Ellis island records are online, including ship manifests. So, you can check them out. There are also later recordings of people who went through that. Most scary was medical test that could have sent you back heim. After that, the officers would ask your job – brick layer, accountant, gabbai and suggest where you should go to meet haverim. This is by the way what Jews did also. We used to have professional shuls – just for shoemakers – so that they could help each other professionally. One lady was mostly shocked (in a good way) that US had free high schools, something her family was desperately saviing money for back in Eastern Europe.
Menu