[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Numbers on Ship's Manifests, a story

[Mary J Heard]

List members,

Prior to the outbreak of WW II, it was no secret in our community that the FBI
was keeping tabs on all aliens, particularly those from Germany and Russia.
Thus, my father insisted that my mother get her citizenship papers and he
convinced two of her brothers to get theirs also.  The three of them attended
citizenship classes together and at the close were examined and granted their
citizenship.  However, one uncle missed the final because his wife was in the
hospital having their first child.  He took his "final" with the next session.
My mother had one brother who was a hold-out and just did not believe all
those "rumors"; however, when his employer announced that all employees must
be U.S. citizens, he, as they day today, "got with the program".

When I saw the original ship's manifest, it had penciled in notations by each
of the four names.  When I looked at the dates and the abbreviations for the
locations I immediately realized my father had been absolutely correct.  The
dates for my mother and one brother are identical and correspond to the date
on her certificate.  One brother is dated a few weeks later and the "hold-out"
is dated several months later.  I also learned later that when you applied for
a passport and visa (in the 1980's) , this manifest was examined to see if you
entered the country legally before a visa was granted.

I was just a youngster during this time but old enough to realize what was
going on and I was absolutely petrified at the thought that my mother could be
placed in a concentration camp should the U.S. go to was and she was still an
alien.  Later, when the Japanese were rounded up after Pearl Harbor, I
mentally thanked my father many times for his insistence.

Interestingly enough, the family came in at Galveston, Texas in 1912.  My
grandfather had applied for and was granted citizenship in the 1920's.  There
were no little penciled in notes and dates by his name indicating the date
citizenship was granted.  The FBI was apparently not tracking individuals who
had been granted citizenship many years earlier.

Mary JK Heard

<mjhawhjr at ktc.com>