The year 1880 marked the beginning of the third period of Jewish immigration to the United States. What began as a trickle became a virtual flood, whose headwaters were located in the countries of Eastern Europe. From 1987-1910 alone 449,000 Jews emigrated from Poland to start a new life in America.

Coming to America became a great drama of redemption for East European Jewish masses. After the Partition of Poland in 1793, part of the country came under Russian czarist rule; Catherine the Great was none too happy to receive these Jewish wards.

Russian policy was pervaded by very discriminatory patterns; the Jews were tightly circumscribed inside the Pale (the area that was formerly Polish territory), which moved the ….