Husayn Mahmūd Husayn Ibrāhīm was a young passenger on Titanic.
Early life[]
Husayn Mahmūd Husayn Ibrāhīm was the son of Farīda Ibrāhīm. He was born in the in the small mountain village of Shānā, Lebanon in 1901, back then a part of Syria.
In 1910, a family friend of the Ibrāhīms, Nasīf Qāsim Abī-Al-Munà, paid a visit to his hometown Shānā. He was by now a naturalised American and had much success with his business in the large country overseas. Nasīf ignited a spark in his 18 year old nephew Farīd Husayn Qāsim Al-Munà and Husayns mother Farīda Ibrāhīm with his .The American Dream beckoned them. In 1912, it was time for Nasīf to leave again. His business was waiting for him. This time, he would take Farīd, Farīda and her son with him so they could have a taste of the life in the promising country in the far west.
On a late March morning, the group left on a horse-drawn gharry to Bayrūt where they boarded a ship that would take them all the way across the Mediterranean Sea to Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. There, a problem occured. Farīda didn’t make it through the typical inspection that foreigners had to undergo when entering the country. She had trachoma, a contagious bacterial eye infection. The customs officers forced her to get back to Bayrūt on the first ship that would arrive to port, separating her from her son Husayn.
He could not stop crying as he had to leave his dear mother behind. He now had to rely on the care of Nasīf and Farīd.
His caretaker asked for the earliest ship to leave for America as soon as they were in Marseille. A Frenchman knew such a ship, that would start her Maiden Voyage soon in England. Having no other options, Husayn and his relatives took a train to Paris. From there, another train brought them to the harbor of Cherbourg. A tender was waiting for them, named SS Traffic. This small vessel was needed to transport the passengers to the large steamer as she was too large to come closer to the shallow waters.
Titanic[]
From here on, the awesome sight of Titanic, getting bigger must have awe-struck young Husayn as they got closer. It was the late evening of April 10. He and his other family members would board the ship in Third Class. Husayn was 11 years old. Their cabin would be next to all kinds of passengers from different cultures, in the aft part of the ship. Farīd would have a cabin in the bow of the ship.
On the night of April 14, a collision occured, as Titanic couldn’t sway clear of an iceberg in time. This berg caused a lot of damage to the Titanic’s hull on starboard side. She had merely scratched it but small holes appeared and she was taking on water.
Nasīf felt the hit and many passengers around him as well. They were sleeping first but now all stormed out of their cabins. They were held back by the gates. Nasīf and the boy made it to the Boat Deck very late. Farīd had come on deck as well.
The end of Titanic came at 2:20 A.M. The ship broke in two and sank, leaving many passengers to the mercy of the very cold waters.
Husayn was lost in the sinking. It is likely that Nasīf lost him in the crowd, but he was saved in lifeboat 15. Farīd perished that night as well.