![\"Helena](\"https:\/\/stephendanko.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/Helena-Chmielewska-1916.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nHelena Chmielewska – 1916<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n SOURCE: Helena Chmielewska – 1916 (probably Worcester, Worcester County, Massachusetts). Photographed by unknown professional photographer in 1916.<\/p>\n Life in Likiszki was a\u00c2\u00a0string of\u00c2\u00a0hardships, and Helena dreamed of the\u00c2\u00a0wonderful opportunities she had heard about in America. Even before Helena was born, her brother J\u00f3zef had immigrated to America. Helena’s\u00c2\u00a0sister Stefania\u00c2\u00a0left in 1901 and two of her remaining brothers left in 1907.<\/p>\n In December 1912, at the tender age of sixteen, Helena\u00c2\u00a0herself pursued her dream to\u00c2\u00a0follow her brothers and sister\u00c2\u00a0to America. Anna, her sister and constant companion, was left behind and wept for weeks after\u00c2\u00a0Helena left.<\/p>\n Helena traveled alone to Rotterdam and, on 04 Jan 1913, she boarded the S.S. Nieuw Amsterdam,\u00a0a steamship headed for\u00c2\u00a0New York .\u00a0The winter voyage across the Atlantic was rough and nothing was so welcome to Helena’s eyes than the sight of land after ten days at sea.<\/p>\n From New York City, Helena traveled to Thompsonville, Connecticut, where her cousin Wincas Miekiawicjus lived. She later moved to Worcester, Massachusetts, where her brother J\u00f3zef resided .\u00a0There in Worcester, Helena settled, married, and raised five children.<\/p>\n Helena rarely spoke of her early life to her children. When asked about her homeland, she would usually reply, “The past is dead”. Still, she kept in touch with Anna, the sister and companion she left behind in Likiszki.<\/p>\n Helena’s husband died in March 1978, and her youngest daughter died suddenly in April 1980. The loss of her daughter proved too much for Helena. She died just seven months later, on 23 Nov 1980.<\/p>\n Written for the Carnival of Eastern European Genealogy.<\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2008 by Stephen J. Danko<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My grandmother, Helena Chmielewska, was born on a farm in Likiszki, Russia (now Lithuania), a tiny village with only five houses. Growing up on the farm, Helena’s closest companion was her sister Anna, two years her junior. Continue reading