Ellis Island by Malgorzata Szejnert

Ellis Island by Malgorzata Szejnert

A moving, dramatic, multi-vocal account of the agony and ecstasy of arriving in Ellis Island, by the greatest living Polish journalist

Sifting thousands of archival recordings and mountains of impounded correspondence of the experience of passing through Ellis Island and beyond (or being turned back from it), the great Polish reporter Malgorzata Szejnert has pieced together the dramatic experiences of Polish, Jewish, German and Italian emigrants. With her reporter's passion and an inquisitive mind, she has also brought to life the Ellis Island station employees: the doctors, nurses, commissioners, interpreters, social care workers, even chaperons, illustrating her story for greater vividness with unique archival photographs.