California Bound

Once my father and his shipmates and fellow refugees were allowed to disembark they were once again greeted by the melancholic yet sweet strains of the Hungarian National Anthem being played by an Army band. Everyone stood with wide eyes and expectant hearts awaiting their next step in this new country.

The refugees were all assigned a number once off of the ship and had to line up numerically in order to pass through the checkpoint and register their status. Once through the checkpoint they walked out into a parking lot where several Army busses stood waiting to take them all to their next destination. After about an hour's ride, my father's bus arrived at Camp Kilmer, which was a large army base that had been converted into a refugee reception camp. My father was a assigned to a two bed room which he would share with a roommate and his sister and her family were assigned larger accommodations. They came together in the mess hall for lunch and everyone ate with gusto as the food was well prepared, fresh and plentiful. At the time my father had lost so much weight he was a mere 123lbs. and he was eager and ready to pack the weight back on!

After their lunch, everyone lined up once again to go to the commissary where they would receive a package with new underwear, shirts, socks, soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes. It wasn't much, but it felt luxurious and they were free and safe.

The following day, all of the refugees had to go through a thorough background check, health screening and official registration process. The refugees who already had family or relatives living in the United States were being allowed to leave the refugee reception camp sooner. Fortunately for my father, his cousin in California sponsored him so he would soon be on his way to Los Angeles. His sister and her family received an invitation to live in Boston where not longer after, Eva would gain employment at Harvard University in the International Affairs Office. So, once again, my father would be saying good-bye to family as he boarded the bus to the Newark railway station and his sister boarded another bus towards Boston. A new chapter was about to begin.

Farewell to Europe...

My father's journey to America began on January 12th when he, his family, and a few others were transported to Salzburg where they would stay for a few days at Camp Roeder. On the 18th they were bussed to the railway station and boarded a special train with comfortable Pullman cars headed towards Breherhaven...a far cry from the crammed, desperate conditions of the last train ride he took towards his freedom in Hungary.

The train ride to Bremerhaven took 24 hours and once they arrived into the seaport terminal, the passengers were greeted by the US Army band playing the Hungarian National Anthem. Everyone was pleasantly surprised and overcome with emotion as they heard the song and made their way onto the General LeRoy Eltinge, a US Navy transport ship.

After finding their berths, my father and his fellow passengers were free to explore the giant ship. He still remembers with teary eyes that as the ship slowly started to move he was overcome with emotion....he was bidding farewell to Europe, farewell to Hungary. It was bittersweet. He was leaving all that he had ever known behind, and going to a country where he would be able to start a new life, a life of freedom.

The first two days of his sea voyage were pleasant. My father remembers the ship moving along the coasts of Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, then the English Channel. He remembers being in awe of the White Cliffs of Dover. Slowly, Europe and England started to become nothing more than specks in the horizon before completely disappearing. The ship was headed towards high seas and soon they would be caught in the middle of a winter storm on the Atlantic.

Small waves made way for ever larger ones and the ship was tossed about tumultuously. Passengers became seasick and the ship took on the pungent scent of vomit. By the fourth day, my father also became terribly seasick and for 6 of the 11 days that he was on the ship he was unable to eat anything. He subsisted off of coffee and juice. By the 10th day, the waves became smaller and everyone started to recover. On the 11th day, at 3 a.m., the ship arrived at the Navy port near Newark, NJ. My father woke up to join the other refugees as they stood looking out at their very first glimpse of America. They had finally arrived.