A vigil in Nyack Tuesday night honored Holocaust victims and present-day refugees seeking asylum from their war-torn home countries.

It was part of a nationwide movement to support refugees.

"There are 65 million refugees and displaced people around the world," says Lillian Grossbard, the event organizer. "Many of whom are seeking refuge in the United States. Unfortunately, the climate today — like in 1939 — is a climate somewhat of fear and of turning away and shutting doors."

Nearly 80 years ago to the day, a boat carrying about 1,000 Jewish refugees, the S.S. St. Louis, was turned away by the United States as its passengers sought refuge from the Holocaust. 

"It brings back a serious jolt of what I learned as a youngster, because my father got in by the skin of his teeth," says Richard Loeb, whose dad Harry was a refugee aboard the ship. "You have people who are fleeing for their lives, who if they stay behind will either get killed or be totally separated from their families."

Demonstrators say that is a cautionary tale that the country seems to have learned no lesson from. They criticized President Donald Trump's executive orders aimed at banning immigration from several predominantly Muslim countries.

"We must never forget," Loeb says. "We must look ahead and act now. We must be those heroes to save but one life."