Extract From The Vital Statistics Book

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• To finance his trip, father had sold the farm and buildings in Poland, and had a small temporary shack built on the property for the rest of the family until such time as he could arrange to bring us out. He left in the spring of 1929, embarking on the ship S.S. Megantic at Le Havre, France on April 7, 1929, and arriving in Halifax on April 16. His passport gave him the Polish version of his name as Antoni Chwiedczuk, weighing 58 Kg (or about 127 pounds), with a height of 168 cm (or 5 ft. 7 inches). He must have put on a lot of weight in Canada, for I don't recall that he was ever under 150 pounds or so. I don't know whether it was pre-arranged or not, but initially he headed for Winnipeg, Man., and from there to Insinger, Sask. Among mother's things I found a letter of recommendation T. dated 24 March, 1930, from a Mr. M. Sawchuk at Insinger, stating that father had worked for him as farm help for three and a half months during the summer of 1929. He later got a more permanent job with a Mr. Sorenson at Theodore, Sask., which is where he was when the rest of us arrived in Canada.

Meanwhile, we marked time in Poland for about nine months, until there was enough money saved up for our trip. I could have gone to school during this period because I was six years old, but mother chose not to send me. When I questioned her about it in later years, she said that it might have been confusing for me to be learning the Polish language for a short while, and then learning English in Canada. I pointed out to her that the Polish alphabet was the same as that in Canada, and that I might have learned the alphabet and perhaps a bit of writing as well as arithmetic, which would have made things much easier in the first grade in Saskatchewan. But I appreciate that there were a lot of hard feelings between the Polish authorities and the Ukrainian people, who were forced to send their children to Polish schools and use Polish in all official business. The peace treaty signed in the aftermath of the war and the revolution in Russia resulted in about 6 million Ukrainians and Belorussians being incorporated into a new Polish state, which in 1931 had a total population of about 32 million..

We left by train for the port of Danzig in late December, 1929 ( two months after the financial crash on Wall Street ). I recall sitting in the coach, watching the woods and snow-covered fields flying by while the smoke and steam of the engine drifted past the window, and listening to the clickety-clack, clickety-clack of the coach wheels on the track. When we arrived at the port city, I noted a strange object in the water, which mother identified as a submarine that had surfaced. Soon we were in the immigration building where officials checked to make sure that everybody's documents were in order, and then we were all sent into the de-lousing area. The women and their children (below a certain age I presume), were herded, stark naked, into a large open area with dozens of shower heads where we washed our heads and bodies with water and the prescribed disinfectant. The showering was very democratic, with the rich and poor, fat and lean, all in the showers together, with no partitions anywhere. It was quite an experience, with the children excited at showering for the first time in their lives, probably, and mothers of all shapes and sizes trying to keep them within sight and under control.

Following this experience, we each received a card stamped by the medical officer on 24.X11.1929 at Danzig, certifying that " the passenger has complied with all sanitary regulations of the U.S.P.H.S. for emigrants of THIS ORIGIN, and has been found on inspection to be in a sanitary condition after the prescribed treatment on the 'above date, which is .... as well as the final inspection on the day of embarkation at Danzig."

A previous certificate signed by Dr. Geisler at Brest, Poland, stated as follows: "This is to certify that I have this day examined.. (Name) ...and find (him or her) free from Trachoma, Favus or Ringworm of Scalp, Skin or Nails, Tuberculosis in any form, or any other infectious or contagious disease. He or She is free from any defect or deformity including feeblemindedness which would cause him or her to be deported from Canada or the U.S.A. He or She has been successfully vaccinated within the last twelve months."

Crossing The Baltic Sea And Atlantic Ocean

Mother's passport was stamped at the port of Danzig on Dec. 28, 1929, and again in London on Dec. 31. and included two children, -Leonid, age six, and Lidja (the Polish version) , age 3. The voyage across the Baltic Sea on board the S. S. Baltavia towards England was a rough one, with the relatively small ship tossed about in a winter storm. Passengers were not allowed to go on deck, which was slippery from the waves splashing over periodically, as there was danger that the wind could blow them overboard. Most people became seasick and didn't turn up for breakfast, but my sister and I felt fine and went to the dining room for breakfast one morning while mother tried to recuperate in the cabin. Very few other passengers made it. The ship heaved from side to side, but the tables and chairs were chained down and shifted only a little with each heave. I ordered eggs for both of us, but the Polish attendant did not understand, and couldn't find anyone who could translate. We were finally served some kind of slurry that tasted like mustard, so we didn't eat any breakfast that morning either.

A few days later the storm died down and things returned to normal. I was able to go on deck and poke around, watching the seagulls swoop down to pick up tidbits in the wake of the ship, and the sailors scrubbing decks or doing whatever else sailors do. It must have been a rare, fine day, for one group of sailors were in a singing mood, and sang a little ditty, in Polish, of which I still remember the tune and the first four lines. I probably didn't understand much of what they sang at the time, but years later I became aware that it was a typical sailors' song, about a young girl who went to see a doctor because she wasn't feeling well,-she had got into a troublesome condition because of a young man.

At Liverpool, England, we boarded the much larger S. S. Duchess of York to make the Atlantic crossing in about a week and a half.. The stormy weather had subsided a bit, allowing passengers to go on deck if they didn't mind the winter temperatures, but the waves were still very high. I couldn't resist the temptation to slip away from mother once in a while, and wander around to see whatever I could. Most intriguing was to watch the huge waves towering above the level of the deck as they approached the ship, yet somehow we plowed through with only a gentle up and down motion. But it must have affected my equilibrium one day, or perhaps I started down a set of stairs too fast, for I tumbled all the way to the bottom and ended up being examined for broken bones by a doctor.

On another occasion, I must have driven mother to her wit's end, hoping that we would soon be in Canada where father could take over some of the discipline. She had gone out for a while, perhaps attending to some business, and left me with a boy and girl in a neighboring cabin with a caution to behave ourselves. But things got dull after awhile, and our mothers seemed to take forever to finish their business or chatting. I remembered that mother had hidden a bottle of vodka in the packed bedding that we were bringing to Canada, with the intention of having a small, private celebration with dad upon our arrival . It didn't take long for the three of us to move into our cabin, and soon I was untying the ropes on the bedding and uncorking the bottle. I don't recall whether I just treated my guests and stayed sober myself or not, but the party broke up very quickly when the mother of my party guests returned and found her children staggering about in our cabin, and an open bottle of vodka on the premises. She threatened to report me and mother to the captain, and probably felt like throwing me overboard: Our Identification Cards were stamped to show us as landed immigrants, with the date Jan. 12, 1929 at St. John, N.B. Now that is rather amusing, for it means that we landed in Canada before dad, who arrived in Halifax on April 16 of the same year. The same ID cards, however, were stamped on the back by the surgeon on board the Duchess of York on Jan. 10, 1930. I can only conclude that the official in St. John was still celebrating New Year when he changed the date on his stamp, or that we were sailing the Atlantic at warp speed in some time machine and ended up in space a year earlier ...

Leonard Chwedchuk, FROM REVOLUTION TO DEPRESSION
 (Memoires of an immigrant family from Eastern Europe arriving in
Canada in 1930), pp. 90-91 (Ottawa, January, 1999) [Microsoft Word Document © Leonard Chwedchuk]

"Lydia & Leonoid Chwedchuk and mother (Alexandra)
Dec 1929 (passport photo)

• Alexandra (Sonia) Maximovna Chwedchuk (November 6, 1902-April 16, 1984) came to Canada as follows: She left Stara Strelna on a train for the Port of Danzig in late December, 1929, had her passport stamped "Port of Danzig" on December 28, 1929, crossed the Baltic Sea on the S.S. Baltavia, had her passport stamped in London, on December 31, 1929, and at Liverpool, England, on c. January 3, 1930 , boarded the S. S. Duchess of York which arrived at St. John, New Brunswick on January 12, 1930, after which she went to Theodore, Saskatchewan to meet up with her husband, Anton Chwedchuk.
   

• Lydia (Lidia, Lida or Lidochka) Chwedchuk (July 10, 1926-) [Lydia always celebrated her birthday as being July 14] came to Canada on the Duchess of York, under the name Lidja Chwiedozuk, travelling third class [as Lidja Chwiedozuk]. Although her immigration Identification card [65785, # 32 on the return sheet] was stamped Jan 12 1929 [1930?], St. John N.B.,  as a Landed Immigrant, she had passed the surgeon , Duchess of York, on 10 January, 1930. - Christened July 18, 1926. According to Leonard: "the family traditionally celebrated the christening rather than the birth date." - Leonard Chwedchuk, FROM REVOLUTION TO DEPRESSION
   (Memoires of an immigrant family from Eastern Europe arriving in
  Canada in 1930), p. 136 (Ottawa, January, 1999) [Microsoft Word Document © Leonard Chwedchuk]

• Leonid or Leonard (Leonia) Chwedchuk (February 10, 1923--September 26, 1999) - Christened February 19, 1923. According to Leonard: "the family traditionally celebrated the christening rather than the birth date." - Leonard Chwedchuk, FROM REVOLUTION TO DEPRESSION  (Memoires of an immigrant family from Eastern Europe arriving in Canada in 1930), (Ottawa, January, 1999), p. 136 [Microsoft Word Document © Leonard Chwedchuk]
   

SOURCES

• Leonard Chwedchuk, FROM REVOLUTION TO DEPRESSION
   (Memoires of an immigrant family from Eastern Europe arriving in
  Canada in 1930), (Ottawa, January, 1999) [Microsoft Word Document © Leonard Chwedchuk]