Immigration to the United States

Moving On

"They chose Atlanta."

"[My grandfather, father, and aunt] tried to get help from the American authorities, but the Americans had no knowledge about what was happening either, and if they did, they probably even couldn’t say because the relationship between the Americans and the Soviets was not good.

They tried everything they could to find out what had happened [to my grandmother]. They waited probably over a year before they decided, 'we have an opportunity to leave Berlin and go to the United States,' and my grandfather, I believe, was the one who made the final decision. He said, 'We have an opportunity to move on with our lives and find a better place to live.' And they did. And they ended up coming to the United States with assistance. They had choices of either Atlanta or Birmingham to resettle, and they chose Atlanta.

I believe it was [arranged] through HIAS which was a Jewish relief agency administered through the U.S. And I’m guessing there were probably other families, small numbers of families that were similarly given the same opportunities.
[They departed Germany from Bremerhaven] and they came into New York, and through immigration."

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