Joe Tells His Family's Story

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What follows is a brief narrative of how my mother and two of her siblings were finally able to join their father in Brooklyn.

The first photo was taken in 1921 in Proskurov, Ukraine and shows my 30-year-old father Aaron Weitzman, my 19-year-old mother Miriam, and my 3-month-old brother William, just before they departed for the United States.

They were denied entry at Ellis Island because of the quota for Russians and spent the next two years in Havana before gaining entry through Tampa, Florida in 1923.

The second photo was taken in 1925 in Brooklyn with my parents, my brother William, then five years old, and their 2-year-old daughter Sarah, who was born in Brooklyn shortly after my parents arrived in the U.S.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The third photo is a montage of three photos taken between 1908 and 1910 in Proskurov, Ukraine, before my maternal grandfather, Sam Beitch, departed for the U.S. It shows my grandfather and grandmother, Sarah, with their five surviving children (they had 6). My mother is front row right. Her older sister Jennie (back row left) and younger brother Abraham (front row left) made it to the U.S.

In 1914, he sent money back to his family so that they could join him, but World War One started before they could leave.

In 1921 when the family was departing for the U.S., the oldest child Jennie was married and left separately with her husband and child. My mother Miriam was married and left separately with her husband and child.

My grandmother left with her youngest child Abraham who was 16 and made it to the ship in Bremerhaven, Germany, but was not allowed to board because she hadn’t recovered from her recent illness. She told the boy to get on the ship and she would join him soon. She died three months later and is buried in a Jewish cemetery in Bremen.

My grandfather last saw his son when the boy was 6 and barely recognized him at 16 when he met him at Ellis Island. He never saw his wife again or two of his children.

Jennie and her family were also denied entrance at Ellis Island and spent two years in Buenos Aires before arriving in the U.S. Their second child was born in Argentina.

More Reflections on Ellis Island

Here are more of your comments about the trip:

"Because of the trip, I feel a stronger connection with our heritage as Americans."
"It gave me empathy for our grandparents and how brave they were. My grandmother was 13 years old and came to Ellis Island by herself in 1895 from Hungary."
"It gave me a good understanding of what the immigrants went through and their reasons for leaving their countries."
"I would like to go back for some reflection. This must have been overwhelming, scary and exciting for our ancestors."
"It was interesting to walk though the exhibits and think about William Williams, Powderly and others who worked here. Reading American Passage definitely enhanced my overall experience! The immigrants and immigration feel very real to me."
"This was a great opportunity for me to learn about Ellis Island. I love American history and was fascinated by the stories of Ellis Island."
"Visiting Ellis was a wonderful learning experience. I could feel the history in this special place."

Reflections on Ellis Island

These are some of the comments about your favorite parts of the Ellis Island trip, taken from the evaluation forms.

Vincent Cannato was a popular guide and source of information. Having the author there to interpret the museum was a definite plus. Here’s what you said you liked:

“Time spent with Vin.”
“He was very knowledgeable, but more than that, his guidance and answers to questions were clear and very informative”
“Detail provided by Mr. Cannato.”
“Having a private room where we could sit and ask questions at the end of the tour.”
“Author’s insights that went farther than the museum’s exhibits.”
“The guided tour helped me focus on individual exhibits better.”
“He was very open to questions and had lots of info to share.”
“The guided tour helped me to focus on individual exhibits better.”
“Very enjoyable particularly with Vin along. What better way to tour Ellis Island!”
“Loved Vincent Cannato!”

For many of you, the photographs of the immigrants displayed throughout the museum were especially compelling, because they showed “how immigrants lived while at Ellis.”

“Photos and exhibits which show so much emotion.”
“Photos of the immigrants in the clothing of their native countries. The photos of the “street Arabs” were sad but compelling.”
“I loved the photos of the immigrants. Their faces tell the story.”

Third Book Discussion (October 1, 2010)

Some of the responses to the question “What was the most surprising, interesting or disturbing fact you learned from the book?” were Theodore Roosevelt’s role in immigration policy immigration laws and the mentality behind them, particularly those that discriminated against certain groups the role of the steamship companies, how they recruited immigrants that the percentage of people excluded was very low and never varied much the tremendous amount of research in the book, including details of the people involved and the cases of immigrants the people in charge of immigration and their attitudes the stereotyping of immigrants the numbers of immigrants needed to fill jobs in America at that time the discussion of the current climate in the U.S. regarding immigration and the suggestion by some that we create “a new Ellis Island” that immigrants had no papers or documents Ellis Island was used as a prison the terrorist attack on Black Tom Island in WWI many of the questions Cannato raises are those we are still dealing with class distinctions – only the steerage passengers were examined We discussed the categories of exclusion and the intelligence tests, in which persecuted people and farmers were expected to pass literacy and intelligence tests such as the Binet test. One comment was that these tests were adopted out of a fear of “polluting the gene pool, a fear that still exists today.” We talked about Roosevelt, who created the civil service system and then went around it to appoint his cronies. The civil service system was needed to provide some stability in government agencies. In a discussion of the historical significance of Ellis Island, we talked about how there are so many ways of looking at Ellis Island. It’s a story of inclusion and exclusion. It’s a symbol of diversity and a story of leveling. It makes us aware of how so many people would do anything to come here. In America, a person could start out as a worker and end up being a boss, which is not possible in many countries. It’s a symbol of how people could overcome indignity. One person commented that “Ellis Island is about the fabric of history and how we became Americans. It’s not us and them; it’s when we became us.”

Photos of the Trip

Ellis Island Trip – More Thoughts

I want to thank all of you who have sent emails and blog comments about the trip. Here are two comments I received:

"The history of Ellis Island is important for all Americans to know. I am so glad that I had the chance to read American Passage and visit Ellis Island. I am encouraging my children to bring my grandchildren to visit this historical treasure."

“We had a great time reading the book, discussing it at home, reading the blog, and hearing others' opinions at the discussion group. The trip was the icing on the cake. Even the weather cooperated! Mr. Cannato was interesting, informative, approachable, and fun.”

I found that the Ellis Island story is the story of the triumph of the immigrants. It’s true that their success in America came at the expense of other groups, namely African-Americans who had been brought over as slaves and Native Americans, many of whom were displaced, killed and removed from their culture. Many of the immigrants came fleeing unemployment, economic hardship, starvation and pogroms. Although the first generation of immigrants often struggled to feed, house and clothe their families, they did it so that their children and grandchildren could live more prosperous and more secure lives.

Ellis Island Trip

The trip on October 2 was fantastic! We could not have hoped for better weather. Meeting Vincent Cannato was a highlight of the trip. He was a knowledgeable and personable guide to the immigration museum. The fact that we had read his book American Passage before the trip gave added meaning to the exhibits and photos. It was a pleasure spending the day with such a congenial group of people. Here are some of the photos people have sent me.