In the book Gitel’s Freedom, Rayzel brought her family to the US in 1911 on the ship SS Volturno. The voyage was smooth, albeit somewhat eventful for the family. At the time, the ship was owned by Canadian Royal Steamships Ltd., which traded as the Royal Line, and sailed between Rotterdam and Halifax, Canada. I’m saying the it was a “close call” because the ship caught fire in 1913 in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. While 11 other ships responded to the Volturno’s distress, about 135 women and children from the earliest launched lifeboats died.