Made Into America: Immigrant Stories Archive

The Isaacson Family hails from the Province of Piltene, part of a region of western Latvia historically known as Courland. “You have totake the train to Riga,” a descendent later recalled. “Take it at night, you’d get there the next morning.”  Courland was Latvia’s oldest Jewish community. It’s believed that the first Jews arrived in Piltene around 1571–probably merchants from ... Read More »

The world outside Sarnen called me to explore it; I boldly responded with a three year trip to France and then London, where I was a nanny to wealthy families. It was 1960. While hiking on the magnificent mountains my home town was visible, pleasantly placed near a lake that glistened like glass in the afternoon sun. You could hear ... Read More »