The following documents were unearthed via the United States Freedom of Information Act (F.O.I.A.)[1]

No member of any branch of the Ajzenberg family knew the circumstances surrounding the United States arrival of Dov Berel, Elka, Leja, and Mowsza.  Not one of these four immigrants ever discussed this dramatic episode with their children.  Libby (Eisenberg) Medrich, daughter of Harry, was astonished by this information, as were the children of Leja (Alice Mileikovsky and Sara Plen).  None of Mowsza/Morris' children had any inkling of this story.

I was searching for some basic information, never dreaming that there was an extraordinary, dramatic, and well-documented story to be told.  Until January 1992, when these copies were received, no one knew anything about it.  Until that time family members were even unsure as to who had accompanied whom crossing the Atlantic.

It was common for immigrants not to talk of their adventure in coming to the United States and their lives in their homelands.   However, it is remarkable that such a dramatic tale of entry, involving so many people, did not "leak” in some fashion.

We had all assumed a simpler arrival story involving the anxieties of passing through immigration in the short period of one day.  The following account reveals what really occurred.

[1]  I submitted an appeal for the release of the deleted portions of the record.  One and a half years later, in August 1993, the US Department of Justice granted a supplementary release of material on 6 pages of the original documents. It contained no new information.  The additional information was already known.  The underlined portions of the document represent that additional information.

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