Bubbe's Place: Stories

Sonya Travels to America

Although they had little money Jacob and David were determined to bring their three sisters to America. They decided to bring Sonya, Yetta and her two-year-old son Harry in 1923. As soon as these two young women had jobs and were self-supporting, they would bring Genesse and her five children to America.

On March 23, 1923, Sonya, Yetta, and Harry left Tarashta by train. They traveled first to Kiev, then to Moscow, and finally to Riga, Latvia. At the health station in Riga they were told that Harry had ringworm in his scalp. They could not go any further until it was cured. While they were waiting in Riga, the women used up their meager funds. Their American brothers had paid for their passage. No one had allowed for this kind of mishap.

When Harry was at last cured, they continued by train to Lebow, Latvia. Where they learned that they had missed their boat. It would be four weeks before the next ship left. They had a place to stay, but no food and no money. How would they manage? While they worried, officials herded them into the health inspection. At the health station they met good fortune in the shape of Esther Moorachovski, their first cousin. Esther had just arrived in Lebow. She too was undergoing the humiliating de-losing procedure required of all immigrants. Quickly they shared their news and their problems. Esther had a little money; she bought food and shared every morsel with her cousins. Sonya still remembers that herring was cheap on the waterfront. She remembers eating the bones clean from head to tail.

The trip on the small boat across the stormy North Sea was terrible. They traveled third class and were often sick. The boat tossed and turned by the rough seas. Fortunately, it was a short trip to London, England.

London's health inspection station was the worst one in their journey. They were modest young women, but they were treated like animals with no feelings. Inspectors watched while they showered and then bathed in large public baths, they had to scrub again and again with coarse soap. Their long hair was scrubbed and pulled and scrubbed again. It was true that most of these travelers we're infected with body lice but their treatment was dehumanizing and mortifying. Their baggage was dell used by heating and then they had to scramble to find their meager possessions. First class travelers were not treated this way.

From London they traveled by train to Liverpool. Here the three weary travelers boarded the ship Homeric of the White Star Line. They traveled third class. Only Sonya and Harry were good sailors. Yetta and the other women were sick from one shore to the other shore. On October 4, 1923 Sonya, Yetta, and Harry arrived at Ellis Island. Gubenko became Gabin and Krafchenko became Kraff. They were in America now.

They had to wait on Ellis Island until their brothers sent twenty-five dollars for each woman. On October 10, they were pinned with tags "Erie, Pennsylvania” and put on a train from New York City.