for the millions of immigrants who traveled to America seeking a new life Ellis Island was the
first step on their Journey some forged the path across the Atlantic Ocean alone
while others brought their families seeking New Opportunities and better futures for
their children the journey across the sea was perilous though it was only the beginning many
of these families would not make it through together mothers and fathers separated from
their children for days weeks or even months at a time but in the worst case scenario this
separation could last indefinitely if one or more of them did not pass the strict
examinations to get into the country today we will discover the stories of families who
were separated at Ellis Island I'm your host Ryan silkash and you're watching its history
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I'd like to offer you some critical context 445 987 immigrants pass through Ellis Island after
surviving a perilous transatlantic journey in the first year alone most immigrants especially
families who had to pay passage for multiple people could not afford to travel in anything
other than steerage the lowest paying class on the ship they were packed together in dark dirty
spaces below deck they had very little price privacy and rats were sadly not uncommon food
and water were scarce and though many passengers went to the deck to get fresh air sickness was
also relatively common as very few had traveled overseas before for the children who made this
journey a few lucky ones might have a first or second class passenger throw candies down to them
when they reached New York Harbor the first and second-class passengers were screened and sent to
New York City however the majority of passengers who made up steerage were kept aboard sometimes
for several days because of the sheer number of immigrants trying to enter through Ellis Island
afterward they were offloaded to the processing center to begin a lengthy screening process that
would change their life either For Better or For much worse men were separated from women and
children to be screened for entry it is difficult to imagine just how nerve-wracking this ordeal may
have been to the many who had made the journey as there was no possible way to know if they would
be denied entry even after all they went through they were given a six second physical a physical
examination that in a way was both quick and efficient the medical staff would check for easily
spread diseases such as cholera or tuberculosis they were then given a mental health check and if
an immigrant did not pass it would be marked with chalk to be further examined next the immigrants
had to pass a legal inquiry they were asked if they could read and write where they came from and
where they were headed and if they could support themselves financially among many other questions
to prove that they would be good future citizens if the Immigrant passed these tests they would
be given a landing card and begin their new life in America but the unfortunate truth is that for
every 10 immigrants who attempted these tests two would fail and be sent back to their home country
this was especially tragic for families as it was not uncommon for only a part of the family to pass
the examination from there they were faced with a tough choice whether to split up having those who
failed be sent home or stayed together and risked losing their chance at escaping poverty and War
in their home country in these cases it was not rare for the older children to enter America while
parents or siblings would head home but typically if the father was rejected the entire family would
have to go as they depended on him to find work in America well if the mother or one of the daughters
were rejected the family would commonly split up sending the rejected family members on their
way and these aren't the only only reasons that families got split up sickness was not uncommon
especially for those who had been in steerage on their Journey overseas temporary family separation
would occur when select family members would be quarantined in a hospital at Ellis Island
during the duration of their recovery in these type of ordeals they would need to be separated
from their family for days weeks or months at a time and while many efforts were made to make
the ordeal less stressful and more comfortable for the children who went through it one can
only imagine the fear and uncertainty they must have felt these hospitals played a crucial role
in deciding whether families would be admitted to America or not as if the sick family member did
not get well they would either have to split up or return to their home country shockingly children
12 years or older could be released and get sent back to Europe alone unless of course their family
chose to go back with them and separation back then was very serious serious because in most
cases once the separation occurred be it by choice or Force the family members would typically never
have a possibility to see one another again it's not like today with social connectivity separation
was truly separation and I just need to warn you some of these stories I'm going to share are quite
dark as 85 percent of individuals who passed during quarantine were under the age of 13 but
we'll start off with a moderate one John gacker was only five when he arrived at Ellis Island
with his mother in 1929. he was diagnosed and hospitalized with diphtheria a highly contagious
bacterial disease separated from his mother gacker feared that he would never see her again but
once he recovered from his illness he was able to rejoin his mother and start a new life with her in
America not unlike young Angela Piazza and Maria Carmela who had immigrated with their siblings and
parents they came down with the measles and were hospitalized on Ellis Island while they recovered
as their families were released and waited at the Saint rafaelo Society hospice center until Angela
recovered at which point they continued traveling Seymour writside a Jewish immigrant from Poland
and a child star came down with a cold over the course of his journey and had to be separated
from his father for a few days ritzite recalls immigration officers informing him that he could
quote not go with my father though I cried and I begged I was terrified to be all alone in this
strange place he remarked that it was like being in a jail and that Seymour along with the other
sick children often questioned their fate but after his cold went away his father and uncle came
to pick him up and together they finally continued on their way to America sadly many stories at
Ellis Island did not end the same one such tragedy is the story of Martha strum a Swiss immigrant
whose son died on Ellis Island Strom her husband and their two children arrived at Ellis Island on
December the 20th 1920 after an overseas Journey on the ship La savoir from lihar France the
journey lasted over a month stram who was pregnant with their third child at the time suffered from
the mumps during this arduous journey and not long after they landed at Ellis Island her son Walter
who was just two years old at the time became sick with measles scarlet fever and pneumonia
naturally he was hospitalized astronomer family were detained on Ellis Island for six long weeks
and only one of them could visit him for five minutes weekly though these visits were from
a distance and through a glass store and no one was allowed to be close to him on February the
9th 1921 the stroms were informed that Walter had passed in the night they were released on
February the 11th though they were not told what happened to his body until decades later when one
of her daughters reached out to obtain the death certificate that stated he had been buried in a
New York communal Cemetery sadly this story is emblematic of many of the worst case scenarios
that played out on Ellis Island and then we have the story of a young girl who immigrated to
live with her parents who had already become U.S citizens she traveled across the Atlantic only to
be turned away at the gates because she was deemed quote feeble-minded this then forced her parents
to make a decision that no parent would ever want to be faced with as they had other children living
in the U.S already but no one back in Berlin to look after the daughter that was being sent home
so they decided to split their family up with one parent traveling back to Germany with her
so as we look back at our ancestors it's essential to recognize the struggles that
were necessary to forge a new life in the United States as it was very much through
these types of sacrifices that many of us exist today so keep their stories Alive by
sharing this video and don't forget to hit that subscribe button this is Ryan so cash signing off