Andy, yes veri- as in veritas !
I have been looking for the passage that describes LB's lonely trek toward the open sea and will continue to check. The print in the paperback is small and the magnifying glass is heavy to hold.
LB's flight began after Nkiruka had been killed and LB felt safe enough to climb out of the boat in which she had been hiding, not seeing much, but hearing ieverything.
Thinking only of getting away, she walked at night, in the shallow water of the coastline to avoid leaving her scent on the sand. During the day she hid in the jungle. She ate something that made her violently ill. She went on for an untold number of nights. On the final night she came to the ocean where two ships lay at anchor, one Italian, the other British, with a cargo of tea. No one was about. She climbed in. An officer found her in the morning, looked at her, not unkindly, and locked her in a cabin, for her safety. He gave her Great Expectations to read. The ship arrived in England before she could finish the book. She was turned over to immigration.
About resettling Nigerians in England. I am not sure there is such an effort.
British law is clear, and the policy of the 10 (ten) existing immigration detenion centers is spelled out in the link which Ella provided. Any person entering without valid papers is illegal, has no right to stay in Britain, must turn him/or herself in or be forcibly removed and sent back to his/her native land.. There were no exemptions and no exceptions.
The law of the land decides man's fate. And LB's future ended in Nigeria because the authorities knew what she knew and wanted her dead.
Hitler, an a simple man with a second-rate education and quite possibly insane, wanted more than to 'resettle' the Jews. He set about eradicating them. Only a contorted, criminal mind could contrive to shut away in concentration camps anybody who does not think exactly as ordered or conforms without question to anything he/she is told.
It began right after he came to power in 1931. The first people he put behind bars and razor-wired fences were the Communists he had defeated (by hook and crook) in the last election, and, paradoxically, members of the clergy, who spoke out against his methods. Not long after began the systematic persecution of the Jews, the transportation into the camps killings.
Jews had to report to town halls in to be "registered". They had to wear a yellow star on t heir clothing. Then came Kristallnacht. The rest is history.
I too was an immigrant when we landed on these shores, so were my husband and our little girl.
We had a U.S. visa in our passports. Immigration and customs were there and inspected our luggage on the dusty pier in the harbor of New York on a hot summer's day. One piece was my father's footlocker from WW I,full of books. The customs officer pointed to it and asked, "What's in there?"
"Books," I said. "Books?" he exclaimed and laughed picking it up. It was heavy and he dropped it. The fold-over-lock broke, the books tumbled out, some on his foot. His face became red and he told another man to help put the books back abd secure the piece with metal bands. Then he turned without examining any other pieces.
My husband were resident aliens and issued a green card each. Every January we had to report to the Immigration and NaturaliZation Sservice, as it was called then, whose office was in the Old Post Office building in Washington.
An American family stationed in Germany were our sponsors. The process took 5 (five) years. In time they were ordered back to Virginia. They too had to fill out all kinds of forms, as did we.
Once admitted to the country, 5 more years must pass before a resident alien can can apply for naturalization. After a formal application is filed, an examination with an immigration examiner is scheduled who questions the applicant about U.S. history, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution and the basic structure of the government. We were interviewed separately, my husband by a female officer, I by a male. Both of us passed and were congratulated.
A formal ceremony for a large group of new citizens took place a while later in court in Alexandria, Virginia. A true milestone. A relief to live like ordinary citizens, no longer required to report to Immigration every January.
Let me say, however, that the transition and adjustment to a new life, a new beginning, to prove oneself personally and professionally all over again, is not easy for the first generation.
It was easier for my daughter and son, the second generation.
I am very grateful that Andy has been here with me in this discussion with her forthrightness and her unique style. She after all is a true native of this country and has more gravitas. By comparison I am the outsider. Thank you for bearing with me.
I am similarly grateful for Ella's presence here; it meant a lot to me.
More to say. Tomorrow.
Good night.
