Immigration

pilsudzki.jpgIn one of the first things I ever posted on the earlier version of Trotz.com back in 2002, I unearthed some background on the ship which took my father, Sam, and much of the rest of the Trotz family to the United States from Poland. Read on for more….

M/S PILSUDSKI, ship which carried much of the Trotz family from Poland to the U.S. in 1939. 526 feet long and could make 18 knots. Accommodation was for 796 in three classes — 46 First Class, 370 Tourist, 400 Third Class and crew of 350. M/S PILSUDSKI sailed for her first transatlantic voyage, Gdynia-New York, on 15 Sep. 1935. Each round trip, Gdynia-New York-Gdynia took about three and half weeks.

When WWII broke out and Poland fell to the Germans in September 1939, the ship was commandeered by the British for military use. Two months later, she was destroyed by German mines at 4:36am on Nov. 25, 1939 off the English coast.

3 thoughts on “Immigration”

  1. my miden name is trotz. we are from the detroit area. my grandfather frank trotz was originally from the chicago area. my ancestors also came from poland. jus curious if any relation to you becuse trotz is not a common name. MY grandfather was born in he beginning of the early 1900’s.

  2. My family name is Trotz too. Trotz is a german word/name meaning:defiance.
    There is also a small German village in eastern Germany named Serba-Trotz.
    The relative few familys in Germany with this name live mainly in the north.
    It is very likely that your older ancestors originated from Germany.
    Hope you find this interesting.

  3. Our original name was actually Tracz, and is Polish. When our family came to the US in the 1930s, the name was quickly Americanized.

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