Eleven immigrants to the United States tell the storiesnof their lives in a series of audiocassettes prepared especiallynfor Mass Communications, Inc. Taped duringninformal conversations, these men and w/omen relatenwhat they remember of the towns where they grew up,ntheir families and schooling, the reasons that impellednthem to emigrate, the journey by land and sea and thenbeginnings of life in the new country.nMost of those interviewed came during the peak decadesnof immigration to the United States, 1900 ton1920. It is fortunate that many who came so long agonare still alive, and eager to share their experiences.nThey came from Poland, Italy, Turkish Armenia, China,nRussia, Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Mexico. Some havenachieved success or wealth, some neither.nBut every interview becomes, as it develops, an importantnhuman document. Characters emerge, with allntheirstrengths and weaknesses, shedding new light onnthe roots of the American people. In each life story thenimportant events of recent history are reflected to annastonishing degree: the break up of ancient empires,nthe upheavals of World War I, the Russian revolution,nIrish freedom struggles, the rise of Hitler. The reminiscencesngive human dimension to these tumultuousnevents. And as we follow the new Americans in theirnfirst steps on these shores, we hear echoes of the Depressionnand of the rise of labor; we obtain glimpses intonracial fears, the status of minorities, the power ofnethnic groups.nSee detailed descriptions at right.nComplete program consisting of six audio cassettes innhandsome vinyl album, only $49.50 plus $3.50 handlingnfor each set. To order, complete this form and sendnwith your payment. Unconditionally guaranteed.n(CT residents add sales tax.).nPlease send me. . complete program:nNAME (Print)nADDRESS, APT. #nCITY, STATE, ZIPnSIGNATUREnTotal amount Of order: $n(Including tax and shipping.)nD Check enclosed D American ExpressnD MasterCard a VISAnD Diners Club Expiration Date:nCard*nMAIL TO:n50/CHRONICLESnauDiO’^aRunfnSuite P315, On-the-Green,nGuilford, CT 06437 (203) 453-9794nTHe miiiiiAiTnActual live interviews from thenfiles of the U.S. Government’snNational Archives!n,_JnnnRobert fritz, born in Sweden. 1885 — When Robert fritz left his native Sweden in 1903, he felt no sadness.nHe did not lilie his new stepmother; and, besides, he was of army age and did not want to serve,nhe wanted to “get somewhere.” Still brisli and forward looking in his late eighties, he describes life innrural Sweden at the start of the Century, the trip across England by train in 1903, from Hull to Liverpool,nand the sea voyage. He talks about the Swedes in the United States, his first job in a New Englandnitiill town, and the steps that led to his own insurance business which he still runs.nfrank Callucci. born in Italy, 1899 — As a boy, frank Gallucci used to work on the farm with his father,nfrom dawn until it grew dark. There was no money, so he left the village at fifteen and went to Rome tonfind work. In World War I he served with the Italian army, got a taste of travel and decided, in 1920, tontry the United States, “to take a chance, like Columbus.” In colorful, earthy language, he describes thenhard physical work he did at first — on railroads, and as a coal miner for ten years, then the Depression,nand a succession of restaurant )obs in New York. In 1941 he and a friend invested $600 each to open anrestaurant in the Bronx; it was a successful enterprise, which he sold only a few years ago, after beingnrobbed.nAlbert Abratiamian, born in Armenia, 1906 — In a small mountain village in Turkey, within sight ofnthe Euphrates River, an Armenian child never questioned the division between the Turkish and Armenianncommunities. In Armenian homes, the men were craftsmen; each family kept beehives; a shepherdnled everyone’s livestock to pasture every morning. In short, life continued unchanged for generations.nThe outbreak of World War I caught the entire community in a tragic whirlwind; most Armenians werenrounded up and murdered, others dispersed, never to return, “…so their purpose was to really, actuallyncause genocide, eliminate the whole problem of the Armenian truestion…” Albert Abrahamian was a boynof eight when he fled with his mother, a brother and a sister. Pursued by Turks, they sought refuge innRussia, only to find themselves in the front lines of the Russian revolution. Resilient and enterprising,nthe young family managed to survive through seven years of wandering, then finally in 1921 they madentheir way to the United States, where their father had emigrated earlier.nJacob Potofsky, born in Russia. 1894 — In Chicago in 1908, there were few jobs open to a Russian boynWith scant knowledge ol English. Like many immigrants, Jacob Potofsky found employment in a largenclothing factory, “…if you lost a spool which was empty, they would charge you sixty cents for it. If younbreak a needle…they would make a charge…if you by accident make a cut when you use the scissors…nthey would charge you for half the pair of pants…” Such abuses shocked the thoughtful teen-ager; withinnmonths of his arrival he was helping to organize the workers. Years of involvement in the cause ofnlabor were crowned by his election as President of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, inn1946. Now retired, Potofsky tells of growing up in Russia, of anti-semitism and the fear of pogroms, ofnearly revolutionary activities. The rise of the American labor movement comes to life through hisnmemoir.nDaniel Szabados. born in Itungary, 18% — ‘I went to my town…and oh…I don’t advise anybody to gonhome that late., fifty years after…” Daniel Szabados came to the United States from Hungary in 1912 asna boy of sixteen, hoping to earn enough in a few years to return and. buy land, as was the custom amongnthe men in his village. World War I changed everyone’s expectations; Szabados became a skilled mechanic,nmarried, raised a family. In 1960. he returned to Hungary, to see the sisters he had left as littlengirls, to reacquaint himself witii his homeland. His impressions are described with fiery eloquence.nCharles T. Rice, born in Ireland, 1893 — “I was born in the little parish of Tyholland in 1893, thenyoungest of a family of ten children. My father was a noted fenian leader. Now the fenians were a militantnorganization formed in the middle 18th Century in Ireland, and their objective was a complete freedomnof Ireland and a separation from England.” With these words a New York City attorney, Charles T.nRice, begins a narrative thai portrays several generations of intense involvement in the struggle for Irishnindependence. Rice tells of his father’s dramatic struggles with the fenians, of imprisonment and eventualnexile to the United States; of his own childhood, migration to the United States in 1908, and his lifelongnactivities on Ireland’s behalf in New York City. Through it all we glimpse a portrait of a large,nloving family, helping its members to succeed in New York at the turn of tfie Century.nWilliam D. Lee, born in China, 1897 — In China at the turn of the Century most villages were builtnalong similar lines, because “if we build it different, then they said we try to overthrow the Ch’ing dynasty.”nWilliam D. Lee remembers life in China in the hrst decade of the Twentieth Century, and talUsnabout his father, who had gone to the United States during the gold rush, then returned to his ancestralnvillage. Lee himself attended school in Canton, then sailed for San francisco in 1914, hoping to continuenhis education in California. He describes the disappointments that punctuate his life on the WestnCoast, his return to China to find a suitable bride, the rewards of his current work with senior citizens.nAlfonso Arichiea. born in Mexico. 1913: Alfonso Arichiga. Jr., born in Mexico, 1936 – AlfonsonAr^chiga brought his family to California from Mexico in the mid- 1940’s. He had crossed the border fornthe first time in 1943 as part of the “bracero” program, which was meant to relieve war-time labornshortages in the United States. He spent six months picking grapes and tomatoes, then came again thenfollowing year to work for the Santa fe Railroad, living in a box car. There were no jobs in Mexico; hendecided to move his wife and sons to a housing proiect in Richmond, California. He is retired now; Alfonso,nJr. has his own mortgage business. Proud of each other, father and son talk of their lives and attitudesnin counterpoint. The younger man articulates his feelings about achievement and discrimination,nethnic pride and minority status in the United States.nVictona Lemanski. born in Poland. 1901 — On a Sunday in a small village in Poland, a young womannwould attend church in the morning, come home to feed the livestock, go to mass again at three o’clock,nthen go dancing — polkas and waltzes — with the other young people. “I tell you the truth, it was a verynnice Village,” remembers Victona Lemanski, who left in 1921, when she was twei:ty. Yet there wereneight children in the family, and not enough money to support them all. So one sister went to the UnitednStates, worked for a while, then sent for another sister. “That’s how they bring each other to the UnitednStates…one by one.” She describes her lobs in the new country — in a factory, a restaurant, as a hiredngirl in various homes — then marriage and her own family, until the Depression finds her using her skillnon the sewing machine to help support her family. Her pride in work, her strong, resilient nature shinenthrough her recollections.nfanny loria, born in Germany. 1913 — Berlin, 1933. A Jewish girl has just begun her studies at thenuniversity when Hitler comes to power. Her family feels sure he will not last, but fanny Loria will notnstay in Germany. She linds a job in Athens, marries just so she can become a Greek citizen; when thenGerman army sweeps across Europe, she is arrested with thousands of Greek Jews and deported to anconcentration camp. Her story is too painful for human ears to hear, and yet it must be heard. Sparingnno detail, she describes the cattle cars that took them to the infamous Auschwitz; the process by whichnThe Nazis separated those to be killed at once from those destined for hard labor; hunger, humiliations,nbeatings; the horrors of the gas chambers. Three years and a myriad nightmares later, ttie survivors arenforced to march across Europe toward some other hell, when they are met by the vanguard of the Alliednarmies, for fanny Loria, many months then passed while mind and body sought to heal the wounds;nmonths spent in hospitals, displaced persons camps, working for the Allied armies, until finally a chancento sail away from Europe, and toward a new life.n