Mini's Journey to America
Home Country:
Mini Fishman was a Jewish resident living in Russia during a very hard time of Jewish Persecution. She worked primarily as an entertainer and furniture maker often putting on consumers, dancing on stages or playing music for her audience. Once her grandson said "She always wanted to play music and entertain like most of her family did". She was also a very good furniture maker because of her husband how owned a store. But sometime as an adult Nazi Germany invaded Russia along with it came the events of the Holocaust. Mini lost nearly her entire family at this time her husband had already immigrated to the US in such of a better life without the treat of being killed and Mini soon would have to follow.
Journey:
Mini had enough living with the constant threat of her people being killed. she once said, "All the Jewish people were being killed we couldn't stay there",She decided to move because her husband was already in the United States and there was no family left for her in Russia. She left by boat across the Atlantic to arrive at Ellis Island for registration into the us. Having to registration under many different names due to inability to speak English. Eventually after being processed though Ellis Island when they did manage to get into a small state called Connecticut to immediately start looking for her husband.
Life in U.S:
When Mini arrived in Connecticut from the long journey from Russia she immediately started looking for her husband. Unfortunately she couldn't find him because even though she spoke 5 languages not one helped her communicate with the locals. So she spent most of her nights on the streets during her first couple of days in america until after long days of suching she finally found someone how spoke one of her langues to help guide her to her husband, who at the time owned a shoe and furniture store. Which would become their primary job within america. Mini had no regrets coming to america there was nothing left in Russia for her and it was much easier to make a living in the America even thought she was still in despair over the loss of nearly her entire family.
About the Authors: Tyler Haas:
Hello my name is Tyler Haas and I'm currently 14 living in Rowland heights and am currently building a story about the immigration history of my Jewish great great grandparents form Russia all the way to Connecticut in the United States of America.
Refection:
This project has helped me understand immigration here is a much more common thing than i first thought in fact almost everyone has had a relative immigrant for another country to here. It is important to here the stories of how we immigrated because it shows that everybody has some sort of background and story to tell. I used skilled of interviewing asking follow up questions, thinking of more important deeper question to ask, etc. I learned that every one immigrates for so important reason most people don't just leave their home country because they want to make more money
there is always a more important reason behind whether it be the killing of their family member or lack of resources there is always a bigger reason to move.
About the Authors: Francisco Chavez:
Hello my name is Francisco Chavez and i go the AIS (Alvarado intermediate school).
I live with my mom and dad and have two sister. One of my sisters is older and the other one is younger than me. Most my family was born in mexico accept my sister and me.
Reflection:
It is very important to hear the stories of immigrants because you will be able to see what they have been experiencing or what they are going through. Some information i learned is that some immigrants use visa cards or green cards to get access to the us for a limited amount of time. Once that time is up, they have to go back their place of origin. Some skills that i used in this project were writing and research. A social skill that i utilized was partner work. One personal thing i learned about my family is that most of my family is from mexico and only my sister and i are from the US.