Russian submarine on February 24 1942. Only one person survived.
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The Struma is also a river in Bulgaria and Greece. See Strymon.