lazygood4nothinbum
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2006
- Messages
- 3,895
i am third generation american, descended on both mom's & dad's side from russian jewish immigrants, likely all escaping the pogroms of the 1800s. my grandparents were all born in the united states, though some moved back and forth early on between here and russia and between here and (then) palestine before finally settling in america.
oddly, my father’s paternal side hails from st petersburg, where not many jews lived at the time. most of the rest that i know of are from odessa (ukraine). my paternal gr8grandfather was a “famous” tailor whose jackets were worn by president james garfield. the family story goes that after garfield was assassinated, gr8grandpa was heard to declare: “shoot him in the pants, the jacket’s mine.”
my maternal gr8grandfather was a zionist and wife beater and my grandmother was lucky to have escaped him with the help of her older brothers & sisters. though born here, their zionist father brought them back to palestine where we still own property today. the family lived in poverty so that all earnings could go towards building the state of israel. after gr8grandma hung herself, the children fled. their ship went bankrupt underway, landing in greece. six penniless children, aged about 7 to 16 (judging from a picture i have), made their final leg to america with help of siblings who had remained in the u.s.
they were an industrious lot, involved in professions, industry and the arts with a scattering of merchants and entrepreneurs and the odd lazy ones like me. out of this family has come music considered americana & widely known three generations later. just immigrants making their way through the world. i find it interesting that i now have the urge to emmigrate. i think some of that arises out of curiosity to see and know what world brought me here.
on some level all these borders never made sense to me. i am glad the american passport permits so much freedom of movement, but i can not help but to feel that it seems such a shame to be required permission to move in or out of this melting pot.
oddly, my father’s paternal side hails from st petersburg, where not many jews lived at the time. most of the rest that i know of are from odessa (ukraine). my paternal gr8grandfather was a “famous” tailor whose jackets were worn by president james garfield. the family story goes that after garfield was assassinated, gr8grandpa was heard to declare: “shoot him in the pants, the jacket’s mine.”
my maternal gr8grandfather was a zionist and wife beater and my grandmother was lucky to have escaped him with the help of her older brothers & sisters. though born here, their zionist father brought them back to palestine where we still own property today. the family lived in poverty so that all earnings could go towards building the state of israel. after gr8grandma hung herself, the children fled. their ship went bankrupt underway, landing in greece. six penniless children, aged about 7 to 16 (judging from a picture i have), made their final leg to america with help of siblings who had remained in the u.s.
they were an industrious lot, involved in professions, industry and the arts with a scattering of merchants and entrepreneurs and the odd lazy ones like me. out of this family has come music considered americana & widely known three generations later. just immigrants making their way through the world. i find it interesting that i now have the urge to emmigrate. i think some of that arises out of curiosity to see and know what world brought me here.
on some level all these borders never made sense to me. i am glad the american passport permits so much freedom of movement, but i can not help but to feel that it seems such a shame to be required permission to move in or out of this melting pot.
