Ancestry Chapter 13
1892 - The Norek Family Emigrates to Chicago
The Norek Family, Depart Dirschau April 29, 1892, Arrive Baltimore May 19, 1892
On or about April 29, 1892, Helena and Michael Norek, with their two little children Lucy and Cecilia, board the train at Dirschau. The first step in their leaving West Prussia and their families.
They travel 40 miles by train north to Danzig, the major city in that part of West Prussia. At Danzig they board a boat and travel across the Baltic Sea to Bremen, Germany. On the left, map of primary emigration ports.
At Bremen, they board an ocean-going ship named the Gera.
An Internet schedule for the Gera indicates that the trip
arriving May 19, 1892, left from Bremen, not Hamburg. The Gera is owned by
Norddeutschen Lloyd Bremener. It was built in 1890 -- a new ship.
The Norek family arrives in Baltimore on May 19, 1892. They are a family of four. Michael Norek, age 27, a laborer (non-professional, non-farm employee type person), a Catholic, from Dirschau. He is carrying $20. (Twenty dollars was worth alot more then than now.) His wife Helen, age 34 (actually she had just turned 35). The children, Lucy 3 and Cecelia 1.
Ship's manifest, S/S Gera, arrived at Baltimore from Breman on May 19, 1892.
Also a close-up of the Norek
family's entry in the manifest, and the page listing the date of arrival of the
S/S Gera at Baltimore in May of 1892.
Why did Helena and Michael Norek Leave West Prussia? Why not sooner?
One reason emigrations from Prussia were delayed is military conscription.
Males could not emigrate until their military service
had been completed.
Prussia had a universal conscription system. It was a two or three year active service, followed by a "reserve" service, for a total of five years. I think age 18 was the norm outside of war time conscription. Universal meant everyone -- being Catholic was no exemption. A good percentage of the Prussia population was Catholic, and for a time after the Rheinland was annexed Catholics were a Prussian majority. The Prussian populace that had a real conscription problem were the Mennominites; their long-standing special protections, including exemption from military service, had been tossed out.
Huge numbers of Germans, including West Prussians, immigrated to the United States during the 1800's. Farmers, tradesmen, middle class, professionals and upper class. The dirt poor did not leave; they couldn't afford it.
If Michael Norek started his mandatory military service at the age of 18, he completed it at the age of 23. He turned 23 in September of 1887. He married Helena eight months later, in May of 1888.
The Michael Norek family, however, did not leave West Prussia until April 1892. That is on the tail end of a huge German immigration wave. That is possibly four and a half years after he was free to leave, and four years after he married Helena.
Was Helena was hesitant to leave? Was Michael was hesitant to leave? Were they both hesitant? Whose idea was it, to leave?
The German genealogy literature is clear that most legends of "fleeing the homeland" are nothing more than legends. Economic conditions weren't outrageously bad for most, and again the dirt poor could not afford to flee or whatever. Religion was no huge issue -- civil rights were not tied to religious belief. The literature is clear, the only reason to "flee for your life" is the commission of murder -- which is unlikely here.
Instead of "fleeing the homeland" reasons, research has shown emigration to be a personal decision. The perception of opportunities waiting is a personal perception. When emigration was an option, some went and some stayed. Michael and Helena went. Not right away, but eventually.
For Helena it will be forever. She now leaves behind sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews, and perhaps even her parents, Jacob and Christina, who would be 75 and 74 if they survived. Helena is 35, a married woman and mother of two.
Michael will return, just once, just briefly. Even that return might not
have been planned. He is possibly leaving behind some family, but probably far
fewer than Helena.
Selections by year -
