Answer:
whatever you needed this for was probably due a long time ago but i still feel like answering :)
Josef Landau was leaving Germany with his mother, sister, and father (who recently returned from Dachau, a concentration camp for Jews). They ride on a big boat expected to take them to Cuba, but later they realize Cuba declines their refuge, and their boat is assumed to be sent back to Germany, literally sending all the Jews to their deaths. The ship makes an agreement with 4 different places in Europe that were to divide the passengers and send them to one of the places. Josef, his mother, and sister are sent to France, where they settle in and live their lives once more. Until the Holocaust and WWII deepens and they end up on the run from the Nazi's again. (They left their father in a Cuban hospital, after he jumped off the boat while waiting for Cuba to let them off the ship).