Two Canadian Cardinals Michael Czerny and Frank Leo have roots in Pier 21 Michael Czerny born in Czech Republic with Jewish came to Canada with Pier 21 and Frank Leo’s parents were pass in Pier 21 as immigrants
My families story….. I’m ninth generation Canadian, I never think about ancestry, all my ancestors that I can remember came from here, it wasn’t until I went there in person that I stood there looking at all the displays of people who sacrificed everything, leaving everything they knew behind to come here for a completely uncertain future, that I just stood there like an idiot bawling my eyes out, overcome with emotion, and to this day, I have no idea why it affected me so deeply. Then, I came back here to my home in Toronto, went over to my parents house, who are now almost 90, and talked for hours as they opened up to me telling me of the stories they never told me about how my ancestors from Ireland fled starvation, and political persecution, leaving behind everything they knew loved to come here. Suddenly it was like a lightbulb went off in my head. My mother is from Nova Scotia, most of her family lives in Halifax or close to it, she had 12 brothers and sisters, each one of them have at least eight kids, the same goes for each generation before, in other words, I’m related to half the province! finally, I asked my mom why she never told me about it…. my mother is one very tough lady, I’ve never once seen her cry in my life, until then. She started sobbing, telling me of every single detail of what her family and ancestors went through trying to build a life here while trying to leave their entire lineage behind in Ireland. She was going to take it to the grave with her, without ever telling me or my sister, all because it was too painful for her to discuss. I did feel bad about making her cry, but I felt wonderful that we finally had that conversation, that she finally felt comfortable to open up to me, and tell me about my family history before it was too late. She later told me that she was so happy to finally be able to tell me about it without shame, because back then, the Irish were treated like garbage! It’s on par with what they did to the slaves from Africa, with no exaggeration, and with that carries a lot of shame to this very day, that’s why she didn’t want to tell me, she didn’t want me feeling bad about my ancestry, which is total nonsense. I told her I’m incredibly proud of who I am and where I come from, and nobody on this planet ever convince me otherwise, that’s what made her so happy. Thankfully I still have both my parents. My father‘s family is almost identical, but they came from the UK, London to be more specific, and ironically both my parents families came here on the same ship without even knowing it (moms family were dragged to London as workers, against their will, dads family wanted to escape poverty and disease, and both families used the same ship!). I found that out after doing a lot of digging and research. At first they didn’t believe me, until I finally showed them the documents that I had managed to get hold of and printed out. This was hundreds of years ago, the two families had nothing in common other than they were all immigrants, and generations later, families from the same ship ended up getting married and having a family, it’s so ironic it’s almost spooky! I was able to do A genetic analysis, because in my professional life, I work as a medical laboratory scientist, which was wonderful because it really helped me find more information than the average person could. I can trace back my lineage over 3 centuries, ever before pier 21 existed. A lot of it by documentation and paperwork that has been scanned into the system, but also a lot of it just by genetic research and analysis. I spent months in the laboratory after hours, thankfully the labs director was kind enough to allow me to use the equipment to work on my own time when everyone else left for the day, so I could find the answers I was looking for. Unfortunately I wasn’t related to nobility, like I (and everyone else) always fantasized about, lol! But, it was absolutely incredible to find out everything that I did, everybody’s names, where they were born, where and how they died, how old they were, even minute details down to the colour of their hair and eyes. I found a picture and nearly drop dead from shock. I thought it was me, it was an identical clone, put side-by-side you could not tell the two apart. I was looking at my great great great great great great great grandfather (Plus or minus a generation or two). This was before cameras even existed, it was a drawing, a drawing of him before he left Ireland, and I swear to God I am the reincarnation of his physical body, we are absolutely identical, same eyecolor, hair colour, height, weight…..same everything! It was spooky but absolutely fascinating. And everything I just said was the result of going to Pier 21. So to anyone reading, if somewhere along the way your family immigrated here, you absolutely have to go there, you won’t believe what you can discover. I never in a million years could have imagined what I uncovered, and I am so thankful!
Lovely!!! a heartwarming to know how our forefathers came to be in a land that will give them new hope and for us to cherish and remember... seeyousoon :-)
Thanks Ian. It was a really great visit to get a sense of what my grandparents went through coming into Canada. I can't imagine having to pack up a few things and moving to a place I know nothing about.
Arienne, greetings from Russia! This turned out to be very interesting as information about the first immigrants was able to be kept and made available to everyone who wants to find their ancestors.
Thanks for this amazing video for my history class! Go Canada!
Happy to help! I hope you get to visit the museum one day. It’s fantastic.
Very very well done Arienne! Your videos keep getting better and better!
Thank you so much Brian! That means a lot to me :)
Two Canadian Cardinals Michael Czerny and Frank Leo have roots in Pier 21 Michael Czerny born in Czech Republic with Jewish came to Canada with Pier 21 and Frank Leo’s parents were pass in Pier 21 as immigrants
My families story….. I’m ninth generation Canadian, I never think about ancestry, all my ancestors that I can remember came from here, it wasn’t until I went there in person that I stood there looking at all the displays of people who sacrificed everything, leaving everything they knew behind to come here for a completely uncertain future, that I just stood there like an idiot bawling my eyes out, overcome with emotion, and to this day, I have no idea why it affected me so deeply. Then, I came back here to my home in Toronto, went over to my parents house, who are now almost 90, and talked for hours as they opened up to me telling me of the stories they never told me about how my ancestors from Ireland fled starvation, and political persecution, leaving behind everything they knew loved to come here. Suddenly it was like a lightbulb went off in my head. My mother is from Nova Scotia, most of her family lives in Halifax or close to it, she had 12 brothers and sisters, each one of them have at least eight kids, the same goes for each generation before, in other words, I’m related to half the province! finally, I asked my mom why she never told me about it…. my mother is one very tough lady, I’ve never once seen her cry in my life, until then. She started sobbing, telling me of every single detail of what her family and ancestors went through trying to build a life here while trying to leave their entire lineage behind in Ireland. She was going to take it to the grave with her, without ever telling me or my sister, all because it was too painful for her to discuss. I did feel bad about making her cry, but I felt wonderful that we finally had that conversation, that she finally felt comfortable to open up to me, and tell me about my family history before it was too late. She later told me that she was so happy to finally be able to tell me about it without shame, because back then, the Irish were treated like garbage! It’s on par with what they did to the slaves from Africa, with no exaggeration, and with that carries a lot of shame to this very day, that’s why she didn’t want to tell me, she didn’t want me feeling bad about my ancestry, which is total nonsense. I told her I’m incredibly proud of who I am and where I come from, and nobody on this planet ever convince me otherwise, that’s what made her so happy. Thankfully I still have both my parents. My father‘s family is almost identical, but they came from the UK, London to be more specific, and ironically both my parents families came here on the same ship without even knowing it (moms family were dragged to London as workers, against their will, dads family wanted to escape poverty and disease, and both families used the same ship!). I found that out after doing a lot of digging and research. At first they didn’t believe me, until I finally showed them the documents that I had managed to get hold of and printed out. This was hundreds of years ago, the two families had nothing in common other than they were all immigrants, and generations later, families from the same ship ended up getting married and having a family, it’s so ironic it’s almost spooky! I was able to do A genetic analysis, because in my professional life, I work as a medical laboratory scientist, which was wonderful because it really helped me find more information than the average person could. I can trace back my lineage over 3 centuries, ever before pier 21 existed. A lot of it by documentation and paperwork that has been scanned into the system, but also a lot of it just by genetic research and analysis. I spent months in the laboratory after hours, thankfully the labs director was kind enough to allow me to use the equipment to work on my own time when everyone else left for the day, so I could find the answers I was looking for. Unfortunately I wasn’t related to nobility, like I (and everyone else) always fantasized about, lol! But, it was absolutely incredible to find out everything that I did, everybody’s names, where they were born, where and how they died, how old they were, even minute details down to the colour of their hair and eyes. I found a picture and nearly drop dead from shock. I thought it was me, it was an identical clone, put side-by-side you could not tell the two apart. I was looking at my great great great great great great great grandfather (Plus or minus a generation or two). This was before cameras even existed, it was a drawing, a drawing of him before he left Ireland, and I swear to God I am the reincarnation of his physical body, we are absolutely identical, same eyecolor, hair colour, height, weight…..same everything! It was spooky but absolutely fascinating. And everything I just said was the result of going to Pier 21. So to anyone reading, if somewhere along the way your family immigrated here, you absolutely have to go there, you won’t believe what you can discover. I never in a million years could have imagined what I uncovered, and I am so thankful!
Oh wow!! That’s incredible. Thank you so much for sharing your experience 😊
@@seeusoontravel my pleasure!
Hey!! This is so cool. Awesome video!!
Thanks, appreciate it Nader!
I came through pier 21 in 1953 and I am now putting a story together for my grandchildren
Oh wow, what a wonderful gift that will be for them!
Lovely!!! a heartwarming to know how our forefathers came to be in a land that will give them new hope and for us to cherish and remember... seeyousoon :-)
Thanks Ian. It was a really great visit to get a sense of what my grandparents went through coming into Canada. I can't imagine having to pack up a few things and moving to a place I know nothing about.
our class is supposed to watch this, and it’s very interesting!
Oh cool, enjoy!
Very interesting,my grandmother,my mom & aunt entered Pier 21 ..They came from Ukraine & Poland. They arrived at Pier 21 March 1930.
My grandparents came here to
Arienne, greetings from Russia! This turned out to be very interesting as information about the first immigrants was able to be kept and made available to everyone who wants to find their ancestors.
Cheers thanks! Glad to hear you found it informative. It was a really special experience for me.
Can I have a Question about this so plz how i contact to you?
Very nice.....
Keep it up😊
COOL
Wow. Ukraine and Poland. May be we are relatives? Hi from Ukraine.
You never know, we could be!! :D