Mary Antin
Mary Antin
Mary Antinwas an American author and immigration rights activist. She is best known for her 1912 autobiography The Promised Land, an account of her emigration and subsequent Americanization...
NationalityRussian
ProfessionActivist
Date of Birth24 February 1909
CountryRussian Federation
commands czar except left might pay sending shall till tribute
The czar was always sending us commands - you shall not do this and you shall not do that - till there was very little left that we might do, except pay tribute and die.
draw higher left life means nearer shining step
If education, culture, the higher life were shining things to be worshiped from afar, he had still a means left whereby he could draw one step nearer to them.
along burned delighted moved people until
As we moved along in a little procession, I was delighted with the illumination of the streets. So many lamps, and they burned until morning, my father said, and so people did not need to carry lanterns.
chief close command gave honor love police positive prayer shall
One positive command he gave us: You shall love and honor your emperor. In every congregation a prayer must be said for the czar's health, or the chief of police would close the synagogue.
prepared talked till time tutor
First, you had to have a tutor at home, who prepared you and talked all the time about the examination you would have to pass, till you were scared.
expected gentiles
There was one thing, however, the Gentiles always understood, and that was money. They would take any kind of bribe, at any time. They expected it.
bones refuse nations
What we get in steerage is not the refuse, but the sinew and bone of all the nations.
matter ruined dues
The czar always got his dues, no matter if it ruined a family.
practice use elements
A little instruction in the elements of chartography—a little practice in the use of the compass and the spirit level, a topographical map of the town common, an excursion with a road map—would have given me a fat round earth in place of my paper ghost.
running past two
It is painful to be consciously of two worlds. The Wandering Jew in me seeks forgetfulness. I am not afraid to live on and on, if only I do not have to remember too much. A long past vividly remembered is like a heavy garment that clings to your limbs when you would run.
children heart noses
You went up to be examined with the other Jewish children, your heart heavy about that matter of your nose.
children noses sides
You heard on all sides that the brightest Jewish children were turned down if the examining officers did not like the turn of their noses.
girl children school
There was one public school for boys, and one for girls, but Jewish children were admitted in limited numbers - only ten to a hundred; and even the lucky ones had their troubles.
running women adventure
One current of continuity runs underneath all the abortive phases of my life. From childhood on I have been obliged to drop anything I was doing to run after any man who seemed to know a little more than I did about God . . . I most want to write about: how a modern woman has sought the face of God-not the name nor the fame but the face [ital] of God-and what adventures came to meet her on this ancient human path.