I don’t think of my parents as immigrants because calling them immigrants diminishes the struggle of a typical experience. My parents came to the US from Canada on an O1 visa for aliens of extraordinary talents.Theirs was a rare immigration of privilege. I’m deeply aware of their contrast. My family originally came to Canada fleeing antisemitism and violence across Europe between 1900-1930. Each story could fill a novel but my Zediah Jacks has always been at the forefront. He grew up in a town in Russia called Sokoletz which would have been very similar to Anatevka, from Fiddler on the Roof. He was the oldest of 6 living in a hut that had no floor. His mother died when he was little and when Jack was 16 his father was shot and killed on his doorstep in a pogrom. When his father was killed he was left to take care of his siblings by himself. He worked while the next two oldest, Bina and Shifra, would take care of the rest of the family, washing their clothes in the river. When Jack was 19, he walked out of Sokoletz and came to Canada. He sent back money for Bina and Shifra to come and they sent money for the next 3 who never made it and were later killed in the Holocaust. Zediah Jack persevered through great struggle so my parents could immigrate by choice, not out of necessity. 

– Madeleine Plener

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more