Later
This is the second time I got a letter in a single week. This one is from Irena. In case you don’t remember her, Dear Diary, she is the girl I met on the ship. I have pasted her letter below too.
General Delivery,
Hairy Hill, Alberta, Canada
July 3, 1914
Dear Anya,
I promised you that I would learn to write and here is my first letter to you! Are you proud of me?
How is your new house? Is it really three storeys tall? Where do you sleep? I am so excited to think of you being in that giant place.
Our house is not as grand as yours. Our neighbours are far away and at first I wondered how my father could build a homestead all by himself. It is something like our old house in the village, only more simple. The roof is made of sod and the floor is mud. The homesteaders came all the way from the Willingdon district, a day’s drive by horse and wagon, to help my father build his homestead. This is called a “building bee” and it is just like a toloka in the old country. They put our home together in a single day! My father showed me where he lived before and it is just a hole in the ground, with logs propping up some sod.
There are other children in the area, although our closest neighbour is a single man named Yurij Feschuk. He is from our village in the old country. There is no school here, but there might be one in a year or two. Right now, I walk to the married neighours’ and several of us children walk the five miles to the nearest school.
My teacher helped me write this letter — he says I am learning fast.
We have only a small crop of vegetables and wheat because our land is still covered with trees. My father and I clear what we can while Mama tends Olya and the house.
I long to be back in my old village with my old friends and without this back-breaking work. It is good to be here with my father, though, and he keeps on reminding me that here in Canada we are free.
I miss you, Anya! Please write. Tell me about Montreal.
Your true friend,
Irena
P.S. Olya sends you a big kiss.
P.P.S. I am keeping the necklace you made me in a safe place. I look at it often and think of you.
It is strange to think of Irena out on the prairies. I hope she is able to make some good friends at that school. Maybe Stefan is annoying sometimes, but at least he is a friend. And I have Mary and Maureen too. I wonder where Slava is?
Monday, July 20, 1914
When I go to the market, I see that there are more men on the street and waiting in line at the soup kitchens.
Stefan wrote that letter to the factory owner for me yesterday and I signed it myself. I went to the factory as soon as both Mama and Tato had gone to work. Guess what? They hired me.
Oh, Dear Diary, how will I ever break the news to Tato? I know it was wrong of me to sign his name, but this is something I need to do. He is going to be so angry with me for going behind his back. I hope I can convince him that this may save our family.
Here is what the factory is like. There are rows and rows of girls sitting at tables with sewing machines. The lead seamstress put me beside Mary and she showed me that I am to run a seam down one side of a blouse, then stop. Then do the same thing with the next blouse. I have a huge wicker basket of partly sewn blouses. Once I do that one seam in all the blouses in the basket, I pass the basket on to the girl in front of me and she does a different seam.
I get paid a penny for every ten seams. We are supposed to do at least 500 seams a day but today I only did 234 and I also poked my thumb with the needle. Mary told me they won’t pay you for work that has blood or dirt on it. Hopefully, my fingers will toughen up. If I had a sewing machine at home, I would have my hope chest finished in an instant!
I got home just before Tato did. Baba gave me a look but she said nothing.
Friday, July 24, 1914
Stefan came to my door as soon as he saw that I was home from work. He showed me the newspaper headlines from this morning: Austrian Government Sends Serbian Government Stern Note. Stefan said that he overheard men in the soup lines talking about it. He says that Austria thinks Serbia planned for that student to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Princess Sophie. If this is true, there could be a war!
Saturday, July 25, 1914, afternoon
Stefan was sitting on the bottom step when I came back from my half day today. “Russia is backing Serbia, and Germany is backing Austria,” he said. “There is probably going to be a war.”
Oy, Dear Diary, I am afraid. Horoshova is close to the border of Russia. If there is a war, it could be in my old backyard. I hope Russia thinks twice about this, and Germany too.
Something else awful happened. Do you remember that man in the dirty brown hat? He passed us as we sat on the steps and flicked a lit cigarette at Stefan. I saw him pass and noticed that he flicked his hand and muttered “Austrian scum” to us. I didn’t realize about the cigarette until Stefan’s pant leg started to smoulder. I tried to put the fire out with my hands and I burnt my palm. Stefan covered it with his newspaper bag until the smouldering stopped. He is more angry about his ruined pants than the burn on his leg, seeing as these are his only pants. I told Stefan that he should tell the police, but he laughed at that and said, “Do you really think they would take our side?”
Monday, July 27, 1914
I knew something was wrong even without reading a newspaper. A man from our neighbourhood was being beaten by a group of thugs in the street and yelling for help, but there was nothing I could do for him and I ran all the way to work. Then when I got there and punched in my time card, the boss said something under his breath about “you Austrians” being unreliable.
Mary says that Austria and Serbia are on the “brink of war.” Their governments are not even on speaking terms anymore. Oy, this is bad!
When I finished at the factory, Stefan was waiting for me and Mary. He was still wearing his burned pants and his leg was bandaged. He said that in these “uneasy” times, immigrant girls are not safe. This makes me worry about Mama. She has to travel so far by trolley and then on foot. I wonder how safe she is?
When we got to the market, the lady who usually sells me onions gave me a dirty look and slapped down my change. At least she didn’t call me an Austrian.
Wednesday, July 29, 1914, after work
Austria has declared war against Serbia! All the girls at work are talking about it. I am so afraid! This is a bad bad day.
Thursday, July 30, 1914, bedtime
Tato was at the chytalnya until very late again last night. Mama looked so worried that I sat with her until Tato came home. After I kissed Tato goodnight and went to bed, I thought I would fall right to sleep, but I couldn’t. Instead, I listened to Mama and Tato whispering in the other room.
Tato said that people at the chytalnya were talking about the war. It said in the newspapers today that more than a million Russian soldiers are getting ready to fight. If Russia gets into the war, what will happen to Horoshova? We are so close to the border.