By Ilya Magid

Emigration… Emigration...

1. First Parting
2. One case
3. Last Step my Emigration

Editors: Steven Siegel and Dan Smollens

Emigration … Emigration...

1. First Parting

I sent off our friend with his family to Israel in 1989. His family consisted of his wife and two daughters. One daughter was divorced and had a little girl 2 years old. Each adult person was allowed to take two suitcases (30 kilograms each.)

Emigration was the route to the unknown. Refugees arrived at an airport many hours before departure. They weighed their suitcases and went through the customs examination. There was a long line at each location. There was no limitation on clothing that was worn. They wore many layers of clothing on themselves. The little girl looked like a ball with all her dresses. Her doll was tied to her with her clothing.

Tears dropped from my eyes.

Once they went across the border they became foreigners. Then they could take off the additional layers of clothing and put them into separate bag.

Right now they live in Israel and the girl is 12 years old.

2. One Case

I heard about one case. It was in 80s. A mother and daughter decided to emigrate from the Soviet Union. The mother's mother did not want to emigrate. The grandmother did not want her granddaughter (a pioneer, 10-11 years old) to emigrate with her mother. She convinced her granddaughter to remain with her in the Soviet Union.

The mother prepared everything for emigration with her daughter. Preparation for emigration often required years. The mother resigned from her job, formalized documents from OVIR, went to American embassy, and bought a ticket for an airplane.

At that time when the daughter left the Soviet Union, her remaining relatives had no expectation of ever seeing her again. The mother decided to deceive her daughter. The mother gave some other emigrant's friend some of her things. She told her daughter that she wanted to see her friend off at the airport.

She went with her daughter and a small purse to the airport. She showed her documents, proof of emigration, and gave the purse to a guard and went through the gate. When her daughter understood the situation, she began to cry. But it was too late. She was now a foreigner. Turning back was impossible. Other emigrants began to calm her down.

I think the mother behaved correctly.

3. Last Step of My Emigration

My wife and I immigrated to America (Boston) in the year 1991 to our daughter. Some weeks before emigration we attended a special lecture where an official person explained to us what things we could take overseas. The ticket for the lecture cost 25 rubles. My family could take only 6 gold things: for exempla, two rings, two earrings, 1 chain, etc.), silverware, all with the quality-of 100 grams of silver, chains with unfinished amber.

All things had to be new and not from the Old World. Each thing did not cost more than 250 rubles. (One gold ring cost maybe 200 rubles.)

Each emigrant could take only two suitcases. Some emigrants sent additional baggage by ship. That was a complicated job. We did not send baggage by ship, so we could take a fifth suitcase. (We took with dishes.)

At that time there were new rules: We had to take the suitcases to the customs house several days before departure. Our friend drove us (my wife and me) to the customs house with the suitcases and then drove away. We went to the office, but the official told us, "Take away the fifth suitcase". I went to the chief in another building and tried to explain my right. He did not want to hear me. When I returned to my wife, she told me that she made an arrangement with an official. She showed her two 100-ruble bills. That was O.K. The official usually invited the head of the family (a man) into a separate room were inspectors checked and packed our things. Thus final they invited my wife ass head of our family. The workmen who were the inspectors were surprised at our poor things. They packed even our baggage cart for emigration.

We had to emigrate in the morning of April 24, 1991. Our friend took us, to the airport. Emigrants organized a line at the customs office. The customs was closed until morning and we all had to wait at the gate all night. A band of boys gathered at the front of the line and created a big tumult. They pushed one to another in to the line of Jews. Nobody wanted to be connected with them. When office opened at daylight we rushed inside to the official and stayed in line. A guard investigated our carryon bag; she did not allow us to take some chains with unfinished amber. Therefore we gave them to our friend, who saw us off at the airport.

When we passed through the gate we became free people. The first thing I saw was somebody buying from vending machines a can of Pepsi. (He was not an emigrant). In the airplane we felt ourselves like real people. (We had tickets for a Pan American plane.)

If we would emigrate to America a second time we would not take most of the things that we took the first time.

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