Maria Teresa DiGiandomenico

Maria Teresa DiGiandomenico (Rasetta)
Pier 21 Immigration Story aboard Vulcania, 1956

The adventure began on June 8, 1956 for my mother Elena DiGiandomenico, my sister Vera and me. I was nine years old and my sister was only 3. We left the security and tranquility of our small town Nocciano, in the province of Pescara in the region of Abruzzo, Italy and made our way to Naples. We were filled with excitement but also scared as we had never travelled so far from home.

My father, Franco, left Italy in 1953 for Brazil in order to work in the construction industry to make enough money so that he could bring the family to Canada to join his other relatives who had recently moved there. He returned to Italy in 1954 but soon left again in 1955 to make his way to Toronto to begin working there and make preparations for our later arrival. He was sponsored by his brothers Guido and Giovanni, who had come to Toronto by way of Belgium. Despite our fear of leaving our safe little town, we were excited to be reunited with my father once again.

Upon our arrival at the port in Naples, we were astonished by the number of people waiting to get on such a massive ship that would take us to our new home in Toronto. The name of the vessel was Vulcania. I cried as we said goodbye to my grandparents and uncle who had accompanied us to Naples. Immediately after boarding, I remember running out on deck and waving goodbye to everyone on shore.

We descended down into the ship to our tiny cabin containing a bunk bed and a small sink. My sister and I slept together on the top bunk and my mother took the bottom. To my amazement, I looked out the little window which was completely covered by water! We were obviously near the bottom of the ship as we climbed many stairs to get up to the dining room, passing the ship’s engine along the way, the corridor ripe with the smell of fuel.

We did manage to go up on deck a few times. I can recall being at the port in Venice where we saw many colourful gondolas. My mother bought us a souvenir piggy bank in the shape of a boot and we watched in awe as there was much shouting and waving as the ship left the port. I also recall being on deck to see dolphins putting on a show for us. They were beautiful.

As a child, I felt the voyage was rather smooth but my mother was terribly ill with motion sickness from the moment we passed through the Strait of Gibraltar. As a result, we spent much of the trip in our cabin. My poor sick mother crawled to bring us up to the dining room so we could eat but could not bear more than that.

Finally on June 23, 1956 we arrived in Halifax at Pier 21. My mother was just happy to be on solid land. It was incredible that we had just crossed an ocean to get here. We were told to collect our trunks and we were directed to the train station. At the train station my mom was told to buy some bread and a can of meat. We were shocked at the soft, sweet ‘bread’ and started to wonder why my father had brought us to this strange land with an unusual language and definitely a different idea of good food.

Once we arrived in Toronto at Union Station, I remember standing next to the tracks with our trunks as people exited the station. Soon we were the only ones left with no idea where to go and no one around to ask. Finally my father appeared and we were just glad to see a familiar face after such a long journey. We went to live with my uncle, aunt and cousins all crammed into one small house. After six months my parents bought their first home and we got our first black and white television. We had never seen a television before we came to Canada.

I started school the September after we arrived not knowing any English except for a few words I picked up in my first 2 months here. It was manageable because most of the other children were Italian immigrants and we could at least talk to each other. At that time there were no ESL teachers, so we had to struggle on our own. That first year was a bit hard but we quickly adjusted and adapted to this way of life.

I am very grateful that my parents decided to bring us to this wonderful country of opportunity. They made the sacrifice to leave Italy and start over so their children could have a better life. My husband (Giovanni Rasetta) also came to Canada from Italy, landing in Halifax in 1961 by ship at Pier 21. We have raised our 3 children (and now 4 grandchildren) here and truly appreciate everything Canada has given us. How far we’ve come from that first day when we got on the Vulcania to cross the Atlantic Ocean with dreams of a better life. That dream has come true.