Hilānah Al-Ba’qlini was a child passenger on the Titanic.
Background[]
Hilānah was born in a Syrian family in the village of Al Shwayr, which later became part of the Lebanon, but back then it was part of the Ottoman Empire. She was delivered in 1911 on July 12. Her father was a christian Turk, named Sulayman Al-Ba’qlini, who worked as a pharmacist. Her mother was Laţīfah al-Haj Qurbān, married to Sulayman in 1888. Hilānah had two elder sisters. The eldest was Mārīyā and had arrived in 1906. The other was Ūwjīnīyā, born in 1908.
Hilānah had been born without her father being present. In 1908 or 1909, he took a voyage to America to emigrate as he still felt unsafe with the situation of Turkey as he feared he could be prosecuted for his different beliefs. Money was not part of the problem as the family did well financially. With his decision, he planned out his route with a neighbour. Although they wanted to be in New York, their travels led them to San Cristóbal, Venezuela first. In 1910, they set foot on US soil, arriving in New York.
His work was done in 1912 and the money was there to bring the wife and children to his ready home in New York. His neighbour, Najīb Mansūr Qiyāmah had quickly sent a letter to Laţīfah to ask her if she would take Adāl, his daughter, with them. She had to be married in the USA and Latifah agreed to be her chapperone as Adāl was still young.
The group of five was on a journey to Beirut with carriage and horses. From there, a ship would take them to France. In France they had to take another voyage to get to America. Once they were in the South of France, they had a delay that meant they would go another ship. The cause was a check-up on the girls’ health in Marseilles. They found out that Mārīyā had pink-eye. Without a cure, they would not be allowed to go further. From the South of France, they had to go to Cherbourg. But they could only wait.
Titanic[]
On April 10, in the evening, their ship was ready for them. It was the mighty-looking Titanic, the largest steamer at the time. They embarked in Third Class. Hilānah, Ūwjīnīyā, Mārīyā, her mother and Adāl all shared a cabin.
On April 14, at night, the fate of the big liner would change forever. What had been an effortless Atlantic Crossing so far, turned into a nightmare. The lookouts suddenly spotted an iceberg which became bigger fast as she was only half a mile away. The ship turned to port and was moved into reverse but it could’t prevent a collision from happening. On the starboard side, the Titanic glided against the berg which left small gashes leading the seawater into her hull. The impact was felt by Adāl and Laţīfah. They didn’t know what was wrong at first.
On April 15, the situation had become clear to the ship’s master. This ship would founder soon. He ordered for evacuation. The two Syrian women had noticed too that something didn’t feel right and started to get the young ones ready to move up. They carried and dragged the children all the way up to the Boat Deck. It was very late by the time they got there but there were still lifeboats. It is most likely Adāl was lost in the crowd and they weren’t together in the same lifeboat, but the entire group was saved in the end. It was deemed to have been Collapsible C that took the Al-Ba’qlinis. At 2:20 A.M, the Titanic went under. Many passengers died that night, she was only 9 months old.
After the sinking[]
The RMS Carpathia came to their aid and was at Titanic’s given position at 4:00 A.M. She picked up the lifeboats with their occupants and took them aboard. Having done this all morning, she had turned round for New York. Hilānah, Adāl and the rest were together at least and one of only few Third Class families that survived as a complete group.
The ship docked at their destination on the 18th of April. As Hilānah’s father was unaware of the tragedy that his family had escaped, while he was not home in New York, they were awaited in Brooklyn by Adāl’s father Najīb.
Later life[]
The family changed their names in America to make them sound English and assimilate. Hilānah now went by the name of Helene Barbara Baclini. In August, she lost her sister Ūwjīnīyā, now named Eugenie, to a brain disease.
In 1913 and 1914, two other siblings were born into the family. The Baclini’s had their only son: David. He was followed by Isabel the next year.
Having grown up, Helene worked at a department store, like her elder sister Marie. Helene was the buyer. Perhaps they worked together at the same place but there’s not enough detail on that. She had no spouse during the early 1930s until she met Albert Mueller, who was from German origin. He was a laborer. They had their wedding on November 17, 1935. On August 25, 1936, they had their only child, a daughter named Carol Helen. They lived their remaining lives in Brooklyn, New York.
In 1938 she needed surgery to do something about her breast cancer, but it was to no avail. In 1939, on April 28, Helene Barbara Bachlini passed away. Helene was only 27 years old. Marie became 75 years old and Helene’s widowed husband also lived long after her passing. He left the earth in 1994. Their daughter lived on until 2004.