Pictured above is my maternal grandmother, Sarah Szczepanski Citron.
The stamp below her passport photo reads:
Landed as Transmigrant under bond
20 JUL 1921
IMMIGRATION OFFICER
HARWICH
Harwich, where?? This is what I know about my grandmother's entry to this country: She traveled from Warsaw to Rotterdam. There she boarded a ship named
Cassandra for the ten-day voyage to Quebec, Canada. She spoke neither English nor French. In Quebec, kind volunteers wrote her name and destination on a card which they hung around her neck, and put her on a train bound for Atlanta, where family awaited.
I have never undertaken a formal genealogy, or assumed the role of official family archivist, having realized early on that to attempt something systematic would only result in frustration with the gaps, the many gaping gaps, in our passed-down knowledge and written record. On the other hand, I have done my share of poking around, and have assembled a collection of lore, charts, photos, documents and related materials sufficient to be exhausting if not exhaustive. The best I can do is post what I have, and trust in the power of hyperlinks to bring order.
To start, I will create subsections for my Maternal Line and my Paternal Line.
My Maternal Line originates in Poland (Nrvidwor, Serock, Warsaw) and includes the families Kinnerick (or Kanarek), Szczepanski, Citronovich (later shortened to Citron), and Silverman (or Silberman).
My Paternal Line originates in Vitebsk, Russia and includes the families Plagoff, Leviton, Gatuskin (changed to Gordon), and Temkin.
