Hope For Lidiya

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Hope For Lidiya
Sixth Grade Information Fluency
Project Immigration
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Title
Lidiya
Heirloom
Push
Father,
Bibliography
Pull
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Lidiya

• 16 years old
• A Jewish girl from Russia
• On Ellis Island she had to leave her best
  friend,Tampa (Tamera),
• behind because Tampa did not pass the
  examination.
• Filipp (fee-lEEp), her brother, is going to work
  with her father at the
• dry cleaners.
• She is traveling with her mom, her brother and
  her sister, Eba (EE-va).

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Leaving My Homeland-Russia
(Push Factors)

• Escape Hitler
• Religious Freedom
• Very low pay
• Poor living conditions including no running
  water, no inside
• toilets, etc.
• Escape World War 2

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Hope...
(Pull Factors)

• More job opportunities and
• better wages

• Religious freedom

• America was the Land of Opportunities
• America offered a new life
• Better living conditions including inside
  toilets, running
• water, etc.

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A Treasured Heirloom

• Necklace from Grandma

• Lidiya brought it to remember her
• Grandma

• Lidiya gave it to Tampa to
• remember her by after Tampa
• did not make it through the
• examination.

• Made out of foil and tape

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Father,
December 13,1944     Dear Father, We have
been on this cold, damp ship for almost a week
now. All we have with us are some blankets and
very little food. We are all very hungry. Even
though I will miss the beauty of Moscow, Russia,
I want to hurry up and get to America. I cannot
wait to get my very own job! I want to work in a
shop, and maybe they will sell the clothes I
make. It will be much better than being a
servant. Mama said that Filipp (F-ee-lEEp) will
work with you at the dry cleaners. Mama also said
that we will be able to celebrate Hanukkah with
out being scared that we will be killed. The new
baby, Eba (EE-va), is really big. She was born
one year ago. The ship smells like urine and
rotting food. There are tons of rats crawling in
the blankets and Eba is scared of them. We have
not seen the sun in what feels like forever. I
met a friend on the ship. Her name is Tampa
(tam-ER-a), which is a really pretty name. It is
time for bed now. Good night.  
Your loving daughter,
Lidiya     December
16,1944     Dear Father, We are here in America!
There are even more people here than on the ship.
It is very crowded. It smells better than the
ship, it still smells like urine but it is not
unbearable. Everybody is speaking a different
language. I cannot understand what anybody,
except the Russians, are saying. They put us in
cages like animals and they are being abusive.
If it were not for Tampa I probably would not
have made it to America, we have grown very
close. I am next for the examination, after me is
Tampa. I am going through the examination. They
took this hook and put it in my eye and then
pulled my eyelid up until they could see under
it. The pain stabbed through me and lingered
interminable. I am awaiting Tampas arrival when
she emerges from the examination to continue with
my family and I to Boston, Massachusetts. There
she is! Why does she look so sad? What! I can
feel tears streaming down my face. She did not
make it through the inspection. She is sick. She
has to go back to Russia. She has influenza. It
was an early stage of it so we did not know she
had it. I am going to miss her. I gave the
necklace grandma gave me when I was little to her
so she will remember me. Maybe we will be able to
keep in touch through letters. I cannot wait to
see you.   Love, Lidiya  
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Bibliography
Lee, Johnathan Reasons for immigration The
American Immigration. 16 September
2004tion/opportunities.html     Living My Life 27
September 2004 co.uk/USAErussia.htm   Perl, Lila. The Great
Ancestor Hunt The Fun of Finding Out Who You
Are. New York Macmillan/McGraw-Hill School
Publishing Company, 1989.   Russia World
Almanac 2001.   Russian Names. Master Russian.
27 September 2004  
Sands, Stella. Ellis Island May
20021-19.   Sands, Stella. Immigration 2002
1-19.   Ships The Ship List 27 September 2004
  Texas Tech
International Cultural Center, Gateway to
America-The Immigration Experience on Ellis
Island. 21 September 2004.
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