Dorothy Kraus Memoir - Grandmother Prepares to Emigrate

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Dorothy Kraus Memoir

Grandmother Prepares to Emigrate
After Miriam's birth, grandmother prepared for her departure. Before leaving, however, she decided to stop over in Pruzhany to say good-bye to Esther and Tolle. I kept crying for fear of never being able to see grandmother again. So in the end she offered to take me along to Pruzhany and as a further going-away present she ordered a new dress to be made for me so as to help make my parting less painful.

Seamstresses
A number of the women in our village were known as seamstresses but the one mother got was considered a professional. She had a hand-written sign on her door and possessed a Singer sewing machine which she pedalled with one foot. I didn't criticize the style of the dress during the fittings but at home I told mother I had to have the kind of collar known as a butterfly collar, plus a small petal that hung down from it at the front. The dressmaker objected since it meant additional work for her. But mother insisted, and in the end I got my butterfly collar.

Goodbyes
The little time all of us had together in Pruzhany was a happy one. Only when Esther would be reminded that her mother was leaving she'd have a hard time keeping back her tears. On the way to the station, I sat on grandmother's lap and Esther sat close to her while repeating the same words, “You won't forget to write! Remember,we may never see each other again.” Grandmother was very consoling and kept offering words of encouragement for the future. Our final good-byes were very sad.

On the way back to the house, Esther held me close to her and said, “Dwoirele, you will soon go to America and you will be able to see grandmother. But what chance do I have to ever see her again?” My only reply was once more to break into tears.

Upon arriving home, Tolle was not at all sympathetic with Esther's unhappiness, “Everybody has a mother, but when they get married they have to leave her. But you want to remain attached to your mother like a child. You forget that you are a mother yourself now, so stop bawling and act like a grown-up person.” At that moment I hated Tolle -- I never wanted to see him again. I wished I could take Esther away from him!

Editor's Notes: Esther and Tolle: Dorothy's aunt and her husband, introduced in detail in a much later chapter. Seamstresses: Dorothy's digression to describe the source of her new dress is formatted here to emphasize the information it brings us about Wysokie's seamstresses and their equipment.

This material is from Original Page 12, Original Page 13, and Original Page 13a .

Page Last Updated: 15-Nov-2012