My grandfather's family, his father and his grandfather, fled Russia during the Russian Civil War, before which my great-great grandfather had served in the Imperial Russian Army. They settled in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and finally moved to Vienna, Austria just before its annexation by Nazi Germany. After the annexation, my great grandfather, along with many of his family members, were drafted by the Germans and killed in action on the Eastern Front. In search of a better life, and encouraged by the droves of enthusiastic young GIs in occupied Vienna, my grandfather and my great grandmother immigrated to the United States in 1954, boarding a Pan Am flight from Vienna to what is now JFK Airport, in New York City.

– Nick

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant