Bernstein founded his first shipping company in 1919. During World War I, he served in the military. After the war, he returned to his business as the
Arnold Bernstein Line. Over the course of the next decade, he grew the value of his shipping enterprises. He revolutionized how vehicles were transported across the Atlantic, greatly reducing shipping costs. which emerged as an important link for Jewish emigration to Palestine during the late 1930s. In February 1937, Bernstein was arrested on charges of foreign exchange offenses. At the time of his arrest, he was the owner of one of the largest Jewish businesses in Germany. After being held in jail for eleven months, he was tried in court for violating Germany's currency laws and treason. The prosecutor said Bernstein had an undeclared bank account of over US$80,000 in New York. Bernstein did not deny having the account, but he said he felt it did not need to be reported because it was partly for his shipping business and also because there was a $96,000 claim on his business. Bernstein was released by Germany authorities in 1939. After making a payment of $30,000 (), he was allowed to leave Germany for Holland. When Bernstein arrived in New York, he said he had been imprisoned by the German government because he was Jewish. In 1945, Bernstein sued
Holland America Line in a
United States District Court. Bernstein testified that he had been pressured to sign over the Red Star Line, particularly after a Chemical Bank representative visited him in prison and told him that "You know for yourself what happens to Jews who refuse to transfer their property." He was convinced that was the only way he could be released from imprisonment in Germany was to transfer the shipping business to a Nazi trustee. Holland America Line later bought the Red Star Line's ships from the Nazis for $11million (equivalent to $million in ). Some ships from the Arnold Bernstein Line had been taken over by the Allies, but the
Red Star Line had been sold to the Holland America Line. The two lines were valued at $4million (equivalent to $million in ). The U.S. federal court ruled that unlawful acts committed by the German government in Germany were not reviewable by a U.S. court, and it dismissed the lawsuit. Bernstein was a flexible thinker who preferred straightforward methods, but he would develop complex transactions to match the needs of investors, customers and regulators. Along with other shipping industry executives, in the late 1940s, he saw an opportunity to provide a quality passenger cruise ship experience that would allow visits to smaller and older ports that the larger trans-Atlantic cruise ships were not able to meet. Bernstein once said, "All business is a kind of war and you stand a fair chance of winning if you stick to your guns." His first attempt to purchase the defunct partially converted cargo ship
Nilla, previously the World War II
LST , for conversion to a small passenger cruise ship began with a negotiation with its owners. Using Triora S.A., Panama, his investor group planned to purchase the ship and rename her
Silver Star (not
Silverstar). Triora S.A. was named in honor of the people of
Triora who aided
Francesco Moraldo in hiding two Jewish orphans from the Nazis. On 2 February 1950 the vessel left Antwerp under tow for Hamburg. However the sale to Triora S.A. had fallen through. Finally in May 1950 her owners closed the sale of
Nilla to a "Swiss" investor, Mr. Vasile Ladislau "Leslie" Winkler (b. 12 Aug 1914 in Romania), who had a residence in Paris at the time. He registered the ship in Panama, owned by Compania de Naviera Rio Grande. (The brilliant Mr. Winkler was an example of a highly capable shipping industry agent displaced by war.)
Nilla was still an attractive vessel to Bernstein because it could be converted for either full passenger ship or partial passenger/car carrier ship. Mr. Winkler's purchase was a way to fulfill Bernstein's assurance of a sale to the original sellers. In 1951, Bernstein arranged the purchase of the vessel by SGS Société de Surveillance S. A. in
Geneva, Switzerland (with registered owner: Compania Naviera Estrella de Plata S. A., Panama, call sign: HOHX) and renamed
Silverstar. (Estrella de Plata is the specific
Spanish language way of translating
Silver Star, the award first granted during World War II to U.S. Forces for gallantry in action against an enemy.) Because of his vast and detailed knowledge and experience in passenger shipping, Bernstein involved himself in the details of conversion. A successful operation of the vessel would be essential to the growth of his personal wealth; every penny he could save would make the possibility of success more likely. Every aid to efficient operation he could add during conversion would potentially increase profitability and safety.
Silverstar was brought into the shipyard of
Howaldtswerke AG, Hamburg for conversion into a cruise liner while at the same time she was lengthened by 22 feet (6.71 m) at the stern. Bernstein had personal and professional connections with executives of the shipyard, and so did Winkler. Charleston, Miami, and New Orleans to the Caribbean Sea, calling mainly in ports like Bermuda, Nassau, Havana and Vera Cruz. At the end of each summer, she sailed to
West Germany for annual dry docking. In March 1955
Silverstar made a port of call in
Tunis on a Mediterranean cruise. In December 1956 the charter on the vessel was transferred to Caribbean Cruise Lines and she sailed for one additional voyage. In January of 1957,
Silverstar was sold to state-owned Flota Argentina de Navegación Fluvial (Buenos Aires) and renamed
Ciudad de Santa Fé. In 1957, Bernstein founded the
American Banner Lines in New York and arranged the financing for purchase and conversion of the
freighter Badger Mariner into a passenger ship. In 1958, it was put into service as the passenger vessel
Atlantic in the New York-Antwerp-Amsterdam trade, but competition with airlines caused him difficulty in financing a sister ship. In 1959, he sold
Atlantic to
American Export Lines in order to be refitted as a warm weather cruise liner, and he decided to retire at the age of 71, to his home in
New Rochelle, New York, because of his declining health. ==Personal life==