Strauss family's migration documents
Excerpt of the list of passengers of the ship SS Finland from Antwerp, mentioning Harvey Sohnen’s grandfather Beniamin Strashunski (Benjamin Strauss) (1913). Excerpt of the list of passengers of the ship SS Carmania, mentioning Harvey Sohnen’s grandmother Henja Straschunska and her children Fiszel, Faiwel, Sara and Ettel , as well as her younger brother Efroim Owseizik (1921). (Note: Sara’s name was written as Lora by a clerical error. Also, Efroim was identified as a friend although he was Henja’s brother.) Petition for naturalization of Benjamin Strauss (1923).
From Harvey Sohnen’s information and Beniamin Strashunski’s 1913 passport, it is likely that his migratory journey took him to Вержболово (Wirballen in German, now Virbalis, Lithuania) in August 1913. He then boarded a ship from Antwerp to the US.
- Emigration
- Family
- Memory
Harvey has collected a lot of information about his ancestors’ migration. ”I have the ship manifest for my grandfather and grandmother. I actually… you can just see that I'm kind of wild about all this”, - said Harvey. That, uh, it was very difficult for my grandmother to get her passport because my grandfather left Ashmyany in 1913. It's very typical for immigrants that the man goes first to try to get a job set up and be, you know, make things ready for the family to follow. But it was 8 years from when my grandfather left until my grandmother left, and that's a very long time. I believe that it must have been very difficult. Part of that reason was World War I. After World War I it was difficult for people to emigrate. But my grandmother finally arrived in 1921 to the USA with her four children, including my mother. The transatlantic crossing was very dangerous. But after World War I, there were other problems. And so it was a very difficult thing. Apparently, the difficulties were on the Polish side. In other words, you know, Americans didn't have a problem. Although there were ultimately restrictions in immigration, but it was very hard to get out of Poland. Yeah, so how's a good passport? I don't know. I think that… My guess is that the… it was paid for in the United States… that the ship travel was paid for in the United States. And you know, I would be guessing. In other words, I'm not an expert. The last of eight children who emigrated to New York was my grandfather Benjamin. The family story goes that the straw that broke the camel’s back for Benjamin, and which precipitated the decision, was his being swindled out of a lot of money.
