Jewish Immigrants

1st Day: October 1^st, 1894:

Yaakov:

Yaakov

   We grabbed the last of our luggage and were on our way towards the door. I had lived there my whole life, twelve years without sleeping anywhere else besides once when I had my first sleepover at my best friend’s house. I had never come home to any small room like the one I lived in, divided in 4 to accommodate my mother, my sister, my grandfather and me, and no other small space that we turned into a kitchen by putting in a used pot and a few utensils.

Family journal

    That morning when my mother had awakened my sister and me, I knew something was different. Her voice wasn’t the same as every other morning when she would wake us up for work or school. She had warned us a few weeks ago that we might have to go live in New York for it was a popular thought that life was better in America and that we would be able to do so much more with our lives if we went there. My father had already moved and found a job that allowed him to send money back to us so that we would be able to afford the trip. With him there we could start saving for our new life, but she never talked about it and I had considered it forgotten. For my sister and for me the trip now seemed like a last minute thing, but my mother and her father must have known for a little longer since it seemed they had time to prepare a few things for our trip. New York, city of dreams, of hope, of opportunity. That’s what I heard everyone say, but at the moment I didn’t want to think about it like that, but as the city that was going to pull me away from my home, Romania, my friends, everything I had ever known.

    As we walked out of the door that morning I knew a new start was waiting on the other side. I took our family journal, looked back one last time and walked towards the carriage waiting to take us to the port of Chilia where the tickets were the cheapest.

2nd Day: October 8^th, 1894:

The Carmania, an enormous steamship

Jacob  

My family and I decided to explore the Carmania (an enormous steamship)… and we discovered how we were supposed to sleep. Twenty rows of three beds on top of each other were squeezed into crowded rooms, and a lot of the beds were already taken by other immigrants. We hurried to a corner of the room where some beds were still unoccupied. We successfully got to the other end of the room and put our luggage down. But the second we put them down, Eidel screamed because her tiny doll had disappeared. All of the family started looking for it, but the doll was never found. Once we were settled, I went up to the deck and watched the horizon. I thought, “America, here I come!!” and, after a last look at the sea, I went down to meet my family. We went to the dining room to get our dinner. We had to stand up to eat because there were no more chairs. Then my family and I went down to the dormitory and tried to sleep.

The next morning, we tried to wash, but we soon saw that the sanitary and hygiene situations were much worse than the sleeping situation. There were five tiny sinks and two bathrooms for about seventy immigrants. After a week of the cold and bad hygiene and sanitary conditions, diseases like typhus started spreading, and six people died. Among them was my grandfather. We did a small funeral on the deck and threw his body overboard. The ceremony was short, and I thought: But why can’t we wait to be in New York and give all the dead people a proper burial? Apparently no one else was thinking about this, because no one protested when the bodies were thrown overboard. I later learned that by throwing the bodies overboard we prevented diseases to spread.

  Two weeks later, we had arrived in Ellis Island. We got off the boat and finally set foot on American soil.

3rd Day: October 10^th, 1894:

Alice    

Alice

Upon our arrival at the Island, we had to go through various examinations. Health Inspectors were walking by the tremendously long lines and examining the immigrants. They were looking for anyone sniffling, coughing, sneezing or limping. One of them came up to me took hold of my eyelid and suddenly turned it inside out. He started to touch it with a button hook to look for inflammations. It was short, yet very painful. I did not want the kids to undergo this excruciating pain but if wanted to pass we had to be brave. When Jacob’s turn came the inspector spent more time examining him. When he was done he brutally flipped back his eyelid and marked him with blue chalk on his right shoulder. I did not know what that meant, and I did not try to find out because I was too worried about what they would do to him. I could see that Yaakov was very worried about this preoccupying mark on his jacket and I told him it would be alright and that it meant nothing. I knew he didn’t believe me. Ever since we had arrived I could feel a kind of deep sadness in the children. I knew it was because of Grandfather Yirmiah’s sudden death.  

Button hook examination

   We climbed up the stairs towards the second floor to get our medical examinations but everything was proceeding slowly and we had to stay on the stairs for about twenty minutes. The closer we got to the second floor, the more I started to become very anxious. Just as I stepped on the medical examination floor I felt my heart make beat quickly and loudly. As our turn came I hoped there was nothing wrong with the children. Again, one sick child could lead us back to Romania. Luckily no one had anything. I was in such a great state of happiness when I heard this that I was hurrying to turn around and leave. Just as we turned around the health inspector called us back. I was really confused. Why was he calling us back? He took hold of Yakov and turned him to his side just where the blue chalk mark was put. How could I have forgotten about that? The inspector brutally lifted Yakov’s eyelid took out a button hook and poked Yakov just as violently as the first health inspector. Now I knew what the mark meant. Yakov was a courageous boy who hardly complained. But when I heard him moan when the inspector had flipped his eyelid I knew that it was not a small pain and I was really anxious. The inspector murmured something to a man, flipped Yaakov’s eyelid back and ruthlessly wiped off the chalk from the Jacket. Relieved we proceeded towards the other examinations.

4th Day:  October 15th, 1894:
Alice

Our street

   A horse drawn carriage dropped us off in a very muddy neighborhood. The ride was extraordinarily long and stuffy. With the other families, we piled into a small car. Every time someone would get off, the person would pay the fare and leave. We were the last family to get out of the car. All four of us Benji, Edith, Jacob and I. We were stopped in front of a tall building in the Lower East Side. It was gray and had small windows.

 On the door you could notice a small 97 written in chalk. We walked in and started climbing the winding wooden stair case. We were at the top, the 4^th floor. On one of the wooden doors, there was 404 written in chalk as well. This was our door. Eidle, Jacob and I were about to open the doors of our new life, a life of dreams and opportunity.  But when we walked in, it was quite the opposite.

The apartment on Orchard St.

 Benjamin took our luggage and let us explore the apartment. The main room, the living room was a small dark space. On the left, was what Benjamin called the bedroom. It was just as dark and narrow. Benjamin had put in a twin bed for the kids and he and I slept on a mattress placed on the floor. Separating the two beds was a chest of clothes. On the chest was a candle. I had made quilts out of random pieces of material; they were a little ruff but would keep us warm.  In the living room, Benjamin had crafted chairs and a table. On the table sat my most prized possession, a blue vase that had been in the family for generations.

Edith filled it up with little white flowers she had been given on the boat. On the right there was a little corridor which led into the kitchen. The kitchen was the worst of all the rooms. There was neither ventilation nor windows. A bare bulb hung above the rusty and extremely dirty stove. Next to it, sat a coal powered oven. The only good thing is that we had running water! Thanks to a couple of provisions we keep with us at all times, I tried to turn on the oven to cook some bread, but it smoked up. The bread was burned like all our dreams. We had come to America hoping for a better life, but instead we get the worst of the worst. Maybe Benjamin and I made a horrible decision, but now there was no going back.

5th Day: November 1^st, 1894:

Jacob

Our building

My father had had trouble finding the apartment. All were too expensive or way too small, but he didn’t have a choice. He had to take a very small but cheap apartment located in the Lower East side, 404 Orchard Street. After we had moved into our apartment on Orchard Street, I had to help my family and get extra money. And to get extra money I had to get my own job. At first, I kept wondering what kind of job I could get, and then it struck me. Newsboy!!! I would be a newsboy to help my parents get needed extra money. I told my parents that was the job I could get, and, seeing no other option, they said I could start looking for a newspaper that needed another newsboy the next day.

Newsboy on the street, selling newspapers

So I went to the newspaper building of “The World”, which is located at the east of the Old New York City Hall and was hired. I had to start working right after meeting my boss. I thought he wasn’t nice at all, and he explained to me the payment system for newsies is based on how many newspapers you buy. The more you buy, the more you sell, and you can keep the money, though you need to use that same money to buy the newspapers the next morning. So if you don’t sell many newspapers, you don’t get much money. I went downstairs to get the newspapers I would sell and set off. My first day was rough: I ran all over the city and had cramps that were so bad that night that I could hardly get up the next morning. But I was still happy because I was successful at selling my newspapers at the center of the city, where there were lots of stores. After three days of running in the streets to sell newspapers that contained information I didn’t even know, my parents announced to Edith and I that they had found a Hebrew school that we could afford. But I noticed their smiles looked fake when they mentioned the school, so I wasn’t too eager to go. I was to be there when I had the time and wasn’t working, or work in the afternoon, after school, instead of selling newspapers all day long. That would not be often, though, because my boss demanded I work even more now (and I didn’t want to do that, obviously.) Of course, I couldn’t say anything without risking to be fired, so I had to keep my mouth shut.

Today I went to school for the first time. Since the school isvery far uptown, I had to get up extra early, and when I saw the school, I was so stunned that I let my little backpack fall. It was very old, the shutters for the windows were broken, disgusting and the paint on the door was coming off in too many places to count. The agenda for the day was that I went to school then, after school, I had to go sell newspapers. The subjects were interesting though, especially Hebrew. I have to say that my first day of school did not go too well. I was chased by bigger kids and punished three times when I wasn’t the one talking (in class, the teacher would slap our fingers with a ruler when she caught us talking), so I can definitely say that I hated my school. There is one boy, though, who has been nice to me. His name is Max and he’s also a newsboy for “The World”.

So this is how my new life has started.  After only a few days, I started thinking; maybe life in New York isn’t as fabulous as everyone says it is…

6th Day: November 14th, 1894:

the blue vase

the stew

Alice

I have just come back from one of the cleaning jobs I had in the building. To have cheaper rent, I accepted to clean the apartments in the building. It is a very difficult task. Every day my hands burn, they are red and covered in calluses. This is because of the ammonia I have to use on the floors. My dress is ripped and looks like a giant rag, even the sturdy canvas gave in to hours of labor on my knees. I have a brush to scrub the floors and the kitchen. The top is made of wood and the bristle of horse hair; it is very coarse and good for cleaning. When I get home I make some supper. Usually I make stew; with barley, beef tongue, carrots and   potatoes.  Out of the cupboard, I pull out 3 cups, 4 bowls and 4 spoons. Sometimes, when we have saved up enough money, I like to buy little flowers and put them in my grandmother’s vase. The florist sells the flowers that haven’t been bought to me, it’s like that with the baker; he sells us the breads that were not bought during the day. I feel bad doing this, it makes me feel worthless, but there is no other option. Money is really tight. Benjamin has had to work double shifts, we had to pull Jacob out of school for a couple weeks I don’t know how it’s going to work out, I’m really scared. We might have to pull Jacob out of school permanently. This life of opportunity has become stressful, I miss Romania. I wish we could go back.

7th Day: November 21th, 1894

Benjamin= Father

Ellis Island

Williamsburg Bridge

    My family now being here lifts an immense amount of weight off my shoulders. Before they got here, I would walk around the house through the city and take a seat on a bench in Central Park. I couldn’t stay still for long for I was filled with anxiety and that kept me moving. I had no idea when they would arrive, my wife, her father and my children. The trip across the ocean wasn’t always the safest. Going to work to build the Williamsburg Bridge in those days was possibly the hardest task to accomplish on an everyday basis but I knew I had to go to be able to send them twenty dollars for them to be able to be here with me. My amount of concern for my family must have been noticeable through my work as well, for when I was picking up and putting down heavy metals and bricks that I would pass on to those who would put them together, even my boss noticed something was wrong. The second I set eyes on my family when they arrived to Ellis Island, I felt my throat close up and a mix of joy and relief settled itself into my body.

     Life is so different now, so much better than when I was alone, but I don’t think my wife is too happy about our lifestyle here and when she’s not content I can’t be satisfied. I do admit that life is not the easiest, that we will all still have to get used to it  and that we all struggle a little, we have to make sure we can keep our children in school and that we can pay for food every day but the fact that we are now together is enough for me.

 8th day: November 27th, 1894

Alice 

A busy street

A few weeks after our arrival in New York, I had noticed the many differences between New York and where we used to live in Romania. The main differences were that people came to New York for job opportunities, while the people who left Romania were heading to New York. In Romania we lived in a small house part of a small village located at the bottom of the Carpathian Mountains. But in New York, we live in tall buildings that seem like they could reach the skies in small apartments. We lived with the wilderness and fresh air. In Romania life was less complicated even though we had to go get water ourselves, but here in NY the water is easy to get but the money to provide us with water is insufficient. I had to work a full sixteen hour shift as a building maid. I received a lower wage than Benjamin for more work hours. I did not only work in one building, I also ironed clothes for a laundry mat close to our building for six dollars a day.

The only day I got out of the building was a particularly warm November afternoon and everyone seemed to be happy in the busy streets. There were many stores and vendors among the streets. People flooded the avenues and cyclists rolled between them. The newsboys were shouting out the names of the different competitive newspapers and their headlines. I could not believe I was going to live in such a noisy place. The children had many friends and we did not have many financial problems. I left the house early in the morning to get water from the well and the children would always want to come help and make me have less traveling to do. Because of that, I was not forced to wake earlier and we slept longer, making our daily activities better. I was suddenly wiped out of my memories by the yelling of a man and I was propelled back into this extremely loud urban area. He was screaming at this woman which I guess was his wife that he never wanted to see her again. I held on to Benjamin. If this was how the city made people react towards each other I did not want to be in that situation.

 9th day: December 1st, 1894

Jacob 

Decorated store window

We’re finally in December which means it’s almost Hanukkah, my favorite holiday of the year! Today though, I went to school and found out that in New York there is another holiday that is also celebrated and very popular; it’s called Christmas. I had never heard of this before and I didn’t quite understand how it worked. There was some religion called Christianity that was definitely the most predominant of religions at my school and in New York in general. In class my teacher explained that Christians were those that believed in Jesus. I had heard of this name before but didn’t know who he was or what he had done, it was all very interesting.

Gabe, the owner of the store

    It seemed that the whole city was getting ready for this big event! In every store window we could see red, green and white ornaments all over. There was also a certain man with a white fluffy beard and a red outfit on. He had glasses in some representations of him and none in others. There were so many lights in one store that I felt forced to enter it and look around. The man that ran the store looked up from his newspaper and asked me if I needed help finding something, I was in such awe that the first thing that escaped my lips was, “Who is that man in the red outfit?” the man smiled and said, “You mean Santa Claus?” Santa Claus?! Who on earth was Santa Claus? I was starting to sincerely believe that people in New York City were strange! First Jesus, then Santa Claus? Where were these people coming from? The man from the store seemed amused by my astonishment and gave me a children’s picture book about the history of Christmas and inside I found all my answers. I was so pleased by this book that I lost track of the time I had spent in the store. People would come in, look around and then leave, a few buying some things and others with children just admiring the light-filled room and window. This whole time I was standing in a corner of the store slowly reading the book I had been showed and looking at the pictures with bewilderment. It was six o’clock already and the store was going to close promptly. The man asked me what my name was for he claimed he had seen me on the street before and I was the only one in town, besides the rest of my family whom he didn’t know yet. I told him my name was Jacob and he said his was Gabriel. Gabriel seemed like a sweet man. He must have been in his early seventies and it seemed as though he had been in town his whole life. He asked me if I celebrated Christmas and I said that I celebrated Hanukkah and that before today I had never heard of this other holiday. He explained to me that Christmas was a holiday of love and that presents were usually given to one another during this time of year. I told Gabriel that I had to go home, for dinner started at 6:15 on the dot and Mother would be upset if I was late.

   On my way out I was going to give him back his book, but he said, “That is my gift to you. You seemed to enjoy it so please take it home.” I didn’t know how to react or what to say, I had never been given a present in my life and it took me completely by surprise. I thanked him as many times as possible and I couldn’t take my grin off my face. He joined me in smiling and then told me I should probably get home because he didn’t want my mother to get mad at me.

       On my way home I thought about everything I had learned today and how much I had enjoyed all of it. I was so happy that when I got home, my mother, father and sister waiting for me to start devouring their food. They didn’t even get mad at me but rather asked me what had happened. They joined me in my happiness and later went to thank Gabriel as well.

10th day: December 11th 1894

 Alice-Mom

The synagogue

The only good day I had ever since I came to New York was t our first day. It was a moment of Reunion and happiness. I felt like we had explored all New York and that we had bought everything. But that was our only joyful day. The next day Benjamin had left to work and the children had nothing else to do. I was really lost. I did not know what to do. So then I went to see the owner of the building and asked him for a job. He gave me one. Since that day I became a housekeeper for the building, but instead of earning money, we had a smaller rent to pay. Meanwhile, Jacob had found a job as a part time paperboy after school. Every day he accompanied his little sister to a different school, far from his, and traveled all the way to his school. I would wake up each morning with my husband gone and my children too, and I would go up and down the stairs of the building and cleaning each and every floor. It was back breaking work and my hands, a t the end of the day, were red from hard work.

When came Christmas time, the windows of the shops were overfilled with toys, Christmas tree decorations, little images of Santa Clause and more holiday accessories. The owner of the building had taken a vacation with his family and we were also let go on vacation. There was no school, and Benjamin got a paid vacation. It was a really good time. We visited toy stores and we bought a small sized Christmas tree. Apart from all this holiday cheer, the children wanted Christmas presents but we did  not have a lot of money. It really made me really sad to see them when they heard this. We had not bought anything to celebrate Christmas but the tree.

On the morning of Christmas, the kids had woken up and when they arrived in the living room they could not even speak. They saw a room filled with Christmas decorations and the tree was beautiful. A few boxes layed under the tree.  Two for Jacob and two for his sister. Jacob got a whistle and a flash light and his sister got accessories for the doll her teacher had given her. This was the second happiest moment in New York.

11th day: December 20th, 1894

Jacob

Yesterday in Hebrew school we made menorahs for Hanukkah. We made one for each student and we were able to bring them home.

Menorah for Hanukkah

Each night you turn one candle on and you normally get a present. I said “normally” because I know that my family can’t afford to pay for these presents. We almost never get any, and each time I get one, I always feel guilty because the present cost us money, and I know that we don’t have much. I know that my parents always try to hide it from Edith and me, but I can hear their conversations at night and I can tell they’re concerned. Maybe we’ll move back to Romania and I’ll have my house, my friends, and my school back. I can only hope.

We belong to the First Romanian-American Synagogue that’s on Rivington Street. It’s very close from my house (which is on Orchard Street), and we go there every Saturday.

The only good things that have happened to me here in New York are friends at school (Max) and learning about Hanukkah preparations, but that’s it. I know that my mom isn't satisfied with our lives either and it only makes me hope even more that we’ll go back to Romania. Today in school we learned how to make Hanukkah pastries like palmiers. The teacher showed us a recipe and she brought some to class. We had a half each and were amazed by the food.  Since we don’t have much money, I don’t think we’ll be able to buy the ingredients to make them. I think our first family Hanukkah in New York is going to be terrible. No presents, no special pastries, just the menorah.

Well, Hanukkah might not be a disaster after all, because my mom just told me that we were going to save even more money, buy less food and clothes only when we would need them. I think maybe this is going to be a memorable Hanukkah after all…

 12th day: December 21th, 1894
 Alice

Edith's doll

I’ve been really stressed about Hanukkah. It is our first Hanukah away from our Romanian family, not to mention that we have barely enough money to have a decent meal. Thankfully, Edith’s teacher gave us a doll to give to her. We are so grateful because Edith lost her doll on the boat and there was no way we could afford another one. Jacob learned about Christmas at school and ever since has been asking us about Santa. The man at the book store gave Jacob a very nice illustrated book about Santa himself. Jacob also brought back a menorah, another life saver because we forgot ours in Romania. We still need candles but our neighbor said he would give us just enough to light one each night.

Family cookbook

    I have been saving for a nice meal. I brought out all the family cookbooks we had in the house. I sat down on the dining room table and opened them all on the table. I searched for a recipe that would be cheap. I finally found two recipes, one for challah and one for meat ball recipe that we would be able to afford. The kids and I can share a meatball and Benji can have his own.  I will make one small challah. It will be difficult considering the oven is falling apart, but I must. The one thing I will not accept is a ruined Hanukah.

 I’ve always loved Hanukah, it was a big part of my childhood and I could not, will not accept the passing of it.  Tonight I am going to do my best to have a great Hanukah; I might even sneak a dollar from my savings to be able to buy some ingredients. I have been saving a couple cents every day; my savings are in one of my socks in my sock drawer. I am hoping for a new apron because mine is totally ruined. Is it foolish to hope like this? I have been giving everything I possibly could to my family, all my energy, love, support and I never complain about how unhappy I am. It is something I keep to myself.  If I were in Romania right now, I would be with my parents, siblings and friends. We would be happy, all pitching in to help make the meal. But right now, I have to go to the butcher, for tonight must be a success.