My grandfather, Milton Edward Hoffenberg (Motel Edidio Ben Koppil Ben Moishe) was born in a small shtetl in Lithuania named Josvainiai. He was born in 1895 and passed away in 1988. In the 1970's I interviewed my grandfather about his life. This is the section on coming to America. If you have any questions of comments please e-mail me at glynne@aol.com. My Jewish Genealogy Web Page is http//members.aol.com/glynne.

When I left Lithuania I was a boy of about sixteen or seventeen years old. My brother sent me a ticket. When they send you a ticket there are agents that sneak you across the border. A boy was not allowed to go out of Russia. You could get a passport but it cost a lot of money so you get an agent. There were some agents that deal in that line and they take you across the border from Lithuania into Austria, from Austria and Germany. We waited about three days in some peasant's house. There were some girls and some boys. They used to have a guard to guard the border that was fixed. When emigrants were crossing the border he looked the other way. The man took us to a certain place on a certain night where the guard was favorable. They get bribed so they don't see you. Then we came to a ditch. It was the division between Lithuania-Russia and Austria. It was kind of a creek. We had to go through the water. It was waist deep. The guide took off his pants and the girls pulled up their dresses. I didn't have time to take off my pants. After a while we ran a half a mile away from the border to Austria and we turned around and spit on Russia.

In Austria they give you a bath and a room and then take you by train to Antwerp where you have to take the boat to go to America. At the time I came to Antwerp, Belgium, we were supposed to get a boat there but we missed it. We just came a day or a half a day too late. When a boat has to leave it is not going to wait for no passengers. We came to Antwerp and the boat was gone, so we waited in Antwerp a whole week for the next boat. The agents fed us. I didn't have much money. My brother sent a certain amount of money that we had to have. I don't remember what kind of money it was. We stayed in Antwerp for a whole week in a hotel. It was all paid for. We didn't have to pay any extra because the agent was supposed to get you up to the boat. It was a beautiful city. We walked around. The boat came around. It was on a Friday that we boarded the boat. The boat was named Lapland.¹ It was the second time on the ocean.² It was a new one. Generally it used to take some people that went through Germany, it took them fourteen or fifteen days to get across. It took us seven days.³It was one of the new type boats. It was a fast boat. It used to take the slower boats fourteen or fifteen days to cross the ocean.

When we left Antwerp you go into the English Channel. You go by London. You could see London for hours and hours but we didn't stop in London. We sent from Antwerp to the United States. I was in immigrant class on the bottom. they had second and first class too, but immigrants generally came third class. We slept in single bunks. It was pretty calm but before we came to the United States we landed on a Saturday so I think it was Friday it got stormy and everybody got seasick. I didn't get seasick. The Atlantic got stormy. During the other six days it was nice and quiet. The last day it got stormy at night. It was bad.

We didn't stay very long at Ellis Island. We just went through there. They examine you and talk to you and take your papers whatever you go. My sisters were supposed to meet me there and take me home but they couldn't do it. They had the HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) that used to take care of immigrants. I had an address so they took me down to my sister Esther somewhere in Brooklyn.⁴ That was the older sister. From there I moved to my younger sister Rose.

¹The Lapland was built by Harland & Wolff, Ltd., Belfast, Ireland. Tonnage: 18,565. Dimensions: 605' x 70'. Twin-screw. 18 knots. Quadruple expansion engines. Four masts and two funnels. Launched, June 27, 1908. Passengers: 450 first, 400 second, 1,500 third. Maiden voyage: Antwerp-Dover-New York in April 1909. Note: In White Star Line during 1914-1919 period. Resumed regular Antwerp-New York sailings in January 1920. Towards end of her career was sued as a cruise ship. Broken up by Japanese ship breakers in 1934. Smith, Passenger Ships of the World Past and Present.

²It was actually the fourth voyage of the Lapland according to Morton Allan Directory of European Passenger Steamship Arrivals - For the Years 1890 to 1930 At the Port of New York, Immigration Information Bureau, Inc., New York, 1931.

³According to the Lapland Ship Manifest listing Motel Hoffenberg, the ship sailed from Antwerp on July 3rd, 1909 and arrived in New York on July 11 according to Morton Allan Directory.

⁴The Lapland Ship's Manifest for Motel Hoffenberg lists that we is coming to America to see Phillip Greenblatt, brother-in-law at an address on Prospect Avenue in New York and Haskell Greenblatt, brother-in-law, at an address on Brooklyn..