After passing under this arch that marks the crossing from Russia to Latvia, immigrants leaving the USSR could breathe a bit easier.Picture from the book, Damit Es Nicht Vergessen Werde, by Gerhard Lorenz (1974).
Emil and Adolina make their move – from Ukraine to Russia, on to Latvia, Poland, and finally England.
April is the month when things really got hectic for Emil and Adolina. In late March they had reported to Korosten, Ukraine (north west of Zhitomir), where they got their passports approved, exchanged currency for the journey and booked a train trip to Moscow, their last stop before leaving the USSR.
Emil Neumann and his wife Adolina, took the train from Korosten to Moscow in early April. Here in Moscow they would have worked to get approvals from Canadian authorities. Their emigration to Canada needed approval at the Canadian government offices. Their plans to emigrate also involved the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and the Lutheran Immigration Board (LIB), whose offices were in Winnipeg Manitoba. The April part of their long journey took them from Korosten in Ukraine to Moscow, from Moscow to Latvia, and from Latvia to England, stopping in Danzig along the way.
April 17 – finalizing necessary approvals
Their passports and other travel documents, are stamped by the CPR and the LIB in Moscow. Date stamps show approvals for a transit visa for travel from Latvia to Canada, so they must have had an appointment with Latvian embassy officials in Moscow as well. Their tentative plans, according to the LIB document, were to sail to Canada on the S.S. Montrose departing from Liverpool. Those plans were changed later, as their voyage to Canada was on the Empress of Australia.
April 18 – leaving the USSR for good
This is the day that Emil and Adolina left from Moscow bound for Latvia. On the way they made 2 stops at the border, first on the Russian side (Sebezh), and then after passing through the high arched gate that many emigrants remember, they made a stop for approval from Latvian officials at IE-Graucis, Zalupis stacija (station). The shuffle from the Russian side to the Latvian side took about half an hour. The train would have been jammed with fellow immigrants all in a hurry to leave the USSR. I wonder how they felt as they moved away from this border on their way to Riga the capital of Latvia.
April 23 – Riga, Latvia
Here in Riga they had their health cards issued and had to undergo a rigorous health inspection. The card is stamped by the Civil Inspector, Department of Health, Government of Canada. Their passports are stamped by Canada Immigration in Riga. Now it was on to the coastal departure point.
April 24 – departing from the port city of Libau, Latvia
They booked passage on the S. S. Baltriger sailing from Libau, Latvia to England. There was, however, a stop along the way at the port city of Danzig (today Gdansk, Poland), where US officials gave everyone aboard another health check. My hunch is that the ship was taking on more immigrants, some of whom were bound for the USA, and that the US Public Health Service, hosted by the American Consulate in Danzig would have wanted to be assured that people bound for the US would not be contaminated by those sharing the voyage and bound for Canada. So Emil and Adolina would have undergone another thorough health check there.
April 30 – Are we there yet? NO, it's just England.
Their documents show that their passports were stamped “Landed as a Trans-migrant” on April 30th. This stamp was of the Canadian Immigration Office, London England. I do not think they were in London. It is more likely that these Canadian officials would have gone to the port city to inspect these trans-migrants on their way to Canada. But, more about this will be given in the May report, as research reveals the truth about their stop in England. Saty tuned.
Other family events of note for April are:
April 8, 1967 Dan, husband of Larissa (Emil’s granddaughter), was born in Russia
April 9, 1993, Persia Rain, granddaughter of Bill (Emil’s son) was born in California
April 12, 1991, Richman, grandson of Bill (Emil’s son) was born in California
April 27, 1951, Indridi (Andy) Kristjansson, husband of Caroline (Emil’s granddaughter) was born in Iceland
April 29, 1957, Emil married his third wife, Eva Kasper, in Waterford, Ontario. Eva was born in Sergejewka, Fuerstenland, Ukraine (near Zaporozhie).
Wow! What a diverse family we are!!!
