XIII - Proud and Legal U.S. Citizens

Puzzling to me, Zygmunt spent more time in a Displace Persons (DP) camps (7-8 years) than the whole WWII as a POW!          Why?

"The Last Million" by Nasan painstakingly details the reasons. Politics after the war were as nasty as they are today without politically correct boundaries. Millions of victims of the war were without homes or country having nowhere to go. The British set up DP cities around Germany. The international community had no solution to the crisis. They set up the International Relief Organization (IRO) to resettle the homeless millions. Politics and old prejudices glaringly  impacted resettlement. The U.S. was one of the last countries to accept refugees. With few options, dad chose the U.S. because mom and I could join him immediately. 

Scrutinizing dad's D.P. records from the International Tracing Service (ITS) I find a glaring discrepancy! The bureaucratic  paper work of the I.R.O wanted to know locations, jobs, residences  for the past 10 years, in triplicate. Dutifully dad filled them out. Not a word of his Russian capture or captivity, instead he states he was in Kaisersteinbruch, Austria (Stalag XII-A) from  September 25 to October 1939 after capture. How is this possible?  I have the Russian record !

Turning again to The Last Million it is politically clear that for a chance to emigrate, there was to be no whisper or mention of Soviets or Russians or Communists or Reds. No matter the circumstance or context. The post WWII world was vehemently anti-communist.  Being Polish he was near the bottom of the list for "desirable" refugees. Mentioning he was a Soviet prisoner in Russia would close any relocation/emigration opportunities. Consequently he lied about his initial prisoner location on his I.R.O. application. And it still took 7-8 years to emigrate ! 

They married September 15, 1951 and I was born in Bielefield, Germany June 21, 1952, outside the DP camp Fallingbostel,  in temporary housing set up for the upcoming emigration. 

Dad secured a $76 loan for the journey to the U.S. from the International Catholic Migrant Loan Fund on August 14. We all got our small pox shots on August 22, 1953 then left Bremen, Germany airport 2 days on August 24 classified as "Stateless" refugees being sponsored by a Dairyman Magnus Cryberg in Cedar Falls, Iowa and landing at the old Idlewild, New York airport. Our Visa numbers were 7592-7594. I always thought we came by ship, in fact Ellis Island names a ship we supposedly were on, but airline passenger manifests don't lie.

I recall them talking about arriving with little money and knowing no English in New York and kind hearted German speaking passengers on  the public bus they were on took up a collection for them.. In fact I did not know any English before I entered nursery school and learned it by assimilation, as did my parents. No wonder my early memories are so chaotic and crazy. The contractor named Hanson put us up at a RR #4 address then we rented an 2nd floor apartment 815 W. 23rd street in the College Hill area of Cedar Falls, owned by Richard and Loretta Rechtfertig owners of "Dicks Grill", then 1924 College street then 716 Bluff and ultimately bought a home at 1115 State  Streets. All made possible by a tight knit Catholic German community helping displaced refugees.

Dad worked as a construction laborer until retirement with a documented 50% disability in his  right arm from the war injury. Just imagine that scenario today! Damn he was a tough, hard working man living the American dream.

And yes, we waited our turn in line, learned English and studied for the honor of being U.S. citizens. On October 9, 1959 we all became U.S. citizens,  They were so proud! We got letters from Iowa Senators and Representatives congratulating us. The small flags we received were special and in constant display.

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