The Straus incident

[Talira Greycrest]

Ida had the opportunity to leave the ship in lifeboat no.8, but since only women and children were being allowed into the boats, she chose to stay with her husband rather than leaving him behind. Isidor, despite urgings from other passengers and crew in view of his old age, refused all offers to be allowed to break the 'women and children first' rule. Although Isidor's body was eventually recovered, to my knowledge, Ida was never found. If her body was recovered, it was never identified.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

Hi Bill, in checking the deck plans that I have, I found that cabins C55-57 are on the starboard side of the ship just aft of the Grand Staircase

Ida had the opportunity to leave the ship in lifeboat no.8, but since only women and children were being allowed into the boats, she chose to stay with her husband rather than leaving him behind. Isidor, despite urgings from other passengers and crew in view of his old age, refused all offers to be allowed to break the 'women and children first' rule

One thing that I have wondered about for many years is why the Strauses ended up on the port side of the boat deck when their cabin was on the starboard side. Since Lifeboat #8, the one that Ida Straus got in and then changed her mind was the first port boat to be launched at around 01:00 am, the couple must have arrived fairly early on the boat deck. I would have thought that they had time to realize that men were allowed on the starboard boats if there was room. If, they had been in the vicinity of #7,#5, #3 or #1 to start with they would have survived. Even after Ida Straus got back onto the Titanic to stay with her husband there was the chance of a place in #9 or #11 if they had only crossed over to the starboard side.

Providence is a strange thing.