Settled

Australia, 1956. Some of our relatives who emigrated to Australia have adjusted.

Thanks to my Toronto Cousin for making this photo available to us.

Identification

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Near Schweinfurt, Germany, February 26, 1949. Dad received this card shortly before he emigrated to the United States.

Immigration

The New Zealand National Film Unit presents a 1949 piece about Displaced Persons.

Permitted

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Brooklyn, New York, 1949 to 1952. Here's the ID card my paternal Grandmother Tatjana used when she traveled between Toronto and New York.

Exchanging Portraits (Part 58)

Seligenstadt, Germany, about 1949. My Mom's friend has a passport photo, and she is ready to emigrate.

Anniversary of the Later Deportations

March 25, 1949.

Here's an (English-language) account of the 1941 deportations. More here.

"We love it here. It is just like living in Lithuania."

The "[m]ost segregated town in the UK."

See also here and here.

The MV Wilhelm Gustloff . . .

. . . sank 71 years ago today. Over 9,000 passengers—including many Displaced Persons—died.

"Affection for the Baltic states is common among Russians of a certain age, a legacy largely of the Soviet Union."

Why some Russians seek exile in the Baltic States.

Exchanging Portraits (Part 57)

Probably Seligenstadt, Germany, 1949. A friend of Mr. Irene's Dad passed along this memento before the friend sailed to the United States.

A Remembrance from Mr. Irene

My Dad passed away very peacefully Friday evening, November 6, 2015, in the consoling company of his family.

He suffered a number of complications after breaking his leg last December. After some strong and stable months in the Spring, he succumbed to a severe bone infection and ultimately, sepsis.

Dad lived a life filled with the joys of hard work and devotion to his family; enlivened by Lithuanian wit and humor; and strengthened by an optimistic, American heart.

Like so many of his countrymen, Dad escaped the fierce advance of Soviet troops through Lithuania by escaping into Germany and then Austria in the final year of World War II. In the years immediately after the end of the war, Dad and some of his immediate family lived as Displaced Persons (DPs) in camps established by the Allies in Germany. It was an atmosphere of chaos, danger, and uncertainty.

Lithuanian and Polish nationals living in DP camps in the American zone near Frankfurt were invited by the U.S. Army to apply for support security roles guarding both German and American assets. Dad enlisted in the Lithuanian canine patrol corps and was assigned to the U.S. base camp at Kaiserlautern. (That camp would grow over the years into NATO headquarters. The last photo below shows my Dad in 1948 sharing a laugh with visiting U.S. Army brass. It's my favorite image of Dad from that time.)

From that post, Dad observed the start of the Berlin Airlift after the Soviets blockaded that city. He did nightly patrols around the forest surrounding the camp. His devoted partner was Arno, a loyal and beautiful German Shepard. Dad checks up on Arno (at Arno's barracks) in this first photo (from 1947) below. Dad is 19 years old in that photo.

Dad celebrated his 21st birthday by sailing past the Statue of Liberty into New York Harbor aboard the USS General Hann. In the second photo below, taken just after the immigrants had disembarked from the ship, you'll see Dad (second from left) with white hair—encrusted in sea salt as he paced the outer decks. Within hours, Dad was on a train to Chicago to begin his new life in America under the kind sponsorship of an uncle who had emigrated from Lithuania in the 1920s.

Shortly after their arrival, my Dad and his older brother, my late Uncle Ignas, were drafted for service in the Korean War. The third photo below shows a farewell outing for Ignas (center) in October, 1950 in Chicago's Grant Park. My Dad stands on the far left. One year later, Dad was drafted for U.S. Army service at Camp Irwin in the Mojave desert east of Los Angeles. He served as a tank instructor, running daredevil maneuvers in the endless sand dunes.

Before President Truman left office, he determined that foreign nationals who had served in the Korean conflict were to be granted U.S. citizenship upon their honorable discharge.

Dad returned to Chicago in 1953 and worked in manufacturing jobs until his retirement. By 1959, our family had moved to Melrose Park, where Dad worked for Benjamin Moore and Co producing paints and stains for the next 35 years. In the penultimate photo, Dad stands front of our Melrose Park home, circa 1965.

Thank you, Dad, for you service—not only to your adopted country but to your family until the day you breathed your last. We love and miss you more than you could imagine.

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The waiting began.

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Seligenstadt, Germany, August 15, 1945. This is the card with which my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, registered her intent to emigrate from postwar Germany. She sailed to New York three years later.

(Note that Tatjana recorded Lithuanian as her dominant language.)

A Young Immigrant

Seligenstadt, Germany, about 1949. Here's the passport photo of my Mom's goddaughter. Her mother wrote, "This is the photo we had taken to include with her documents."

Nice, smocked sweater!

An Important Sunday

Howard Lake, Minnesota, May 21, 1950. Friends of my maternal Grandfather Jake wrote, "Our first Sunday in America."

This couple also attended my Parents' wedding.

A Closer Look (Part 40)

Southwestern Lithuania, about 1909. This is Mr. Irene's Great Aunt Petra. She stood for this photo shortly before she sailed to the United States.

Here's the original post.

The Boss's Car

Howard Lake, Minnesota, May 5, 1950. Friends of my maternal Grandfather, Jake, wrote, "We're next to the boss's car, at the boss's beach."

A Different Place

Australia, January 14, 1964. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, saved this photo of a pair of her relatives who settled in Australia. Many Displaced Persons landed there after World War II.

My Parents initially thought they, too, would settle in Australia. My Mom was reluctant to move there because at the time, Australia did not grant licenses to graduates of foreign medical schools. Mom and Dad therefore waited until they could sail to the United States. Once in Brooklyn, Mom had to wait some time before her diploma arrived from Erlangen. She even hired a lawyer to coordinate the transfer of her medical-school documents.

Exchanging Portraits (Part 42)

Chicago, Illinois, about 1950. This is Uncle Al, the younger brother of my Mom's best friend, Donna. Uncle Al sat for this photo shortly after he arrived in the United States.

Thanks to Uncle Al's niece—Donna's daughter, Kris—for making this photo available to us.

Where he settled

Waterbury, Connecticut, August 28, 1955. A friend of my maternal Grandfather, Jake, sent this photo to illustrate his new surroundings.

Exchanging Portraits (Part 34)

Marburg, Germany, December 3, 1950. My Dad's friend gifted this photo shortly before he emigrated from Germany.