Coming to America: the Klara Wojtkowska’s Story
Growing up in a mixed family, my father being Irish and Italian and my mother a full-blooded Pole, I tend to hear stories of how their family came to the United States at the beginning of the 20 th Century. They were not rich; they barely had enough money to voyage across the Atlantic. Relatives came from Ireland, Southern Italian, and Poland, which was conquered by three empires – Russia, Austria, and Prussia, now Germany. They wanted a new life, the freedom to worship since they were devout Roman Catholics, And, of course, to fulfill the American Dream. Most of the stories I heard came from the Polish side of my family. I was close to my mother’s side. I never considered to be Italian, even though my surname is Italian, and I have never considered to be Irish. I was a Pole with a funny last name. My Polish grandfather raised me while my father was out looking for a job or taking care of his elderly parents down in Florida. O...