In 1904 the situation was this: Felix was mobilised in the army, the war with Japan had just begun, and the family had three children —Alejandro, aged seven, Meyer, aged five, and a baby, Eide, born in the last week of July that same year in Berdyansk.
Before leaving, Malke and Felix agreed that she would travel first with the children and that he would join her once he was discharged.
From Berdyansk to Bremen
Malke left Berdyansk in early August 1904 with the three children. They crossed southern Russia and central Europe to Germany, making for the port of Bremen. The journey was made by cart, and probably by train for some stretch. It is hard to imagine that journey: a thirty-year-old woman, alone, with two small boys and a baby a few weeks old, crossing half a continent.
The Borkum
In late October 1904 they sailed from Bremen on the Borkum, a medium-sized German-flagged steamer carrying both cargo and passengers. They travelled third class, housed in the ship’s hold, where the only comfort was a few bunks. Food was scarce and of doubtful quality; Eide, fortunately, was breastfed.
The ship crossed the Atlantic from east to west and from north to south, calling at Lisbon, the Canary Islands, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, and finally Montevideo. At each port cargo was loaded and unloaded and passengers disembarked. Fruit bought at the ports of call —plentiful and cheap— rounded out the meals of the older children.
- Berdyanskearly August 1904
- Bremenlate October 1904
- Lisbon
- Canary Islands
- Bahia
- Rio de Janeiro
- Montevideo
- Buenos Aires23 December 1904
A medium-sized German-flagged steamer carrying both cargo and passengers. Some records spell the name Borkhum.
23 December 1904
The ship docked in the port of Buenos Aires in the early hours of 23 December 1904. It was high summer, and Manuel Quintana was president of Argentina.
In that month’s immigration register, among the third-class passengers, they were entered as follows:
| Name in the register | Age |
|---|---|
| Malke or Molke Noel de Smud — Russian nationality | 30 |
| Alex — later Alejandro | 7 |
| Meyer — later Marcos | 5 |
| Eide — later Aida | 6 months |
The surname was written “Smud or Smod”. It is the first time it appears on an Argentine document, already in the form it would keep for good.
After customs, they were lodged in the Immigrants’ Hotel. Some time later the family was renting a room in a tenement house on Calle Azcuénaga, half a block from Rivadavia, in central Buenos Aires.
Felix arrives
In mid-1905 Felix landed in Buenos Aires and joined his family, just as he had promised his wife. To do so he had had to desert.