Hello Dave, Linda and John, Many thanks to all who answered my question. I learned a lot from them. regards Brigitte Wolf "Dave Dreyer" <[email protected]> schrieb: > Brigitte, > Up until 1952 immigrants to the U. S. were required to pay a head tax. The > tax was 50 cents which doesn't sound like much these days. Normally, for > most immigrants this was included in the price of the ticket. Tourists and > those in transit had to pay the tax but it was refunded when they departed. > Kids under the age of 16 did not have to pay the tax, probably leading many > to understate the age of some of their kids. > The abbreviation USC stands for U. S. Citizen. > I am uncertain of meaning for the remaining abbreviations. In this time > period almost all the immigrates to the U. S. were DPs. As a result most > were stateless----perhaps CWS was Citizens without [a} state and then NCWS a > Noncitizen without [a] state. I do not find this explanation very > compelling. > Obviously, almost all DPs did not have the financial means to pay for > passage to America. After the end of the war many organizations sprang up > to pay for passage. Some of these were church, ethnic and civic > organizations, some were sponsored by relatives already here in the UP S., > some by international organizations(perhaps the Red Cross and the > International Refugee Organization). In the period immediately after the > war it took some time for normal commercial transatlantic passenger ship to > resume. Many DPs were transported in U. S. Army troop transports and as > such could be mixed sometimes with U. S. Army personal returning to the U. > S. > Dave Dreyer > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Brigitte Wolf" <[email protected]> > To: "Mailingliste Banat-L" <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, February 10, 2014 9:02 AM > Subject: [BANAT-L] abbreviations in ship lists > > > > Dear friends of this list, > > > > in the ship's list and the flight list of new york in the aftermath of WW2 > > I find shortcuts USC, TAS, NCWS, CWS. Does anyone know the meaning? > > The associated text reads: This column for use of the master, surgeon, and > > U.S. officers. > > The words "Head Tax excempt" and "Head tax collected" I can understand. > > Does anyone know the background of this tax? > > The associated text reads: This column for use of the master, surgeon, and > > U.S. officers. > > Does anyone know the background of this tax? I have found that refugees > > and stateless persons were exempt from this tax. Then who pays for the > > cost of the crossing? > > > > I'm happy about every hint. > > Greetings from Berlin/Germany > > Brigitte Wolf > > > > -- > > [email protected] > > Ortsgeschichte und Familien von Sekitsch / Village history and families > > from Sekitsch: > > http://www.sekitsch.de > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > > in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > -- [email protected] Ortsgeschichte und Familien von Sekitsch / Village history and families from Sekitsch: http://www.sekitsch.de