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| The S. S. Washington on which the Stroh Family arrived to the United States 72 years ago, January 6th 1939 |
Seventy two years ago, Friday night, ט"ז טבת, the S.S. Washington pulled into the New York Harbor. Among the many passengers aboard the ship, was a small family of refugees, a husband, wife, with their son and daughter. Having escaped Nazi occupied Vienna, traveling over land and sea for over three weeks, they had finally arrived at a safe haven. The passengers began to disembark. Standard procedure required that immigration papers be signed; people stood in line, signed their papers and went ashore. Mr. Stroh firmly refused to sign; it was שבת קודש. The officers explained that it would be impossible to enter the United States without having signed the papers, Mr. Stroh refused. Many other Yidden felt they had no choice; they signed and went on their way. Mr. Stroh remained on the boat.
Finally, in the wee hours of the night עסקנים who became aware of the situation showed up. The עסקנים spoke with the proper authorities and the Stroh family entered the United States of America.
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| Manifest of the S.S. Washington Lines 17 thru 20 list the Stroh Family note the Gruenhut Family just above |
This story was told by Rabbi Gruenhut from Boro Park שיחי' who arrived with his father, the Mattersdorfer שוחט, on the same boat. Rabbi Gruenhut the שוחט and Mr. Stroh were the only ones that had the מסירות נפש and refused to sign.
who were the "askonim?"
ReplyDeleteI thought that term was only coined recently...
following is a quote from what Rochel K. wrote about Ma.
ReplyDeleteAnother favourite story of Ma's dedication to Hashem.
Dally and Ma were lucky to escape the jaws of Gehinnom. That itself is another story, a real miracle. Dally and Ma arrived in America by ship, but alas they arrived on Shabbos. It is well known, that for Pikuach Nefesh, one may be Mechallel Shabbos. They got off the boat, and as they watched other "Frum" Jews go to their new homes by car, they knew they had much to thank Hakodosh Boruch Hu for, and they would not be mechallel Shabbos. In order to take their luggage off the ship with them, they had to sign papers. In as much as it was Shabbos, they refused to sign. They left their luggage and walked over to a hotel where they stayed over Shabbos. The hotel charged them a lot of money. Dally and Ma asked why so much?" They were told they were "loaded with money!" Dally and Ma tried to explain to the hoteliers that they were not permitted to take money out of the country, but to no avail. This was the first day in America, and the first test of Yiddishkeit in America. Dally and Ma passed with flying clours!
My Oma recalls Ma saying that cousins in America obtained the affidavits for them to be able to come to America. When they arrived, the cousin asked them to be paid back (for the lawyer fees etc.). They told the cousin that they did not have any money. The cousin sarcastically said "Tell me a better story, Lazar Kaufman's children have no money" but they agreed if they want to hold the money then they'll pay me later.
ReplyDeleteMa and Dally worked hard to pay them back, and to pay for the rent... They even had to send Oma and Uncle Shlomo to an orphanage home for a while so that they both were able to work.