Małgorzata Szejnert

The Gateway Island
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RIGHTS:WORLD


Małgorzata Szejnert, an outstanding journalist, head of the
reportage department at the Polish biggest daily, Gazeta
Wyborcza, the author of Czarny ogród (Black Garden), the
book honoured with the Polish Public Media “Cogito” Prize
in 2008, has now turned her attention to Ellis Island. The
tiny scrap of land just off the coast near New York City
has long been called the “gateway to America.” Since late
19th century to the 1950s it was where all immigrants to
the United States from all over the world arrived, in total
nearly twelve million people.
The majority spent just a few hours there. The less
fortunate ones, however, could be detained for over
a year, undergoing tedious procedures. Others still were
simply turned away, because, according to Immigration
Law, entrance could be denied to “idiots, the mentally
ill, the destitute, polygamists, people who could become
a public burden, who suffer from repulsive or dangerous
contagious diseases, who were convicted for crimes or
other disgraceful deeds, or committed acts of immorality,”
as well as to all those who simply could not afford to travel
inland.
Enormously insightful, the author recreates the dramatic
lives of the immigrants, both Polish, Jewish, German,
Irish and Italian; she accompanies them under the decks
of overloaded ships, during lenghty quarantines and all
sorts of medical examinations, and describes their lot
after entering America. Her main focus, however, are the
employees of the Immigration Offi ce: the doctors, nurses,
interpreters and social workers, or even chaperons who
guarded the chastity of young girls. Szejnert tells the
story of the Island up to the present day; today it hosts the
Immigration Museum, with most of the staff descending
from the immigrants who arrived on Ellis Island.
The book is richly illustrated with unique archive
photographs.


About the author:

Małgorzta Szejnert is an acclaimed journalist. For several years she worked for the GAZETA WYBORCZA where she published many reportages and interviews. Presently she is working on a book devoted to Polish immigrants in America.

Also by this author:

Black Garden