Journey to America Return to Skala Shtetlinks page From Skala to New York Extracts from  Interviews of Skala Emigrs Who Came to New York    Maryam Mary Wiesenthal Brill Born  in Skala Emigrated to NY  Died  NY    Usha Dvoira Dorothy Wiesenthal Gross Born  in Skala Emigrated to NY  Died s NY    Yankel Jacob Wiesenthal Born  in Skala Emigrated to NY  Died  FL    Shmiel Samuel Wiesenthal Born  in Skala Emigrated to NY  Died  NY    Chana Anna Menchel Born  in Skala Emigrated to NY  Died s FL    Hudya Ada Menchel Born  in Skala Emigrated to NY  Died s FL      The Decision to Come to America We lived very nicely in Skala We always had a servant and we had a new house that had just been built We lived very nicely until the fire Everybody tried to save their own property and it was windy and the fire spread all over the city Our house didnt go because it wasnt directly in town But all businesses and everything else went Maryam Mary Wiesenthal Brill  After the fire it was a time of great migration Usha Dorothy Wiesenthal Gross Note The Great Fire of Skala is believed to have taken place in   I came to America because my father didnt want I should become a soldier and eat not kosher stuff there in their army My brother Sam came before me He sent me the shiffskarte ticket And he sent me some money to come here and I paid him everything when I started to work Yankel Jacob Wiesenthal  All the enterprising young men came because they were poor and to escape the army Usha Dorothy Wiesenthal Brill  I dont remember my father who died when she was young My mother wanted to come but only the three of us were left in Skala my mother and Ada and me My other sisters who already were in America couldnt afford to take us together So I was the first one I came just because Jake went she accompanied her male cousin otherwise I wouldnt go I was a teenager thirteen or fourteen I didnt want to come to America I was crying Chana Anna Menchel  We came because we couldnt make a living there It would be a shame for the girls to go as maids in Skala There was no way of making a living Hudya Ada Menchel     From Skala to Hamburg or Antwerp   Emigrants took the train from Skala We went by train all the way from Skala to Hamburg Yankel Jacob Wiesenthal We got the boat in Antwerp First we went by horse and buggy to some neighbors in another town and we stayed overnight there And then we went by train to Antwerp Another thing I remember of course we were third class and they stopped for a while for you to get water There was no water on the train So I remember my mother left us three kids on the train and she had a kettle and she went to get water and I nearly died The others didnt know the difference I felt sure the train was going to start without her Maryam Mary Wiesenthal Brill       In Hamburg We stayed overnight in Hamburg before we went on the ship I remember I was really very young I was a kid And when we came to Hamburg I was afraid I only wanted to go to sleep with my cousin Jake So he says to me you cant go to sleep with me Dont forget youre a girl Im a man You have to sleep with the girls This Ill never forget Chana Anna Menchel   The emigration hall in Hamburg early th century      Aboard Ship   Aboard ship We were three children and we had one berth All the four of us slept together in one berth With our mother You know how narrow those berths were Maryam Mary Wiesenthal Brill We were in an upper berth And there was a very rabid Polish lady coming to America in the berth below She probably didnt like it that there were four people above her and she started out with a real hatred of us Anyway one day I wet myself and some of it went through So then the woman went to complain to the captain And she said Not only did this womans child wet my bed but she stole my best blouse She accused my mother of stealing her blouse and they came and looked among my mothers possessions but they didnt find it Usha Dorothy Wiesenthal Gross      We came through steerage of course Somebody else was in the room with us and my mother said in Yiddish I hope my daughter doesnt get sick But I was very sick and so was my mother Hudya Ada Menchel  I went on the boat twelve days I took care of Anna She was sick already and I had trouble with her We