Honoring Ancestors on Ellis Island

My great-grandparents, Moritz Farkas and Leni Kunstler Farkas, came to America from Hungary at the turn of the 20th century. Both entered through Ellis Island. 

All four of my grandparents were immigrants. Three came through Ellis Island and one sailed from England to Canada and then crossed into the United States. All made the difficult decision to leave everything they knew and forge a new life in a land they'd never seen.

A Memorable Visit to See Ancestral Name

Nearly 25 years ago, Sis and I joined several cousins on a visit to Ellis Island. We knew that one of our cousins had donated to have "The Moritz Farkas Family" inscribed on an early part of the Wall of Honor erected at Ellis Island, as a monument to immigrants.

It was emotional to see the family name on the wall and think about these ancestors' hopes, dreams, and realities. It felt wonderful knowing these ancestors were memorialized in a place so important to the arc of their lives (and ours). And that we could visit this memorial, which will stand for many years!

Ellis Island Wall of Honor

Late in 2019, Sis and I decided to honor our four immigrant grandparents by donating to have their names inscribed on the Wall of Honor. We memorialized the married couple of Theodore and Hermina Farkas Schwartz (as shown above) and the married couple of Isaac and Henrietta Mahler Burk. 

Their names were added to the wall last year! Although we haven't yet had an opportunity to visit Ellis Island, a website search of the Wall of Honor shows who they are, where they came from, and who made the donation.

We are delighted to have this tangible, enduring memorial to the courage and determination of our immigrant ancestors, the journey-takers who made our lives possible.