The Red Star Line Museum located on the authentic site of the historic shipping company in Antwerp tells a universal story of hope, dreams and the quest for happiness, based on personal stories of 20th-century emigrants. Between 1873 and 1935 the Red Star Line shipping company transported almost three million people with a one-way ticket to the US. At least several thousand Lithuanians may have been among them. These were mainly economic migrants but also those fleeing religious persecution or Russian oppression. From the beginning of the 20th century, the more affluent scientists, writers, and other intellectuals started travelling to the US on the Red Star Line ferries, most of them Jews, who were fleeing Nazi persecution. Promises of a better life and a stable job in the US often reached Europe from relatives already settled across the Atlantic.
At the time the economies of Canada and the US were booming, and after the abolition of slavery there was a great need for cheap labour. The US itself encouraged Europeans to come and had quotas on how many people from each European country could be admitted. Ferry companies took advantage of the situation. For example, Red Star Line had offices all over Europe, two of which were located on the territory of Lithuania – in Vilnius and Kaunas. Posters were displayed in the cities inviting people to take the company’s ferries to the US or Canada, even though most Lithuanians could not leave legally at that time.
They were fleeing Russian oppression. There are surviving records of Lithuanians explaining, for example, that they wanted to become US citizens because they “especially” did not want to be loyal to the Russian Emperor Nicholas II.
There is no precise data on the number of Lithuanians who left the port of Antwerp for the US, as many of them were listed as Russians on the surviving passenger lists. Still, a number of Lithuanian names, such as Motiejus Lankaitis, Ignas Budris, Petras Budris, Petras Lankaitis, Silvestras Maitikaitis, and others, are found on these lists. There could have been thousands of them. Often, they had to sell everything to afford the journey across the Atlantic. “Tickets were expensive. Today, it would be equal to around 1,000 euros. That meant 75 days of work for poorer people, and they were often travelling as families, so they had to give up everything”, according to a guide at the Museum.
Since many Lithuanians left the Russian Empire illegally, even getting to the Antwerp was a challenge. Often, after paying generous sums to smugglers, they would spend days or even weeks working their way across Europe, hiding in train carriages without food or showers.
At that time, Antwerp was a melting pot of nations, and there were many migrants from the East on the streets, with locals pointing fingers at them. Eastern Europeans were even seen as dirty and primitive.
The surviving health check documents also list Czechoslovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Lithuania, Yugoslavia, Austria, and Russia as “infected districts”. Upon reaching the port, their clothes and belongings were disinfected, and people had to stand under a hot shower of at least 38 degrees for an hour. This was followed by a thorough medical examination by at least three doctors: a local doctor hired by the Belgian immigration services, an American doctor, and a doctor hired by the ferry company.
The passengers were screened for lice and venereal disease. Particular attention was paid to the eyes, as the infectious disease trachoma was rampant at the time, and was was one of the biggest obstacles to reaching the shores of the US. If left untreated, it could lead to blindness.
Migrants had to go through the paperwork and health checks again on Ellis Island, where they were registered. If they were found to have any diseases, they were sent back to Europe.
The sick had to be quarantined by the ferry companies. In addition to the numerous document checks, the passengers had to go through interrogations, with questions about their profession, what they wanted to do in the US, whether they had relatives there, and more unpleasant ones – whether they had many sexual partners or whether they identified as anarchists.
Wealthy travellers avoided the health and disinfection procedures. They also enjoyed luxury on board, while the poor slept cramped in small rooms. The 10-day trip across the Atlantic was described by most third-class passengers as arduous and unpleasant. Gradually, the conditions on board became better for the lower classes.
