The Red Star Line was a shipping company that operated in the 19th and 20th centuries, carrying passengers across the Atlantic Ocean to a new life in the United States. Between 1873 and 1934, an estimated 2 million people made the journey, 25% of whom were Jewish. The remaining passengers came mainly from Eastern Europe, fleeing conflict or famine, while only about 10% of the travelers were Belgian. Thanks to good railway connections to Antwerp, this port was more accessible than Bremen or Hamburg.
During the First World War, the Red Star Line ships were seized by the British to transport troops from New York to Liverpool. The ship Vaderland was sunk by torpedoes during its service. After the company went bankrupt in 1934, its assets were sold to its successor, the Holland America Line. The former warehouses in Antwerp were later designated as a city landmark.
After the war, the warehouses were restored and reopened in 2013 as the Red Star Line Museum. Today, its halls are filled with historical photographs, detailed ship models, and stories of the passengers and the company’s history.
Sources. Story: Source Story: Photos: Source Photo: Fred Romero from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
