Читать книгу Westward. Encounters with Swiss American Women онлайн

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With an immigration visa Ellen Ernst travelled on her own to America in April 1948. “I had asked a saddler to make two large oversea bags – duffle bags – with stable zippers and handles. My father took me by car to Basel. In the train to Amsterdam I met a nice lady who invited me to spend the night with her and her husband, the town-physician of Amsterdam, before continuing my journey toward the Atlantic the next day. In a hotel in Rotterdam, before embarking, I was served something that looked like grubs – shrimp. How would I have known what they were? Still I felt very grown up. I had no fear. And I knew that I would make it, that somehow I would be able to overcome any obstacles.”

Where did she find such courage? “Inside. I was firm and secure in myself; I knew what I was able to do. And quite frankly, my savings of 800 dollars in my pocket also helped!” The crossing on the New Amsterdam was stormy. “But I was never seasick. The doctor who treated me all my life in Switzerland and who subscribed to anthroposophy had advised me: ‘Breathe in when the ship goes up, and breathe out when she goes down.’ It worked.” Ellen shared the cabin with three women. “One came directly from a concentration camp. She did not say much about it, but told me that a priest on the ship made a pass at her and wanted to sleep with her! “When I saw the statue of Liberty in New York, I felt as if I were growing some more inside. I felt liberated. But when we docked in Hoboken, I would have preferred to turn around right away. Everything was so dirty and chaotic in this harbor.”