Pearl Brill Narzemsky

I was born Perla Brill in Minsk, Russia, October 19, 1905. I was the second youngest in a family of three brothers and one sister. My oldest brother, David, went to New York in 1914, my second brother drowned, the third was killed in the Russian army and my little sister died at a young age of scarlet fever.

My early memories centered on the traditions in our household and, in particular, the Jewish holidays. I remember that the challah was baked and the candles were lit every Friday for observance of the Sabbath. Because we were Jewish many restrictions had been placed on our family. I was refused admission to non-Jewish schools and so my education ended at age sixteen. I worked as a tutor to two young children in Russia. My father, Lev Brill, who had been a calligrapher at a local university, was arrested and jailed. By 1924 my father had died of tuberculosis leaving only my mother, Leah Bogen Brill, and me in Russia. The only family we had left in Minsk was a cousin, David Seisman. It was decided that we would join my brother in New York.

My mother and I were detained in a camp in Riga awaiting passage to New York. As it happened my mother got passage in August 1924 and I was left behind not knowing when I would ever see her again. It was a year later when a cousin in Montreal had been located to sponsor my entry. In November 1925, I was on my way to Canada to join Abraham Rudolf's family in Westmount, Quebec. I arrived at Pier 21, Halifax NS on December 2 1925, and from there I boarded a train for Montreal. I always remembered my joy and trepidation at arriving in Montreal knowing that I was leaving behind many hardships and although I was not with my mother I was closer to New York and knew that I would be there one day. I was fortunate in that I could speak Yiddish and could at least communicate with the Jewish community. During my stay in Montreal I worked in a factory making neck ties.

It was five long years before I could leave Canada to be with my mother and brother in New York. My mother was also restricted from leaving the US for five years but my brother, David, came to visit me once. It was a happy occasion when I was reunited with my mother in 1930. We lived on the Lower East Side in New York. Shortly after arriving in New York I married Irving Narzemsky and we had four children; Edith, Arnold, Shirley and Ruth. Irving owned a raincoat factory when I married him and we lived on Madison Street for a few years. We eventually ended up owning a candy store and after retirement we moved to Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. Irving died in 1968.

Pearl Brill Narzemsky died May 5, 2000 at the age of 94. Pearl's story was related through her son, Arnold, with added information from the ship's manifest.