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Standing in the port of Haifa, Pesia & her brother Akiva surveyed the ships at hand. They were a sorry lot. But one ship stood head & shoulders above the rest. An ocean-going passenger ship, headed for New York City named the Neo Hellas (New Greece 1939-1955). Pesia booked passage on the Neo Hellas, took her two little girls onboard, and all of their belongings in two valises and headed for America.
Aviva & Esther (Ettie) were very sad saying goodbye to all the family they knew, standing on the dock of the Neo Hellas, and to make them happier, Pesia visited the gift shop with them, and with some of her precious little money, bought them each a gift. Aviva wanted a cloth doll, dressed in American fashion... she wore a pink dress, and Ettie chose a small wooden race car, with an American flag on the side. That cheered them up a bit, and they carried those little trinkets with them where ever they went, on board.
They quickly found their room... well, not really rooms, but bunks in a "steerage" area, where they shared a room with dozens. But each had their own bunk, and they learned how to appreciate indoor plumbing. The wonders of flushing the toilet, never grew tired... well, until Pesia made the girls stop. As the ship made it's way from Haifa port across the Mediterranean toward the straits of Gibraltar, the girls and their mother explored the ship, cautiously (always carrying the doll and the race car) up and down stairways, in and out of storage rooms... the ship was fascinating.
They spent much of their time looking over the railing, watching the European coastline slip away.... As they neared the straits of Gibraltar, preparing to exit the Mediterranean, and enter the Atlantic, suddenly a large dark plume of smoke arose from amid ship, it was a large kitchen fire, and all of the passengers became concerned. A fire on the ship could cause them to have to turn back, and make port somewhere in Europe... possibly Italy or Spain. If they were forced to make port for repairs, it was very possible, with the rumblings of war, that they might not be allowed to leave port again. They were reluctant to return to port. On the other hand, if they went out into the Atlantic, and failed to get the fire under control, the ship could become disabled, and they could easily sink in the ocean.
After much debate, the captain decided to take her out into the Atlantic, for fear of becoming bogged down in Europe's upcoming hostilities, and headed out to sea. Within a few hours, the kitchen fire was brought under control, although the kitchen would never be the same, and they had lost quite a bit of food. The crossing would take over 2 weeks, and meals would be meager. Aviva and Ettie were used to meager meals. This was an adventure. On the third day out, Ettie, who was playing with her race car, lost her car when it drove right over the edge of the deck, and out into the ocean. Ettie was inconsolable.
On arrival in New York Harbour, Aviva and Ettie (and Pesia for that matter) were greeted by a wondrous site. There was a statue of a tall greenish woman, holding a tablet (like one of the one's Moses carried, Pesia told her girls), and her right hand raised high holding a lantern. She was standing in the harbour to greet them, and all of the passengers rushed to the railings to view her in all of her elegance.
"Eema, eema, what a pretty dolly" Aviva said "she's so big! Why are all the people crying?" Pesia couldn't answer as she, too, was crying. The Statue of Freedom someone called her, and Pesia thought it was an appropriate name. She was glorious.
Many began to sing the national anthem of the United States... a difficult song to follow... not very melodic, and lots of highs, then lows... and others followed singing the anthems of the countries of their origins. In reaching over the rail, to view miss Freedom, Aviva dropped her little pink American Doll right into the harbour. As she started to cry, eema gave her a stern look, and a loving pat on the back. Aviva stifled her tears, and watched her doll float away, until she couldn't see her anymore.
Ellis Island was a jumble of memories so fast and so intense, that none of them are memorable. It was overwhelming The girls and their mother were awestruck with the number of people, the size of the building, the smells, the sounds and the heat. After interrogation by a kindly Ellis island official asking simple questions in French and English, these three were determined NOT to be a threat, and released into the throngs of those waiting for transport off the island.
Looking through the crowds, Pesia suddenly saw her favourite site in the new world. Her husband schmoolick's full head of hair, standing among the throngs, waiting to collect his family. He waited, impatiently as they made their way through the crowd... and when they finally arrived within reach, he pounced on his family, and gathered them up in his arms...
They'd arrived. They were in America, and now everything would b'Seder.
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