My great grandparents came to America in 1903 from Ukraine. They came through Ellis Island, NY.  Needless to say, they came to America to escape persecution and slaughter because they were Jews. They were overjoyed to be coming to this great country; they were proud to say that they were Americans!

In the 1960’s

I still had relatives living in Ukraine and Russia.  Many of them wanted to come to America but were denied Visa’s because we had relatives high up in the Communist Party. But finally in the late 1960’s, my Aunt Manya and Uncle Micha came to visit us in Maryland.

The stories they told us (they had to speak to my parents in Yiddish) were so disturbing.  They were so amazed at how we lived here. I’ve told this story before, but when we set the table and napkins were placed on the table, Uncle Micha quickly…