Ukraine/USSR => Mexico => Oklahoma => NYC

[NYCfixie]

I love stuff like this. My father's-cousin's-son posted this on FB today.

I know the history but never saw an actual document as proof. The "David" (Davide) listed is my great-grandfather who was trying to get out of Europe with his family at a certain point in history. My older brother is named for this David and has pictures of that generation of the family in the pharmacy they owned in Oklahoma. We have another relative/cousin from our generation, whose family still lives in Mexico, who is also helping trace the path from USSR => Mexico => Oklahoma => NYC => lower east side. There has been some talk of oil wells (but I am not planing an early retirement anytime soon).

At least the other portions of my family had an easier path USSR/Poland/Austria => NYC => lower east side.

Attachment 102233

[j44ke]

Very interesting.

The Jews were sort of caught in the middle of the Civil War of 1917-21 between the Red Army and the White Army. The White Army viewed the Jews as Bolsheviks, which some were due to the promises of secular & equal society, and non-Russians, so they led pogroms against the Jews in Ukraine as that was the territory under White Army control. The Red Army allowed Jews in Ukraine to join the Communist Party and even become high level members of its administration, but the Bolsheviks viewed the built-in organization of the Jewish society and the central position of Rabbis and synagogues as threats to Communist Party control. So when they finally defeated the the Whites, they yanked all the Jews out of government positions and installed Ukrainians to build local loyalty, and in 1925 they resettled most of the Ukrainian Jews onto collective farms in the countryside.

High school history! I did have to check that the resettlement was in 1925 tho.

So I can understand why your great-grandfather decided to leave.

[NYCfixie]

And this explains Mexico over America in 1924:

Immigration Act of 1924
"The law was primarily aimed at further restricting immigration of Southern Europeans and Eastern Europeans, especially Italians and Eastern European Jews"


My other relatives came over much earlier and were able to get directly into America.

[j44ke]

Ah interesting!

[colker]

I have a son born in Mexico w/ native american, pre colombian heritage. My mother´s family came from Lituania and Ukraine to Brazil. My father´s family is from Bessarabia, now Rumania. A greatgranduncle from my father side ended in Los Angeles and we lost track of him. Part of mother´s family stayed in Russia untill the 70s when they managed to immigrate to America, Brooklyn.
I like to think my son has this immense spiritual and genetic wealth from two very different branches of civilization.