My name is Josephine, I live in Großmöllen, German Empire. I am seven years old and I am Jewish, well my whole family is Jewish, but that is not important.
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I may be known as Josephine, but I was not born with that name. I was born Joseph. Ever since I was three years old and could talk, I knew I was supposed to be a girl. I insisted on being called a girl and with a girl's name.

My Papa did not agree with me and said I was born a boy and should act like a boy. But I would throw a fit and he eventually gave in after my Momma talked to him about it, saying that it is just a phase and that I will grow out of it. It has been four years since that time, It is not a phase.

My twin sister, Anneliese is extremely happy to have a sister of her own to play with, and being seven years old, it is the best.

We usually play jacks or hopscotch and sometimes I just feel like playing with my doll. I got this doll, (which I named Lucie) which my Momma gave to me a year ago. She is very pretty with a blue dress, blue eyes, and long red hair. I can not go to sleep without her.

In my neighborhood, all the boys got heard of me being born a boy and would pick on me and would keep calling me a freak of nature or a sissy. The girls would not talk to me. This was really hard on me and I would end up playing alone, or with my sister. I do not have any friends.

Date: Friday, The Fifth day of April 1912
Place: Großmöllen, German Empire
Time: 10:30

Anneliese and I are playing jacks outside. She is really good at the game, but I am catching up to her. A teenager on a bicycle came riding up to our front door and handed Papa something and took off. Papa got a telegram. When we get telegrams, it usually means Opa and Oma (Grandpa and Grandma) sent us one. So we both run in to listen to what they wrote.

It was not from them, which was disappointing It was from the city. It stated that we have five days to vacate our home and leave the city. Both Anneliese and I looked at each other in shock. Momma was crying and Papa just sat in his chair looking at the telegram not saying anything.

Momma did not want to leave Großmöllen. I do not want to either. This was Momma‘s hometown and it is also where both Anneliese and I were born. I can not believe we are ordered to leave town.

Anneliese ran upstairs crying and I followed her also in tears. We both ran to our room. When I got there, with tears in my eyes, I look out the window at the beautiful ocean that I see every day through it.

Date: Monday, The Eighth day of April 1912
Place: Großmöllen, German Empire
Time: 14:45

It has been three days since the telegram. We have packed up all our belongings and are ready for the move. Although, we can not take it with us where we are going.

Don’t worry about them, Uncle Bernhard and Aunt Grethe are coming over to take them back with them to their place and eventually send it to us whenever we get settled in our new home.

Where are we going? Well, Papa has chosen to leave the German Empire all together and move to a place where everything is free.

AMERICA. ‘The land of opportunity and the land of the free’ or something like that. I really can‘t remember. I believe that‘s what Momma had told me. But all I can picture it is, America is a free country, where they have a big Statue that greets us when we get there. I wonder what that means.

I just finished packing a few bags, when I hear Papa running up the stairs. He is always in a rush when it comes to these types of things. "Beeile dich. Wir wollen nicht zu spät kommen." What is he saying? Oh, he’s saying for us to hurry up. He does not speak English, which would come in handy where we are going.

Uncle Bernhard just drove up in his high-wheel motor buggy about the time that we all finished packing. He is smiling as my sister and I run up to greet him.

"Uncle Bernhard!" we both yelled, as we ran up to him.

"Hi girls," he said hugging us.

"Ready to go?" he looks at me and then at Anneliese.

"Pretty much, " I look at the ground. I knew it was time to say goodbye to this place and I am sad to do it.

As we all headed into the motor buggy, I looked back at the house for one last time. I am very sad now and really wish we could stay. I liked living there.

"Let’s get this show on the road," Uncle Bernhard said, as I shut the door and he drove away from the house, never to be seen again by any of us.

We are off to take a train to Cherbourg, France, where we will travel to America on the Titanic. The Titanic is the worlds largest ship and it is also unsinkable. Just a year ago the Olympic became the worlds largest. I can not wait to see how big the Titanic really is.

Date: Monday, The Eighth day of April 1912
Place: Belgard, German Empire
Time: 18:30

"Alle einsteigen!" The train conductor yelled for everyone to come aboard the train.
As we boarded, I sit down in a seat. Although we are not the richest people in the world and would always be in the third class compartment coach at the end of the train, we feel like we are one of the richest around. We ended up getting three seats in the far back. Since my sister and I are small, we end up sitting together. It‘s not that uncomfortable, but it saves us money.

It‘s a known fact that taking a train is the cheapest way to travel.

Papa said that we were very lucky because due to the shortage of coal, the coal miner strike caused (which recently ended), we might not have been able to get a ride at all. I am sure glad that we are able to go. Papa did spend a little more for one small room on the Titanic. He did not want us to be in a room with some strangers. I would have to sleep on the same bed as my sister (which I am used to), but at least we would not have some weird person in the room with us.

The conductor came on to the train and started asking for tickets. Papa gave four slips to him. As politely as he could the conductor looked at them, punched a hole into each of them and handed them back to Papa.

As the train started moving. Both Anneliese and I run all over the place watching the scenery go by. We are so excited about being on a train. I see lots of houses and trees and animals. With the train going as fast as it is going, we will be there in no time.

"I wish I could see the ocean," I pouted.

"Why?" Anneliese asked. "We will be seeing the ocean when we get on the Titanic."

Eventually, I start to get bored with the same thing and sit down on the chair. Anneliese sits next to me as well.

"This is fun," she says with a bounce to her voice.
"I agree," I nodded. "But I wish there was more to do, but sit around or look outside. Did you bring any games to play?"

"I brought some jacks," Anneliese took them out of a small bag she was holding.

"But I don‘t think we can play it on the train, while it is moving this fast. We might lose the ball."

"I brought a chalkboard and some chalk. We can play tic-tac-toe... but it is in the bag above us," I say looking up at the baggage department. I look over at Momma. She was talking to a man in the next seat over and I do not want to interrupt them.
According to the conversation, he is going to on the Titanic as well. I wonder how many people on this train are heading there?
I look over at Papa. He is playing a game of chess with a man across from him. I believe Papa is winning. Not sure, because I do not know how to play. I know I should not bother him, while he is playing.

I giggle to myself as I bounce in my seat. I look over at my sister the way she is bouncing back and forth also is funny, but now it is making me dizzy. I just hope I can sleep tonight, with the train moving the way it is.

a train similar to what Josephine was on in 1912

Date: Tuesday, The Ninth day of April 1912
Place: Berlin, German Empire
Time: 4:45

Somehow I had fallen asleep, and as we made it to Berlin early in the morning. Papa woke us up. We had to make it to another train, which was the one heading to Cherbourg, France.

"I‘m tired," I cry. I walked off the train with my family to another train.
We could not go on it right away. Before we can get on the train, Papa is stopped by a man where he started showing some papers and little booklets. I could see our pictures are on them. Next, they started looking in my bag. I wonder why?

"Why are they looking in my bag?" I ask.

"They are looking in all our bags." Momma said They are checking to make sure we are not bringing anything with us to another country that is illegal."

"What would we bring that‘s illegal?" I ask. I did not get an answer.

Finally, everything is finished. I walk on the train and again, I sit in the back.

"I wish we were in the front," I say looking at the other part of the train. "They looked prettier and not so old."

The train starts moving again. The train conductor did not come to check our tickets. I wonder why he did not come.
I look out the window at the big city. The sun started shining again once we left the station. It makes the city look even bigger. Like it never was night time. It is huge and full of people everywhere. Eventually, The train past all the tall buildings and I see lots of smaller buildings and houses and...

"Sheep and goats!" I cry with excitement.

"Nothing to write home about," a woman next to us said, she was knitting a sweater or something. I looked at her. If only she knew, we did not have a home to write back to.

Date: Tuesday, The Ninth day of April 1912
Place: Cherbourg, France
Time: 19:55

"Did we make it to Cherbourg?" I ask Mama.

"Yes we did," Momma said. "This would be your first time out of The German Union."

I am very excited and start to squeal. As we walk off the train, and out of the train station.
"It‘s raining!" I cry. I am not so fond of the rain and I can tell that Anneliese is not in the liking of it either.

"Since we got to our destination a day
early as planned," Momma explained, "your Papa and I will start looking for a place for us to stay for the night."

We roamed around the city in the rain. Every hotel was full and was not taking any more people.

"Let‘s head back to the train station for the night," Momma said. "It is our only option.

As we walked back into the station all cold and wet, I find a bench and sit down. Anneliese sits next to me and we cuddle, trying to stay warm.

"It is not much, but it will have to do," Momma explained.
I saw a rat run across the ground and almost screamed. No one saw it but me.

"I‘m cold," Anneliese cried.

"Me too," I also cried out. "And hungry".

As the night went on, we were able to get food. Papa got some food from a vendor. As we ate, people walked by us as if we were not even here.

Eventually, a few people starting noticing us, when Anneliese and I lied down on the bench. They were whispering to each other. It was a bit shocking to see that the whole conversation was about us. The train station was now getting really noisy with all the people's conversations. Momma and Papa were listening in on them as well.

Despite all the noise in the train station and after all of the long journey we had, Anneliese and I fell asleep, almost instantly.

Date: Wednesday, The Tenth day of April 1912
Place: Cherbourg, France
Time: 18:00

Throughout the day, we all stayed near the train station and the harbor. It was still raining out, but not as bad as the night before.

After a long day in Cherbourg, it was finally the time for Titanic to arrive. The ship is due to be here in thirty minutes. Before we could even do anything, my family and I all had to be inspected.
We had to be checked to make sure We all were in good health, and that we did not have any lice, fleas or anything else that is hazardous to anyone on board the ship. I became scared.

"I do not want them to see my boy parts," I cried to Momma.

"Do not worry," Momma patted me on my back. " They will not ask to see that area." I smiled and let them do their business.

They started inspected the baggage that we were carrying. I was used to people now looking through my bag. After we got the run through and the all clear, we were allowed to enter a ferry, which was the ship that would take us to the Titanic when she came in a few minutes.

"It‘s crowded," I looked around at all the people on the ferry. "There must be a hundred people on here."

Just then, I jumped out of my skin because a huge horn blew from behind me.

"Look, Josephine," Anneliese pointed out at the sea. I turned around and saw, with my amazement, the biggest ship I have ever seen in my life.

"TITANIC!" I screamed.

Titanic at Cherbourg Harbor