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- Benjamin Dunkelman fonds
- Level
- Fonds
- Fonds
- 2
- Material Format
- multiple media
- Date
- 1898, [192-?]-1997
- Physical Description
- 80 cm of textual records and other material
- Admin History/Bio
- Benjamin Dunkelman (1913-1997) was a successful businessman and President of Tip Top Tailors. He had a distinguished military career in both the Canadian army during the Second World War and in the Haganah during the 1948-1949 Arab-Israeli War.
- Dunkelman was born in Toronto to David Dunkelman (1883-1978) and Rose (nee Miller) (1889-1949). He had three sisters and two brothers: Joseph, a movie executive; Ernest, a manufacturer; Zelda; Veronica; and Theodora. His father, David, was a successful entrepreneur who established Tip Top Tailors in 1910. Both David and his wife Rose were fervent Zionist community activists.
- Benjamin Dunkelman attended Upper Canada College and, at the age of 18, visited Palestine (now Israel). While in Palestine, he worked for a year on a kibbutz, mostly as a guard protecting it from nearby Palestinians. During the Second World War, Dunkelman served as a Major in the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada and in that role gained respect for his knowledge of mortars. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1945 for his role in the final Allied assault on Germany. Two years later, Benjamin Dunkelman returned to Palestine to join the Haganah in the 1948-1949 Arab-Israeli War. As a commander, Dunkelman captured Nazareth, and brought northern Galilee under Jewish control. Near the end of the war, Dunkelman met and married Yael Lifshitz, a corporal in the Israeli Army. Dunkelman was elected National Commander of the Jewish War Veterans of Canada in 1977.
- In addition to his work as a soldier, Dunkelman was a successful businessman. He served as president of Tip Top Tailors after his father stepped down, and was also director of Colonial Finance Corporation, president of Cloverdale Shopping Centre and president of Renforth Developments. Besides operating the Dunkelman Gallery for modern art, Dunkelman and his wife Yael ran the Constellation Hotel and Dunkelman’s Restaurant.
- Dunkelman later wrote of his experiences in both wars in his autobiography Dual allegiance (MacMillan, 1976). As well as the DSO, Dunkelman was awarded the Fighter’s Decoration of the State of Israel (1970), and an Israel Bonds Award Dinner in Tribute to Ben Dunkelman (1977). He was a guest of honour both at a reception hosted by the Canadian Society for the Weizmann Institute of Science and the veterans of the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada (1976) and at a 7th Brigade Reunion in Israel (1991).
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of records documenting Benjamin Dunkelman's personal, business, and military activities. Included is personal and business correspondence and other records, maps, photographs, news clippings, and scrapbooks assembled by Dunkelman. The bulk of the records relate both to Dunkelman’s autobiography Dual allegiance and to his military career in the Second World War and in the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-1949. Other records relate to his business work with Tip Top Tailors, the Constellation Hotel, Dunkelman’s Restaurant and the Dunkelman Gallery, as well as to his Zionist actvities, his writing and public speeches, and his personal life.
- The fonds is organized into the following series: Personal records and correspondence, Zionist materials, Businesses, Second World War, Arab-Israeli War, Dual allegiance, and Speeches.
- Notes
- Physical description note: Includes 218 photographs, 60 maps, 7 postcards, 5 architectural drawings, and 3 albums.
- Associated material note: see the Ben Dunkelman fonds at Library and Archives Canada.
- Name Access
- Dunkelman, Benjamin, 1913-1997
- Subjects
- Authors
- Israel-Arab War, 1948-1949
- World War, 1939-1945
- Related Material
- See fonds #39 (Rose Dunkelman fonds).
- Creator
- Dunkelman, Benjamin, 1913-1997
- Accession Number
- 2000-3-4
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Series
- ID
- Fonds 2; Series 3
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Series
- Fonds
- 2
- Series
- 3
- Material Format
- textual record
- graphic material
- architectural drawing
- Date
- 1898, 1941-1988
- Physical Description
- 56 photographs and other material
- Admin History/Bio
- Ben Dunkelman’s involvement in business was wide-ranging. He served as president of Tip Top Tailors after his father and as president of Cloverdale Shopping Centre. Along with his wife, Yael, he also opened the Dunkelman Gallery for modern art and Dunkelman's restaurant.
- Scope and Content
- Series consists of photographs, correspondence, pamphlets and papers documenting Benjamin Dunkelman’s business activities. The files are organized into three sub-series: Tip-Top Tailors, Constellation Hotel, and Dunkelman Gallery.
- Notes
- Physical description: Includes 6 cm of textual records, 5 architectural drawings, and 1 postcard.
- Subjects
- Business
- Physical Condition
- Most photographs are warped.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Sub-series
- ID
- Fonds 2; Series 3-1
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- Sub-series
- Fonds
- 2
- Series
- 3-1
- Material Format
- textual record
- graphic material
- Date
- 1898, 1941-1988
- Physical Description
- 4 cm of textual records
- 16 photographs
- Admin History/Bio
- David Dunkelman, Benjamin's father, started Tip Top Tailors in Toronto in 1909, and by 1950 it had become a thriving business, with more than 1000 outlets across the country. During the 1930s, Ben had worked for the company, and following the Arab-Israeli War in 1948-49, he returned to Tip Top. He took over as company CEO in the 1950s until the company was sold to Dylex Ltd. in 1967.
- Scope and Content
- Sub-series consists of photographs, correspondence and clippings documenting David and Ben Dunkelman's involvement in the family firm, Tip Top Tailors.
- Name Access
- Tip Top Tailors
- Physical Condition
- Most photographs are warped.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- File
- ID
- Fonds 2; Series 3-1; File 10
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 2
- Series
- 3-1
- File
- 10
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1898-1988
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Scope and Content
- File consists of notes and documents Ben Dunkelman wrote or gathered to provide biographical information about David Dunkelman for a Zionist encyclopedia.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
Narrow By
- Abraham Levine family series 4
- Artifacts series 11
- Benjamin Brown fonds 2
- Benjamin Dunkelman fonds
- Betty Goldstick Lindgren fonds 6
- Bliss family series 2
- Business series 3
- Cantor Bernard Wladowsky fonds 1
- Carl and Dorothy Frankel photographs file 13
- Cass family series 3
- Central Region sous-fonds 1
- Conventions series 1
- Cowan family fonds 6
- David Vanek fonds 3
- Dorothy Dworkin fonds 3
- Dr. Isadore M. Cass fonds 1
- Ethel Mehr fonds 1
- Family photographs file 3
- Frankel and Draper family fonds 1
- Frankel and Draper family fonds 16
- Franklin family legal documents series 9
- Geldzaeler family series 6
- General community activities series 1
- Gilbert Studios fonds 3
- Gordon Melamed fonds 8
- Harris family series 5
- Henry Cassel fonds 1
- Ida Lewis Siegel fonds 13
- Isaac Matenko fonds 1
- J. Irving Oelbaum fonds 1
- John J. Glass fonds 9
- Julius P. Katz fonds 1
- Ladovsky family fonds 10
- Larry Becker collection 2
- Leo and Helena Frankel photographs file 2
- Levine and Cass family fonds 36
- Levine and Cass family fonds. 3
- Levy family series 3
- Life cycle and family events sub-series 3
- Lipa Green fonds 3
- Mark and Yetta Geldzaeler family sub-series 5
- Michael Levine family series 2
- Miscellaneous collection series 1
- Miscellaneous family members series 3
- Morris Norman collection 10
- Moses Levine family series 3
- National conventions sub-series 1
- National Council of Jewish Women of Canada fonds 6
- Patricia Joy Alpert fonds 1
- Personal records series 2
- Personal series 6
- Photo albums series 2
- Photographs file 16
- Rabbi Yehuda Leib Graubart fonds 1
- Rebecca Kamarner fonds 5
- Reference materials series 2
- Reference series 2
- Rose Dunkelman fonds 2
- Rose family series 2
- Rosenbes family series 2
- Sadie Stren fonds 3
- Salamansky family series 4
- Samuel Aaron and Rose Harris sub-series 2
- Samuel and Sarah Harris sub-series 2
- Samuels family series 2
- Sax family series 3
- Scheuer family fonds 3
- Segel family series 3
- Solomon Edell fonds 6
- Soskin family series 2
- Special events sub-series 1
- Subject files series 1
- The Shuls Project fonds 3
- Thelma Harris Rose Family fonds 20
- Tip Top Tailors sub-series 2
- Toronto Cloakmakers Union fonds 2
- Toronto Section archival material sub-series 4
- Toronto Section series 5
- Toronto Zionist Council sous-fonds 1
- Unidentified photographs series 1
- Weddings series 1
- Weiner family series 1
- Zionist Organization of Canada fonds 4