In the early years of the turn of
the 20th century many Jews emigrated to the United
States. Severe anti-Jewish pogroms in Russia and the
vision of a much better, much freer, life in America propelled
this mass emigration. Jewish emigration was also sought
to avoid young men being drafted into the Czar's army, itself
quite an frightening ordeal especially for Jews. At
this time in history the U.S., with a population of only 75
million and continuing expansion in many regions, was open to
receiving many emigrants because of the need for
workers. Though there was considerable
anti-semitism in the new country, it was nothing like what
they experienced in the old country.
Gershon Bruzonsky and his younger
brother Pesach left Vilnius (Vilna), then part of Russia
before the Soviet Revolution, now the capital of
Lithuania. It may be that Pesach came first in
1905 followed by Gershon in 1907. Or they might have
come at the same time. We definitely know that
Pesach went to Rochester, New York. Whether Gershon
stayed with him in Rochester for a few years and then went to
Duluth where he arrived in 1907 is unsure. It is
believed there was another relative already in Duluth, Goldie
Cohen, and that the small Jewish community in Duluth provided
the funds and encouragement for Gershon to continue on to
mid-America. What is known for sure is that the brothers
spoke no English, only Yiddish, as they were coming from what
was known as the Pale of Settlement, a kind of Jewish ghetto
imposed by Russia but which also served many Jews at the time
so they could live among themselves and practice their own
religion and lifestyle. They were very devoted to family
and quite religious in their lifestyle. This whole
historical situation has been popularized by the spectacular Fiddler
on the Roof Broadway Musical.
With very little money they came
"steerage", essentially a large number of emigrants in the
cargo areas of the vessels. Whether they came alone or
separately they probably traveled the same route from Vilnius
to Hamburg, where they took a ship to London, and from London
another ship to New York City. At Ellis Island
near the Statue of Liberty they were processed as new
immigrants. Speaking no English, whatever documents had
been prepared for them along the way were referred to, or they
may have been asked their names and what was heard was written
down. Somehow this resulted in Pesach becoming
Berzansky, and Gershon becoming Bruzonsky.
After settling in Duluth after some months Gershon was
able to contact his wife Zelda and provide the funds for her
to come with their three children. They had three
more children who were born in the United States, the last in
1918.
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