My great-grandparents are forced to flee
My mother Barbara (Helen’s daughter) asked her grandparents why they left Romania. My great-grandparents, Paulina and Marcu changed their names to Pauline and Marco and it appears they spoke only English, or perhaps some Yiddish once they arrived in the United States, leaving behind the Romanian language. Men came on horseback and smashed their haberdashery store, Barbara explained, was Marcu’s answer, because we are Jews. Marco sailed first on the S.S. Blucher, arriving at the Port of new York in 1902. Almost two years later Pauline traveled with three small children, one of whom was my grandmother, Helen. They sailed steerage class, arriving on the S.S. Leland on June 4, 1904. Helen, the youngest at the time, would have been 1 1/2 years old.
When Paulina and Marco each entered the United States, their names changed slightly with each step of their journey. When Paulina and Marco each entered the United States, their names changed slightly with each step of their journey. Thus Marcu Marcovici became Marku Markovisi, and Paulina Marcovici became Paulina Marcowitz, and her first three children arrived with their names--Trajan, Hersch and Helena, whose names later were changed, likely when they started school to become more Anglicized.--Hymie, Herman and Helen (my grandmother).
