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Max Burack was the first of four of my grandmother's
four brothers from Jedwabne to emigrate. He somehow first found his way
to England from Russian Poland, and then left from Liverpool, arriving
in the United
States in January 1913. He arrived barely one year before his sister
Flora's wedding.
"I remember as a little girl, when I knew he was
going to come home, waiting at the corner for him to come...I didn't
care if I had to stand there a half-hour, until I saw him, and I would
run (to him), because he was very affectionate. He was very
affectionate to my mother, and we was very affectionate to us."
-daughter Roz
Fannie, nee
Feiga Gusiacki, lived across the street from her husband Max while
both were living in Jedwabne. It is said that they were childhood
sweethearts. She immigrated in the summer of 1921,
and they were married one-and-a-half years later. They lived in the
East New York section of Brooklyn, and raised two children, Roz and
Aaron. "I'll tell you a story
about my mother and father...You gotta picture this. My father, you
know, working these numerous hours schlepping furniture. My mother
used to come home, and she was like a seamstress, you know, working
piecework with gloves (sewing on pearls)...She used to do the work in
the house...But their biggest achievement, for all the work they
did...They went to Thomas Jefferson High School to learn to become a
citizen, and that's the biggest thing I remember, that to become a
citizen of this country was the biggest challenge that they, you know,
could do...My mother spoke in the house- they spoke Yiddish-but to us
they all spoke, you know, broken English, whatever English they
(knew.) They used to go (to school) at night together...They had a
tremendous pride that they were now a citizen of the United
States...(They felt that) even though you may live in poverty, let's
say, compared to our standards today, you have the freedom of
religion, which they always said they were persecuted for. And what my
mother used to say to me was, she never had to look over her
shoulder.." -son Aaron
The Sam and Fannie Burack Room
The Sam Burack Room
The Gusiackis from Jedwabne |
