Pentcho

On May 18th, 1940, the old tug boat Pentcho left the port of Bratislava on the Danube. It carried 520 Jews - Czechs, Slovaks, and Poles - who wanted to go down the river to Sulina, on the Black Sea. There, they were supposed to board a bigger ship to proceed to Palestine. The tug boat had to cross several borders and was repeatedly halted and impounded. Every time, miraculously, the passengers managed to continue their journey. When, at last, the Pentcho arrived to Sulina, five months had gone by and the ship that was supposed to save them wasn't there. The captain made a brave decision and continued to travel until the boat engine, not adequate for the sea, broke down. The boat was stranded on a deserted island. After struggling for ten days, the shipwrecked Jews were saved by an Italian military ship, Camogli. However, during the war Italy sided with Germany. Were the victims saved or did only another odyssey begin?