We were ushered into a compartment that could seat up to twelve people. On the seat opposite us were two strangers. They left the train about halfway to Liverpool, and we had the whole compartment to ourselves. How nice. Shortly after entering the compartment most of us were asleep, only to be awakened at every station by bells and the opening and closing of doors to each compartment to enable passengers to get off the train at their destinations or to use the station facilities.
The sun awakened us… Through [the] glass window of a door on each side of the compartment the fast-changing views of the landscape fascinated us. We ran from one side of the aisle to the other so we would not miss any new sights. At every station stop were new wonders to observe. In that way we arrived at the Liverpool railroad station during midday, refreshed somewhat, and ready for new adventures.
In a forlorn manner we walked along the platform toward the large station. An attractively dressed middle-aged woman approached us, saying in Yiddish that she was from the Jewish Travelers Aid Society and desired to help us.
[original page 36] Help we needed. We were asked to follow her into the building, where the usual questions were asked and our tickets inspected. Mother was informed that the ship to Canada had left port over three days ago. “Now what?” flashed through our minds. “Were we hungry?” Mother was asked. We were, but Mother said, “No,” rather than ask, “Would it be kosher?” “Did we have a place to stay?” Again, “No” was the answer. The kind lady left us for a while to consult with others about a place in which the six of us could stay during the month waiting period for the next ship to Canada. She returned jubilant, to tell us that she had found us a place to stay and that a coach would soon be at the entrance to drive us there.
A carriage drove up. We were asked to enter it. We could not believe our eyes. We thought only the nobility and the rich rode in carriages. With little coaxing we entered and were driven off in great suspense and for what appeared to be a long distance. The carriage stopped at the gate to a fenced-in two-story stucco mansion. The coachman opened the carriage doors for us, and with gestures told us to enter through the gate to the mansion. At the gate Mother started to unwrap her small coin purse containing Russian money. The coachman declined, departed from us, and drove off without any payment from Mother.
As we started toward the entrance of the mansion, a refined-looking Jewish woman came out and asked us to enter. We were made welcome with a reserved friendliness. Mother was asked her name and where we came from. No other questions, just some small talk. No papers to sign, no payments to make.
We were standing in front of an open stairway at the side of a large, high-ceilinged drawing room. At the opposite side of the room [was] a large desk and a few chairs. The floor was carpeted, and a large candle-type chandelier hung down from the ceiling at the center of the room. At one side of the room was a large, open fireplace with an ornate metal bench in front. In that elegant room I never saw anyone else besides the lady of the house, who most of the time sat at the desk in full view of anyone using the open stairway. She always seemed intensely occupied with whatever she was doing. Evidently we were the only other occupants of the house.
We were asked to come up the stairs to our room, where we were to spend a month. The room had a large bed and a small cot [and] an open fireplace with soft coal for us to use. It had a suspended metal teakettle to heat water that could be obtained in a bathroom on the same floor.
[original page 37] We were shown how to ignite the coal and how to extinguish the fire with the least amount of smoke. Sleeping arrangements were simplified by sleeping crosswise on the bed [with] Mother in the middle, the boys on one side, girls on the other. The youngest [slept] in the cot.
