To Antwerp

From all over Europe, millions of emigrants came to Antwerp between 1843 to 1930. Antwerp was their last port of call before they departed for the New World. They had various motives to leave Europe: economic necessity, longing for freedom, their sense of adventure, the call of fortune. Jewish emigrants from Eastern Europe and Russia were driven by poverty, unemployment as well as by the continuing oppression and persecutions.

Ships of companies such as the Red Star Line transported the emigrants to America where they started their new lives. The Red Star Line warehouses in Antwerp mainly served as depot for the Red Star Line shipping company (1872-1935). The offices of the shipping company were located in the city centre. The hustle and bustle of maritime activity took place in the Montevideo area. Red Star Line was involved in cargo transport, but its fame rested on the business (combined with cargo).

It commanded a sizable fleet for this purpose. Around 1881, transport was a very lucrative enterprise, thanks to the swelling number of emigrants. A part of the building was sectioned off for health inspection and quarantine. The journey From Antwerp to New York took between a week and a fortnight. As of 1892, the immigrants were registered in buildings on Ellis Island and went through strict medical examinations.

Between 1880 and 1930, ships of the Red Star Line brought more than 2 million emigrants to Ellis Island, or about one in ten of all those arriving there in that period. The ships carried not only emigrants. There were also first class s. Among them was John D. Rockefeller Jr. and his family (in 1905, on board of SS Finland)