MARY ANNE:
It's after dinner and I have a few hours before it gets late, so I settle in the living room in front of the fireplace in Grandma's living room with a plate of holiday cookies and a cup of tea. Dawn and Jeff are upstairs and Grandma and my parents have gone out for a walk, so I have the living room to myself. I open my great-great grandmother's journal to the page I left off...
Jul y 23, 1901:
They're happening again, I hear...the riots. A naibor of ours, their daughter, son-in-law and grandchilds are in danger in their town, so they had to pack up and leave. They are headed to our town. I told them I hope that they make it safely. So does Mama. All of us are worried about what if they come here to Vosterbohn.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our naibor...her grandchild are here; there's three of them, but her daughter and son-in-law did not come back. We fear it is bad news since the oldest grandchild, Silke, says they were separated by flying bullets and rioting mobs and that was the last they'd seen of their parents. She says she saw almost all of the houses and stores there on fire. Poor souls; I hope they're taken care of. Mama is getting scared, even though she tries to comfort us. Outside, she seems calm, but often at night, I get up and see her standing by the window, a worried look on her face, her brows tilted near her nose, worried lines on her forehead. If the moon's shining through the window, Mama's fear is even more vivid. Anna and I are scared too, but try to make a usual life...we go to school, help Mama with the chores and have our dinner together at night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The bakery had cookies for the first in a long time. Anna and I walked down there as of a Friday and saw them. Often, there isn't any since many areas of Deuschland is very poor and ingridients for cookies are very hard to get. Often, it has to be shipped in from England or Denmarck. So, since Anna and I had a few pfennings, we bought some, ate some and brought the rest home to Mama. I'd forgotten how good they are, very sweet and filling with a pleasant aroma. Mama saved some for later when we had our Friday dinner. Our candles are getting old, but still light well, I see as Mama lit the candles tonight. I'm so happy we have each other and at least enough food to keep us all fed decently. I have read about how in some other places in this country and some other countries, some people don't have enough food and go to bed hungry almost every night. My heart breaks for them. It is also another reason why so many people are fleeing here and other countries in Europe and going to Amerika. I wonder if it's true that there is little hunger there? Someone once told me that she'd heard that the streets were paved of gold, but I didn't believe it. If it were true, wouldn't we all be gone and in Amerika with shovels? Maybe it is just a speech figure. I think if things get worse here and we do end up going to Amerika, we will find out. It's getting late, so I'm blowing out this lamp and going on to sleep.
MARY ANNE:
Wow. I look at the fat cookie in my hand that I'm about to devour and think of how lucky I am to have access to cookies 24/7. It must have been a luxury for those poor people, I realize. Slowly, I eat the cookie, appreciating its sweet taste, then turn a page and continue reading...
August, 1901:
I can hear noise far downtown. I just jolted awake. People yelling, thuds...it's late at night; I can see by my clock that it is two. I'm by the window now, looking out at the black, but see nothing. I can just hear the sounds. My heart is pounding and I'm sitting in this chair, hoping Anna and Mama aren't awakened and frightened. I just hope it never reaches here. The noises are very distant, but clear just the same.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I finally fell asleep that night at around five. I sat there for three hours before the noise subsided. Now it's quiet at night again. But how long will that last? Mama's work is slowing down; she says so many people are fearful and many of them are fleeing, getting away. She worries that her job will be soon to go. There is much unemployed people in Germany and Mama and our naibors fear it will get much worse. Mama was awake and worrying the other night. This time, I came in the main room and put an arm around her, trying to soothe her. She hugged me back and whispered things will be all right, but her forehead was lined in the middle again and her brows couldn't relax. The next night, I woke up late again and heard some thudding in the distance and sat by the window. Anna woke up and came over and hugged me. "You're worried..." she whispered. I must have had the same worried look that Mama's been getting lately in her brows because Anne stroked my brows and forehead. I kissed her on top of her head. "Are they going to kill us?" she whispered. "Nein..." I shook my head and stroked her hair, which is dark like mine. "Mama will look out for us. She won't let anything happen to us." I stroked her until she dozed, then I carried her back to her bed, then got on my side.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 23, 1901:
To begin...where were we when so much happened and we're now here at a docking station in Denmarck on the verge of sailing to Amerika? To start...they finally came to Vosterbohn. We barely had time to get out of our house...they came late at night. Mama, Anna, and I hurriedly threw on clothes once we heard screaming, shattering glass and noise. I looked out that night and saw people racing up the street in panic. Oy vey! was my first thinking. I ran and shook Anna awake, then we threw on some clothes and ran for Mama. Mama was awake and heading to our side of the room, the horror in her eyes mirroring ours. We got ready to race out the door, Mama clutching a small bag and a goblet. I was clutching this journal and my family for dear life. I know now that inside that bag Mama held was all of our money, since we know that we need money to travel to Amerika. But as we got to the door, there was a loud BAT sound and something flew through the door. A bullet, I now realize it was. More bullets came through and the noise in the streets grew deafening. "Don't open that door!" Mama screamed, pulling us to the back of our house. We ended up squeezing out the fireplace flue and out on the roof. Thank the heavens the roof wasn't high, so all of us were able to get down and run as fast as we could. It was a very good thing we did too, since they broke into our house. We ran until we got to the middle of the field far enough away so we couldn't be seen. Nearby was a wooded lot, so we walked there and Mama hid us under a thick brush of bushes. Even this far, we could see the fires eating away at our town. We were terribly afraid for our naibors and hoped they were able to get away. A couple of them were, since a time later, they joined us in the woods. They too hid and all of us could just watch in mute horror as the rioters destroyed our street and for what we knew our entire shtetl. There was no time to go and find out. They would be back again, so all of us continued through the woods. It was a long, long walk and all of us were silent, fearful of the thugs catching up to us and killing us. I'm still trembling now just thinking of that night that came to pass. The next few days are a blur. Mama and some of the others gave the border guards some of the money, so we could get past...then we finally made it to Denmark. "Keep low and don't attract attention to yourselves," one guard told us. "Go past this road and you are out of Deuschland." Some of the people started to cry as we crossed the narrow dirt road, but Mama, Anna, and I were too in shock and tired. It was another few days walk before we reached this shore and located this dock where we will spend tonight. It's night now and we were able to wash up a little and talk some. Mama's fearful that this money she has won't be enough to make it into Amerika. Even though people say Amerika is open to all countries, I know some people are still turned away. Mama is now writing to Erik and Joanna to let them know we are going to Amerika. We are all a bit nervous and excited, yet a bit frightened. It is luck that Mama, Anna and I speak some Englisch and that I am practicing it here in this journal. Mama and Anna actually speak more fluently than I do, since even though I write my native German and Yiddish quite well, my speech is not very good. My teacher back in Deuschland says it is a speech defect that I may have all my life, but I'm glad I can read and write well. I just hope I can understand and be understood by the Amerikans since I hear they speak very rapid Englisch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MARY ANNE:
As I turn a page, Dad, Sharon, and Grandma come in and call hello. "Hello..." I call back.
"You look comfy," Dad tells me as they hang up their jackets. I nod.
"Is it fascinating?" Sharon asks. My parents know about Syraria's journal.
"It is," I nod. "I'm up to the part where she's about to board the ship." We talk a little, then the others head upstairs and I continue reading. As I flip the page, a paper falls out. I open it up and see that it is a ticket. A steamship ticket for third class, I realize as I try to make out the faded print. Corners of the ticket crumble in my hand and I gingerly put the ticket between the pages. A memento, I think. It's touching and I think for a moment of all she went through so all of us could have a better, safer life here. I think of my friends and how most of them had ancestors who'd immigrated here at the turn of the twentieth century. Without them, we all wouldn't be here, I think as I continue reading...
We just boarded and found bunks in the third-class steerage. Anna, Mama, and I have to share one bed since it is very cramped quarters. I hope I remember that the stern is for women to use for a bathroom while the prow is for the men. I am sitting here in this bunk writing in this journal and still crowds of immigrants are crashing down through the bunks, shoving, edging, and squashing in. All of them speak in hundreds of languages and I caught a couple of snatches of Yiddish and German there. I even heard a couple speaking Englisch fluently. I wonder if they are Englisch or Irish since I know they speak Englisch there. I know Ireland is a poor country like Germany, so I imagine a lot of Irish people are fleeing. I hear someone on the bunk across from me, a girl my age barking some orders in broken Englisch and wonder what country she is from. She has dark hair almost as dark as mine and large brown eyes like mine. The crowd's settling now; I think they are all on board.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I met the girl in the other bunk just as our ship left shore. Once the crowd settled down, Mama, Anna, and I headed up to the deck to watch the ship go. The other girl joined us and introduced herself as Angela Mianno and said she was from Italy. I told her my name and that I was German. A sound blasted and the ship slowly took off. All of us watched the shoreline become distant, then slowly fade away. It was sunny a while ago, but now it is cloudy and the shore faded from view and now I can see nothing but the sea. My heart feels a strange pang, making tears spill down my face, and I have a feeling I will never again see Germany.
MARY ANNE:
I wipe away tears of my own and notice a small blotch near the bottom of the page. My great-great grandmother's tears, I think. I grab some tissues fast, but a tear of mine is added to the page. I wipe them away and let my page-dropped tear dry before gently closing the journal. It is late, almost midnight and I'm feeling sleepy, so I finish my tea, long gone lukewarm, grope for a last cookie, but realize that I ate my last cookie. I take the plate and cup into the kitchen, load them into the dishwasher and grabbing the journal, put out the fire for the night and head up to get ready for bed and look forward to reading more later.
The next chapter deals with survival in third-class steerage! More later!
It's after dinner and I have a few hours before it gets late, so I settle in the living room in front of the fireplace in Grandma's living room with a plate of holiday cookies and a cup of tea. Dawn and Jeff are upstairs and Grandma and my parents have gone out for a walk, so I have the living room to myself. I open my great-great grandmother's journal to the page I left off...
Jul y 23, 1901:
They're happening again, I hear...the riots. A naibor of ours, their daughter, son-in-law and grandchilds are in danger in their town, so they had to pack up and leave. They are headed to our town. I told them I hope that they make it safely. So does Mama. All of us are worried about what if they come here to Vosterbohn.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our naibor...her grandchild are here; there's three of them, but her daughter and son-in-law did not come back. We fear it is bad news since the oldest grandchild, Silke, says they were separated by flying bullets and rioting mobs and that was the last they'd seen of their parents. She says she saw almost all of the houses and stores there on fire. Poor souls; I hope they're taken care of. Mama is getting scared, even though she tries to comfort us. Outside, she seems calm, but often at night, I get up and see her standing by the window, a worried look on her face, her brows tilted near her nose, worried lines on her forehead. If the moon's shining through the window, Mama's fear is even more vivid. Anna and I are scared too, but try to make a usual life...we go to school, help Mama with the chores and have our dinner together at night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The bakery had cookies for the first in a long time. Anna and I walked down there as of a Friday and saw them. Often, there isn't any since many areas of Deuschland is very poor and ingridients for cookies are very hard to get. Often, it has to be shipped in from England or Denmarck. So, since Anna and I had a few pfennings, we bought some, ate some and brought the rest home to Mama. I'd forgotten how good they are, very sweet and filling with a pleasant aroma. Mama saved some for later when we had our Friday dinner. Our candles are getting old, but still light well, I see as Mama lit the candles tonight. I'm so happy we have each other and at least enough food to keep us all fed decently. I have read about how in some other places in this country and some other countries, some people don't have enough food and go to bed hungry almost every night. My heart breaks for them. It is also another reason why so many people are fleeing here and other countries in Europe and going to Amerika. I wonder if it's true that there is little hunger there? Someone once told me that she'd heard that the streets were paved of gold, but I didn't believe it. If it were true, wouldn't we all be gone and in Amerika with shovels? Maybe it is just a speech figure. I think if things get worse here and we do end up going to Amerika, we will find out. It's getting late, so I'm blowing out this lamp and going on to sleep.
MARY ANNE:
Wow. I look at the fat cookie in my hand that I'm about to devour and think of how lucky I am to have access to cookies 24/7. It must have been a luxury for those poor people, I realize. Slowly, I eat the cookie, appreciating its sweet taste, then turn a page and continue reading...
August, 1901:
I can hear noise far downtown. I just jolted awake. People yelling, thuds...it's late at night; I can see by my clock that it is two. I'm by the window now, looking out at the black, but see nothing. I can just hear the sounds. My heart is pounding and I'm sitting in this chair, hoping Anna and Mama aren't awakened and frightened. I just hope it never reaches here. The noises are very distant, but clear just the same.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I finally fell asleep that night at around five. I sat there for three hours before the noise subsided. Now it's quiet at night again. But how long will that last? Mama's work is slowing down; she says so many people are fearful and many of them are fleeing, getting away. She worries that her job will be soon to go. There is much unemployed people in Germany and Mama and our naibors fear it will get much worse. Mama was awake and worrying the other night. This time, I came in the main room and put an arm around her, trying to soothe her. She hugged me back and whispered things will be all right, but her forehead was lined in the middle again and her brows couldn't relax. The next night, I woke up late again and heard some thudding in the distance and sat by the window. Anna woke up and came over and hugged me. "You're worried..." she whispered. I must have had the same worried look that Mama's been getting lately in her brows because Anne stroked my brows and forehead. I kissed her on top of her head. "Are they going to kill us?" she whispered. "Nein..." I shook my head and stroked her hair, which is dark like mine. "Mama will look out for us. She won't let anything happen to us." I stroked her until she dozed, then I carried her back to her bed, then got on my side.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 23, 1901:
To begin...where were we when so much happened and we're now here at a docking station in Denmarck on the verge of sailing to Amerika? To start...they finally came to Vosterbohn. We barely had time to get out of our house...they came late at night. Mama, Anna, and I hurriedly threw on clothes once we heard screaming, shattering glass and noise. I looked out that night and saw people racing up the street in panic. Oy vey! was my first thinking. I ran and shook Anna awake, then we threw on some clothes and ran for Mama. Mama was awake and heading to our side of the room, the horror in her eyes mirroring ours. We got ready to race out the door, Mama clutching a small bag and a goblet. I was clutching this journal and my family for dear life. I know now that inside that bag Mama held was all of our money, since we know that we need money to travel to Amerika. But as we got to the door, there was a loud BAT sound and something flew through the door. A bullet, I now realize it was. More bullets came through and the noise in the streets grew deafening. "Don't open that door!" Mama screamed, pulling us to the back of our house. We ended up squeezing out the fireplace flue and out on the roof. Thank the heavens the roof wasn't high, so all of us were able to get down and run as fast as we could. It was a very good thing we did too, since they broke into our house. We ran until we got to the middle of the field far enough away so we couldn't be seen. Nearby was a wooded lot, so we walked there and Mama hid us under a thick brush of bushes. Even this far, we could see the fires eating away at our town. We were terribly afraid for our naibors and hoped they were able to get away. A couple of them were, since a time later, they joined us in the woods. They too hid and all of us could just watch in mute horror as the rioters destroyed our street and for what we knew our entire shtetl. There was no time to go and find out. They would be back again, so all of us continued through the woods. It was a long, long walk and all of us were silent, fearful of the thugs catching up to us and killing us. I'm still trembling now just thinking of that night that came to pass. The next few days are a blur. Mama and some of the others gave the border guards some of the money, so we could get past...then we finally made it to Denmark. "Keep low and don't attract attention to yourselves," one guard told us. "Go past this road and you are out of Deuschland." Some of the people started to cry as we crossed the narrow dirt road, but Mama, Anna, and I were too in shock and tired. It was another few days walk before we reached this shore and located this dock where we will spend tonight. It's night now and we were able to wash up a little and talk some. Mama's fearful that this money she has won't be enough to make it into Amerika. Even though people say Amerika is open to all countries, I know some people are still turned away. Mama is now writing to Erik and Joanna to let them know we are going to Amerika. We are all a bit nervous and excited, yet a bit frightened. It is luck that Mama, Anna and I speak some Englisch and that I am practicing it here in this journal. Mama and Anna actually speak more fluently than I do, since even though I write my native German and Yiddish quite well, my speech is not very good. My teacher back in Deuschland says it is a speech defect that I may have all my life, but I'm glad I can read and write well. I just hope I can understand and be understood by the Amerikans since I hear they speak very rapid Englisch.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MARY ANNE:
As I turn a page, Dad, Sharon, and Grandma come in and call hello. "Hello..." I call back.
"You look comfy," Dad tells me as they hang up their jackets. I nod.
"Is it fascinating?" Sharon asks. My parents know about Syraria's journal.
"It is," I nod. "I'm up to the part where she's about to board the ship." We talk a little, then the others head upstairs and I continue reading. As I flip the page, a paper falls out. I open it up and see that it is a ticket. A steamship ticket for third class, I realize as I try to make out the faded print. Corners of the ticket crumble in my hand and I gingerly put the ticket between the pages. A memento, I think. It's touching and I think for a moment of all she went through so all of us could have a better, safer life here. I think of my friends and how most of them had ancestors who'd immigrated here at the turn of the twentieth century. Without them, we all wouldn't be here, I think as I continue reading...
We just boarded and found bunks in the third-class steerage. Anna, Mama, and I have to share one bed since it is very cramped quarters. I hope I remember that the stern is for women to use for a bathroom while the prow is for the men. I am sitting here in this bunk writing in this journal and still crowds of immigrants are crashing down through the bunks, shoving, edging, and squashing in. All of them speak in hundreds of languages and I caught a couple of snatches of Yiddish and German there. I even heard a couple speaking Englisch fluently. I wonder if they are Englisch or Irish since I know they speak Englisch there. I know Ireland is a poor country like Germany, so I imagine a lot of Irish people are fleeing. I hear someone on the bunk across from me, a girl my age barking some orders in broken Englisch and wonder what country she is from. She has dark hair almost as dark as mine and large brown eyes like mine. The crowd's settling now; I think they are all on board.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I met the girl in the other bunk just as our ship left shore. Once the crowd settled down, Mama, Anna, and I headed up to the deck to watch the ship go. The other girl joined us and introduced herself as Angela Mianno and said she was from Italy. I told her my name and that I was German. A sound blasted and the ship slowly took off. All of us watched the shoreline become distant, then slowly fade away. It was sunny a while ago, but now it is cloudy and the shore faded from view and now I can see nothing but the sea. My heart feels a strange pang, making tears spill down my face, and I have a feeling I will never again see Germany.
MARY ANNE:
I wipe away tears of my own and notice a small blotch near the bottom of the page. My great-great grandmother's tears, I think. I grab some tissues fast, but a tear of mine is added to the page. I wipe them away and let my page-dropped tear dry before gently closing the journal. It is late, almost midnight and I'm feeling sleepy, so I finish my tea, long gone lukewarm, grope for a last cookie, but realize that I ate my last cookie. I take the plate and cup into the kitchen, load them into the dishwasher and grabbing the journal, put out the fire for the night and head up to get ready for bed and look forward to reading more later.
The next chapter deals with survival in third-class steerage! More later!