Paul Diamond's C-File (Part 2/2)

I previously blogged about the documents that my grandfather, Paul Diamond, generated when he was in a DP Camp in Germany in order to come to American.  Once in America, he began the process of becoming a United States citizen.

In September 1947, just over five months after arriving in America, he filed his Declaration of Intention--and lists his name as "Pejsach Diment also known as Paul Diamond"--and attaches a photo.

Paul Diamond, Declaration of Intention, 1947

Paul Diamond's C-File (Part 1/2)

I recently received a C-File for my grandfather, Paul Diamond, via the USCIS Genealogy program which contained a lot of interesting documents as well as some photos.

While in the Neu Freimann DP camp outside Munich, he applied for a US Visa.

Paul Diamond (Pejsach Diment) Visa Application; January 1947 (page 1)

Paul Diamond (Pejsach Diment) Visa Application; January 1947 (page 2)

The Man With Two Last Names: Kaufman Kaufman

This week, my nieces have been hounding me for "family tree stories." One they really enjoyed was about Kaufman Kaufman, the brother of their 4th great grandmother (Amelia Kaufman Schwerin).

1860 United States Census; Baltimore, MD, Kaufman family (Kaufman Kaufman on line 24)

Ancestor Deep Dive: Yechiel Suttleman

Yechiel Suttleman

My great-great grandfather, Yechiel Suttleman, was born about 1850 in Volhynia, Ukraine, likely in the town of Boremel or Topilya.  His parents were Pesach Hirsch and (likely) Sima Rivka.

Sonia Bajcz Diamond: Coming to America (Part 9: 1947-1948)

This is the eighth in a series that summarize an interview of my grandmother, Sonia Bajcz/Beitch Diamond (then Sara Bajcz), from about 20 years ago.  This continues her story of leaving the DP camps and arriving in America.  Previous posts in this series are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Embarkation Card for the Ernie Pyle

We went to Bremenhaven port, and we took the Ernie Pyle.  We were five days at sea, and we ran into stones which made a hole in the ship, and we were in trouble.  In the camp, the people who remained heard that we had drowned, and they already said kaddish for us.  But the boat took us to Plymouth, England.  We stayed in the water because the captain didn't have money to anchor in the port.  We waited there for a week until the Marine Marlin came to pick us up.  Everyone was sick because the weather was so bad.  It took us 3 weeks until we came to the United States.  It was not a passenger ship--it was meant to be a cargo ship, and it was a piece of junk.  There were beds hanging on chains, and the weather was so bad that they flew back and forth.

My husband and his sister were so sick.  His brother-and-law and I could walk around.  Devora stayed in bed until we could see the Statue of Liberty, and I told her that she'd better get up because the lady wanted to welcome her.