After my recent hard-won success in finding a portion of my family on Ancestry, I decided to use a work break to try a different search. Suddenly, I was looking at a picture of a great aunt whom I’d never know. In addition, there were links telling me about when and where in Poland my great grandparents were born, and when they passed away. I could see the passenger lists of the ships that brought them to this country. I knew how much money they arrived with and who was meeting them. From his draft registration card from the First World War, I could see that my great grandfather and I share the same hair and eye color and I could even see his signature.

The above image is of the Grosser Kurfurst, which carried my great grandmother to America.