Index
View The Ship's Manifest (or list of passengers)
View The Ship (The Patricia)
Ben Hershberg's memories of The Trip Over Interviewer: Why did you leave Kolno?
Ben Hershberg: I don't remember ever living in Kolno. We thought we lived in Lomza but that was like a county and not a city so we may have lived in Wasosz. My mother lived for over a year in Poland/Russia by herself after my father went to the US. She may have moved me and my sister Frances to another city for a short time after my father left. I don't really remember. My sister Rose was born in a bigger city which I thought was Bialystok.
Interviewer: What jobs did your father have in Kolno, and Albany?
Ben Hershberg: I think that my father was a tailor in Poland/Russia. When he came to the US he worked in the upholstery and tailor businesses until he could get established. He also was a peddler right after he came over with his brother. By the time we arrived he was selling clothes out of our apartment.
Interviewer: Were the conditions in the USA better or worse than Kolno?
Ben Hershberg: I remember thinking how lucky we were to be in the US so I think things were better here.
Interviewer: How was your house in Kolno, and in the US?
Ben Hershberg: I don't remember any house in Poland/Russia. My first house in the US was a third story apartment on South Pearl Street. It seemed larger than where we lived in Poland/Russia but was still small, I had to share a bedroom with my two sisters. About three years later we moved into a house on Herkimer Street (picture on page 2) where we had a whole floor to ourselves with three bedrooms.
Interviewer: What was your first memory?
Ben Hershberg: Riding in a horse carriage to a big city with my mother. This may have been on a trip to the ship which took us to the US.
Interviewer: Do you remember Ellis Island? If so, what was it like?
Ben Hershberg: I remember getting off the ship and having to be inspected by a doctor. He checked our eyes very carefully. My mother had made sure to wash our eyes every day on the ship. I remember Rose crying all the time.
Interviewer: Did your family have to leave anyone behind in Kolno?
Ben Hershberg: I don't remember. I think that all my uncles and aunts who were alive had left also. But I don't remember.
Interviewer: Do you have any Family Heirlooms?
Ben Hershberg: No. The most valuable things my father brought over were books. We traveled over with only clothes and some sheets.
Interviewer: Were there any problems coming to America?
Ben Hershberg: No other than a long ship ride in a single cabin with my two sisters and my mother. Rose cried all the time.