The Tenenbaum Memoir - Our First Sea Voyage

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The Tenenbaum Memoir

Our First Sea Voyage
[There] we boarded a train to take us to the port city of Riga, Latvia, to embark on a freighter to take us across the Baltic Sea, passing through many smaller bodies of water to the northernmost part of Denmark.

Sleeping quarters on our “luxury” ship out of Port of Riga, Latvia -- year 1906

Our half section of two bunks had six of us and a stranger, a Jewish woman named Foydel who cursed her husband Mot'el (in Chicago) for her misfortune of being on such a dangerous voyage. The other half-section was assigned to six Russions who seldom occupied their bunks. They preferred to eat, drink, and sleep on the long wooden benches in the 'dining' area.
[original page 33]

From there we entered the North Sea into a violent fall storm that delayed us more than four days before we reached a port in England. There w[ere] good reasons for that route being more suitable for us. It was the least expensive, and Father most likely thought that all ships that carry passengers were as good as the passenger ship in which he had crossed the Atlantic from Hamburg, Germany. For us, [furthermore,] it was best to enter the USA from Canada to avoid the delousing and compulsory steam baths, and the numerous inspections and health tests required at the Port of New York.

The discomforts and dangers of the ship we were on were fitting for people who seek adventure and dare the worst to happen. Personally, at the age of ten years I could not visualize how what seemed to be a large ship could possibly be in any danger.

[original page 34] I also did not feel any discomfort in sleeping in an open four-bunk section made to accommodate up to twelve people by sleeping crosswise on the bunks. Our double section had only seven -- the six of us and one Jewish woman, [who was] a complete stranger. Sleeping in our clothes for nearly two weeks (including train time) seemed perfectly natural and not at all uncomfortable.

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