Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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AS D. P.s SEE AMEHIEA by MARCIA CAVERLY Now that we have heard America ' s opinion of D. P ' s., let ' s consider for a few minutes what D. P. ' s think of us. Sometimes in our concern over our own problems we fail to see the other person ' s point of view. I thought it would be profitable, therefore, to assemble the reactions of D. P. ' s to us and our way of life. The thousands of demoralized refugees, formerly scat- tered helter-skelter over Europe say that in spite of a few difficulties their life is better and happier in America than in the old country. This freedom, in some cases much wider than they had known before, is an abrupt change for these D. P. ' s. Many times it is difficult to become adjusted to the habits of this way of life. In the Hotel Marseille in New York, a haven for D. P. ' s from American Occupied Zones in Europe, there are people who are afraid to venture outside the hotel for fear of the Gestapo. After a meal in the dining room some are found trying to hide bread in their clothing because there may be none tomorrow. Recently the young son of a D. P. family entered a a police station to notify the officers that they were mov- ing into a new home. You don ' t have to tell us, buddy, said an officer. You ' re in America now. Go ahead and move. We hope you enjoy your new home. Simple inci- dents like these happen everyday. While talking with many D. P. ' s I have found that some expected to find better jobs. Houses were imagined large and beautiful. What they found was, perhaps, not exactly the paradise they expected. Some of the homes were not as attractive as their former ones. Furniture, however, is much to their liking, clothes are better and cheaper, and money is more plentiful. The intelligent, skilled D. P. ' s, trained for a job in some specific field, are dissatisfied with farm and servant work. Some, however, do find work as tailors, stone- masons, miners, and lumbermen where there is a labor shortage. Working conditions are not always ideal; in fact, in some Southern states they are deplorable. Some D. P. ' s find it necessary to work in unhealthy conditions for very poor pay. Many costly purchases are made for these D. P. ' s and charged to them — thus putting them in debt and making it impossible for them to release themselves from these intolerable conditions. Several D. P. ' s say that our tempo of life is much faster. The American people do not walk; they run, said one — and we are also too much after the dollar. Also what is more serious; some find a lack of culture and spiritual quality in this country. So much for their dislikes. In answer to the question, What do you like best in America? the responses were quite varied. The children liked especially television, ice cream, corn flakes, movies, skating, and no school on Saturdays. The good food, the eight-hour work day, the money, and the beer are among the preferences of the adults. In Poland during the war there were no good times, no money, and no factory work. When the Polish people were taken to Germany by force, they averaged eighteen hours a day working on farms. The only food was pota- toes and sometimes a little celery and cucumber. Sunday for a few hours, they would go off into the woods to dance and play the violin. When the Americans entered Germany, their former freedom was restored. Here in America they don ' t mind working, for they are not forced to do so. These people are on the whole, happy, thankful, and optimistic in their new freedom. One D. P. at a New Year ' s Eve party, remarked, God love America on this New Year. Another introducing a somber note, said, There are others just like us, still waiting on the other side. In a recent article by Ewald Mand, a D. P. from Estonia, Rev. Mand stated, To be a stranger is a sorrow- ful and depressing experience. To be taken in is a Christian experience to be remembered forever. Rev. Mand gives an account of his family and also writes of some experiences he had before entering this country. He seems to typify the sincere gratitude felt by all D. P. ' s. We are, to them, friendly, light-hearted, gay. They ' re no longer displaced, a North Dakota com- munity writes of D. P. ' s. They ' re in the right place — • they ' re new neighbors. These D. P. ' s, naturally feel the loss of racial and family ties very deeply. However, there is some force which keeps them here in this country, and which inspires them to look forward proudly to citizen- ship, a feeling which Archibald MacLeish has so ably voiced in his poem, It Is a Strange Thing To Be An American . This, this is our land, this is our people. This that is neither a land nor a race. We must reap The wind here in the grass for our souls ' harvest: Here we must eat our salt or our bones starve. Here we must live or live only as shadows. This is our race, we that have none, that have had Neither the old walls nor the voices around us. This is our land, this is our (ancient ground — The raw earth, the mixed bloods and the strangers. The different eyes, the wind, and the heart ' s ch ange. These we will not leave though the old call us. This is our country — earth, our blood, our kind. 18

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But they were only a small number of these people. The Displaced Persons ' Camps in Europe are crowded with more of these poor unfortunates. And American Army officers say that if we don ' t act, if things continue in the present course, it is obvious that the useful and skilled people in these camps will be taken elsewhere. Great Britain has taken 25,000 workers, including many miners; France and Belgium have taken miners also. Norway and Australia invited some with special skills, as well as farmers. Holland got in an early bid for specialists and took 8000 artisans and nurses. A few of these Fluchtlings , as they are called by Germans, have crossed the ocean to Brazil and Venezuela to till the soil. And Norway has unselfishly agreed to care for one half of all blind DP ' s. No one who has seen these people can doubt that we could use them. Many impress you as the kind of people who made this great country what it is today. An investment in Displaced Persons as American citizens of the future would pay us dividends; those with families of bright young children particularly would be suited to life in the United States. There are others. For example, there are still trained nurses in the camps, and American hospitals are in desperate need of nurses and trainees in this field. Employers who have hired these people are highly satisfied with them. Seabrook Farms, Inc. of Bridgeton, New Jersey, has taken far more DP ' s than the average employer. The jobs in which this company has put these workers show their range of usefulness. Says Seabrook ' s personnel manager, H. S. Fistere: ' ' They are eager and willing workers. What makes these people even more valuable is that they have learned to improvise with what they have — the art of making something out of nothing. The fact is, about all they have is their will to work, and most of them make use of that asset — they want to show the world just how hard they can work, because that is the only way they have of winning their way to a normal life somewhere. A rather vociferous minority of our people, however, forgetting that they or their ancestors were once dis- placed persons, harbor many prejudices and misconcep- tions about DP ' s. Some believe that DP ' s who come to this country are a security risk. It may be answered, however, that DP ' s have to face such a rigorous screen- ing before they can enter this country that it hardly seems possible that many security risks will get past that battery. The great majority of Displaced Persons now in Euro- pean camps are refugees from Communist-dominated areas. The International Refugee Organization has made strenuous efforts to get them to return home. They have refused, almost unanimously, and there have been sui- cides among these people who anticipated a forced return to Eastern Europe. The restrictionists deduce from all this that the DP ' s have been sent out of satellite nations with the aim of getting them into the United States as spies. Their argu- ment does not, however, account for the fact that the Russians, in the United Nations and elsewhere, have used all sorts of tactics to have the DP ' s repatriated. There are others that declare that DP ' s are taking jobs and homes away from Americans. The view that a country ' s prosperity is in inverse ratio to the size of its population seems always to turn up during immigra- tion debates. This view assumes that a country ' s goods and services are limited to fixed quantities; it ignores the fact that new arrivals create wealth as well as con- sume it. If it had any truth at all, Israel, which has taken almost twice as many DP ' s as this country, would have gone under long ago. In any case, the argument is un- related to the DP situation. Under the present set up, every DP who comes to this country must have a sponsor over here. The sponsor assures the authorities that the DP has a residence and a job awaiting him. Since many sponsors are relatives, a large percentage of the new comers board with their families instead of competing for apartments. As far as jobs are concerned many of the DP ' s are women and elderly men, and they are not expected to make any impress on the labor market. The C. I. 0., the A. F. of L. ( and the Railway Brotherhoods have all recognized this state of affairs and have agreed that more of these homeless people should be admitted. A few more argue that only the worst of the DP ' s are still in Europe. They maintain that the best of the displaced persons have been skimmed several times over, and that only misfits, degenerates, and criminals remain. Actually there is a group of about 161,000 DP ' s who will be denied resettlement because of serious disease, but that is as far as the matter goes. Several persons who have made an on-the scene check in Europe during the past year, reported that DP ' s had a better record for good behavior than our own United States Army in Germany. If the DP ' s coming over now were really undesirable, one would find it difficult to find sponsors for them. But this is not the case; the Displaced Persons Commission reported that, we have no trouble ... as far as assur- ances are concerned. George Washington ' s words suggesting that this country become more and more a safe and propitious asylum for the misfortunates of other countries, ex- presses what is still the American tradition. We, ourselves, are able to see how much these dis- placed persons are contributing to the culture and life of our country, since many of them have settled in our own or in surrounding communities. From all reports, as future citizens they will be doing America a service to remain here and become, as so many of their prede- cessors in the last three centuries have become, — loyal American citizens, appreciative of the privilege of living in a free country. 17

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i ■ in i ism [i by MARY MACKENZIE In September 1945 we, as others before us, approached high school with shaking knees. We renewed old friend- ships and made new ones in the strange halls of I. H. S. Of course, we made the same mistakes as those recounted in past class histories, such as getting into the Study Hall seats the wrong way, going up the wrong stairs, and being caught by Mrs. Lord. But it didn ' t take long to get used to the high school, and soon we got down to business and elected our officers as follows: President, Ernest Nikas; Vice-President, Jean Poirier; Secretary, Ann Robertson; Treasurer, Kay Lang. In the middle of the year we were joined by Sue Bear who came to us from Hamilton. In March we held a social for our class only and found a good deal of hidden talent. Stanley Bolt was the top attraction with his accordion. As early as this, our first year, Mr. Chadbourne recog- nized in Prisby those traits which won for him the title of class girlologist. On day in drawing he remarked that Wolf Prisby seemed to be out with a different girl every night. The days passed quickly and soon our first year at I. H. S. drew to a close. Following the summer of 1946 we again entered the portals of I. H. S., this time as freshmen with a little more assurance. Our class had increased considerably with the girls and boys from Rowley. We were also curious about a certain blonde girl, who seemed to be bubbling over with laughter and friendship. It didn ' t take us long to find out all about her. For Robby , who hailed from Beverly, would make herself well known in any group. We also welcomed a fair-haired boy who even then showed traces of becoming our class blusher. His name was Alan Turner, who came to us from Canton. For every gain, however, there is a loss; we, however, had two: first, Jackie Manzer left us for Florida; then Johnny Wilson moved to Wakefield and was missed greatly by the class. At our second class meeting we elected our new officers as follows: President, Tarshy Nikas; Vice-President, Jean Poirier; Secretary, Mary Mackenzie; Treasurer, Jane Mul- holland. Our class always with a desire to be ahead of the game chose class colors, maroon and white, as freshman instead of waiting for our senior year. Though we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, not all was fun. We were introduced to Latin, ancient history, Mrs. Lord and her number system. Many a morning found us shaking violently while she slowly pulled out the fateful number. Nevertheless, we had many a pleasant period in Latin Class learning about the latest antics of her grandchildren. We were also introduced this year to the fundamentals of football, basketball, baseball, and the painful art of cheerleading. Another vacation over and with heads high, for we were almost uppelclassmen, we reentered school. Among the new faces were Jenny Lindberg ' s and Thais Bruni ' s. But we missed Stanley Bolt who had moved to Salem. As class officers for this year we elected as President, David Player; Vice-President, Ernest Nikas; Secretary, Mona Gill; Treasurer, Amber Knowles. There were a few veterans of Latin I who ventured back into Mrs. Lord ' s den as we called room 104. It didn ' t take long to realize what a life saver Jean Johnson was, for she and Mrs. Lord has something in common — trips to the mountains. And many a morning found them talking about them while we sat idly by. Speaking of Latin, we had a very successful Latin Club that year and many an enjoyable time including a picnic at Crane ' s Beach. After one of our vacations we returned to school only to find a horrible odor in 204. It took the whole year to wear off. Mr. Moore said there were worse smells, but nobody agreed with him. This was the year also of water pistols filled with strong perfume, Wallace Lane and Paul Lord heading the list of pistol-packing boys. On December 5, we had our class dance which proved to be quite a success, increasing our treasury by thirty dollars. On January 19, we gave our first play, High School Daze, before an assembly. It proved to be quite hilar- ious. We shall never forget the bright color of Kay ' s and Bob ' s faces at the close of the play. They were supposed to kiss and make up, but all they did was make up. Filled with excitement over increasing activities, we again returned to school, only this time as full-fledged upperclassmen. We were joined by a petite dark-haired girl, Ruth Coughlin, who interested us all with her hobby of shell jewelry. As our leaders for this year we chose as President, David Player; Vice-President, Harrison Tenney; Secretary, Charlotte Fryddrych; Treasurer, Amber Knowles. Inci- dentally they did so well that we elected them again for our senior year. In chemistry class Phil Publicover made use of his long legs in pulling the chairs of Jean Johnson, Lorraine Greenleaf, and Amber Knowles out from under them. His legs were put to a better purpose, however, this year on the basketball team. I might add here that a great number of our boys were out for sports and did a good job. We were very much startled when one day Alan Turner brought a little box which contained, he claimed, a Japanese finger sent to him by his brother. After many shrieks and groans we later realized it was his own stuck up through a hole in the bottom of the box. In English in a discussion of hobbies, Steve Marvin proved to have an odd one — math. He showed us many complicated methods and problems which had us all fas- cinated and stumped. This was for us an important year. We received our class rings early and began planning our Junior Prom. It seemed doubtful if we should ever have one because no one seemed to be going. However, after many weeks of planning, the big night arrived. The boys were all dressed up in suits and the girls in many beautiful colored 19