We Came By Sea

The big boat was waiting in the harbor.

Now we had to go back to the village of Harste near the city of Goettingen and put our affairs in order.We could only take what we as a family could carry and wear.The cheap suit cases would have to do.I still have one of them in possession.Mother of course had to bring her Singer sewing machine which is now in my niece's Karin hands.She is my older brother's daughter.I had to bring some books and I recently packed those away in the heavy boxes that are currently in storage.The family sold everything else what the market would pay or gave things away.It was crunch time.

We said goodbye--Aufwiedersehn--to family and friends and off to the train station.I think we walked a few kilometers since it would cost money for other transportation.I don't believe that it was hard for me to go away.No nightmares or questioning why we left in future years.My experiences during the 1947 and 1952 years is another story.My recollections are sweet and no regrets ever.I have gone back to Germany only twice during the 61 years in the Land of Promise.Those visits are remembered in pictures and will become other stories in the future.I think I took my books of tales,heroes and dreams of the future with me.Nothing is calling me back...nothing was left behind to go back to.I am an immigrant and the ground I stand on is HEIMAT--HOME.

After everything was checked and double checked and powdered, we were ushered on board of a Liberty ship called General Belloue...I don"t have the spelling right. I tried to find it with Bing & Google but no luck so far...I remembered my Mom having a post card of the ship but it seems to be misplaced.

What an experience getting on a big boat...the plank and the friendly crew.I think that we carried all our belongings on board...women one section and the guys in another.I don't remember what level I ended up but I do recall that it took several steps and levels to reach the deck on which the passengers were allowed on.The quarters were crowded and noisy and for food we all had to go to the galley located on a different level.

After all were on board and the ship ready to cast off , I heard a band playing and saw people on the rails on different levels and on the shore battery waving as the ship slowly pulled away.The band played Nun Adde Du Mein Lieb Heimatland...Now Goodbye My Dear Homeland.To this day the melody still brings back the emotions I saw around me.People crying and waiving for most of us it would be a long long time before we would return to those shores if ever or see the people that were waving back.I don't recall how I felt but as I write this down tears seem to form in my eyes.I think it is an adult reaction to the past and not my childhood remembrance of that time.It would take over 30 years before I returned to that divided Germany.At a later time that could be another story and with pictures too 
The fog horns blared and the band played and the ship plied the North Sea waves.We were on our way with a gentle roll of the waves and the gulls' cries all around us.As the shore faded into the distance we found out how unpleasant the April weather can be in this northern sea.I don't remember seeing the white cliffs of Dover.The ship glided through the English Channel and into the Atlantic Ocean. Now things got rough and stayed rough for 10 days.I got sea sick as everybody around me.It started the day my favorite food was served...chicken.It started out slowly and the first time I made it to the rail.Through the next two days it was awful.The cleaning teams could not keep up .The aroma alone would send me to the rail but many times I never made it.
After a couple of days I became used to the rolling and pitching action of the ship. The salt spray seemed to help get things to normal for me and my stomach settled down.

I spend 14 days on that ship and was introduced to many new things....cartoons (LooneyTunes)(Micky and Mini) and full length adult movies we were not supposed to see....we snuck in.Our ship did not go to New York ,so I did not see the Lady with the torch.It was years later in 1967 when I stood at her feet for the first time.I knew about her and the history involved from my high school choir days...”Give Me Your Tired Your’ Poor, Yearning to be Free”. My Mom talked about the movie The Blue Gardenia, I didn't see that movie until years later with the modern technology ...DVD on my own TV ( the flat TV had not been invented yet) and in my own house.The Land of Promise kept the bargain.
The ship sailed past the Bahamas and through the Keys of Florida but I don't know were and into the Gulf of Mexico .The gulf waters were blue and calm.I even saw dolphins greeting us.Maybe jumping for joy that we had arrived.  On through the delta of the Mississippi River to the Port of New Orleans we sailed.The shores looked so distant but my eyes adjusted with time.
On Mother’s Day ...May 10,1952, the immigrant stood with his two feet on solid ground that he would call Heimat..Homeland for the next 61years.