Luba Elbaum - January 20, 1982
New Life in Detroit
What were your feelings when you came to the United States?
Good. Was happy. Because when we came here I have already a, a daughter from two and a half years. My daughter was two and a half years. She was born in 1947, we came in 1951. She was two and a half years, I think, two and a half years she was already. We came at the ship, we came in wintertime. We, we went out in ??? wintertime, it was already wintertime we came here. After, after New Year's in '51. Right away they came and tooked us away. They give us the 12th Street. Do you remember the 12th Street? Probably you remember the 12th Street.
I lived there.
Yeah? Over there they give us a shelter--was a house and they give us a shelter house--they give us shelter over there. It was a big up and down, it was living five couple over there. Everybody have a room.
Twelfth Street and what?
Huh? Hazelwood probably, because over there in Hazelwood was probably. They came out and it was a ??? a living over there. And they picked us up and they give us over there shelter. I had my daughter was there. They paid for our food. And then they sent ourself to look for an apartment. How long we're going to find an apartment we can stay over there. So we were young people. My husband was young, I was young this time too. And we start to search a life for ourself, so. We have already friends here where they came before us. And we moved right away on Dexter. We find an apartment right away on Dexter. Probably you know the first apartment your husband saw there. The first apartment was over the bakery. First apartment was, I mean, over the bakery--Dexter. It was Epstein's Bakery over there. I don't know if you remember. It was an empty bakery. It was full of cockroaches, I remember. I had a big apartment this time when we came.
© Board of Regents University of Michigan-Dearborn