Coming to the USA

In the Fall of 1951 the emigration to the United States got underway. After spending several weeks in staging camps, the Keck family boarded the USNS General M. B. Stewart on November 19 in Bremerhaven, Germany.

After a stormy crossing of the Atlantic the ship arrived in New York on November 30, 1951.

The image of the manifest shows the seven members of the Keck family.

The manifest tells interesting details. The “Class DP” designation indicates that the passengers were “displaced persons”. Millions of people throughout Europe had been uprooted, evicted, or fled their former homes. The United States offered many of these people new opportunities. There were tight restrictions applied for people to be allowed to immigrate to the USA. Note that for each name there is an address. Each immigrant had to have a place to live. A sponsor was required to promise housing and other support to the new-comers. Uncle Seil was our sponsor and for grandma Keck the sponsors were old friends from Schowe who also had come to the Cleveland area years before the war.

Also required were offers of jobs for adults.