The Lower East Side neighborhood of Kleindeutschland - Little Germany - was the heart of New York's German immigrant community in 1904. Over 80,000 German Americans lived in the densely packed blocks between Houston Street and 14th Street. They had their own churches, newspapers, beer halls, and social clubs.

St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church on 6th Street was a center of community life. Every June, the congregation chartered a boat for its annual Sunday School picnic - a beloved tradition that gave working-class families a day of fresh air and celebration. The 1904 excursion was expected to be the largest ever, with over 1,300 people signed up, mostly mothers and children.

The General Slocum was 13 years old in 1904, a wooden steamboat that had been cited for numerous safety violations over the years. As the boat passed through Hell Gate - the treacherous strait connecting the East River to Long Island Sound - a fire broke out in a forward compartment, likely started by a discarded match or cigarette.

A deckhand discovered the fire and alerted Captain William Van Schaick. The captain made a fateful decision: rather than beach the boat on the nearby Bronx shore, he continued at full speed toward North Brother Island, hoping to reach a dock. The wind fanned the flames. By the time the Slocum reached North Brother Island, the entire boat was engulfed.

When passengers tried to save themselves, they discovered that every safety device on the ship had failed. The fire hoses were rotted and burst when water pressure hit them. The lifeboats were painted to their davits - no one could free them. The life preservers, which had passed inspection, were filled with cork so old it had disintegrated into powder and granulated iron to add weight.

Women and children strapped on life preservers and jumped overboard, expecting to float. Instead, the waterlogged cork pulled them under. The heavy wool dresses worn by women and girls acted as anchors. Most of the passengers couldn't swim - swimming was not commonly taught to women at the time. They drowned within sight of shore.

The final death toll was 1,021 - over 75% of the passengers. Only two crew members died; most saved themselves while passengers burned and drowned. Bodies washed up on the shores of the East River for weeks. Some victims were never found.

The disaster devastated Little Germany. Entire families had been aboard. Some households lost every member. Within a decade, the neighborhood had emptied - survivors couldn't bear to live among the memories. Many moved to Yorkville on the Upper East Side. The vibrant community of Kleindeutschland simply ceased to exist. The General Slocum had destroyed not just 1,021 lives, but an entire way of life.

Captain Van Schaick was convicted of criminal negligence and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was pardoned after serving 3.5 years. The steamboat company was fined $5,000. The federal inspector who had certified the boat's safety equipment - including the rotted life preservers - was never charged.

The disaster led to reforms in maritime safety regulations, including stricter inspection requirements and mandatory fire drills. But for the survivors of Little Germany, no reforms could bring back what they had lost. A memorial fountain in Tompkins Square Park commemorates the victims. Every year on June 15, a small group gathers to remember the day a Sunday School picnic killed 1,021 people.