Part Of
Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region fonds
General office subject and correspondence files series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 17; Series 2; File 1288
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region fonds
General office subject and correspondence files series
Level
File
Fonds
17
Series
2
File
1288
Material Format
textual record
Date
1996
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records
Access Restriction
Records in off-site storage; advance notice required to view.
Accession Number
2005-2-2
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Lipa Green fonds
Organizations series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 20; Series 3; File 2
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Lipa Green fonds
Organizations series
Level
File
Fonds
20
Series
3
File
2
Material Format
textual record
Date
1962-1965
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records
Scope and Content
File consists of newsletters and forms from Ateneo Literato, Buenos Aires.
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Ben Kayfetz fonds
Level
Fonds
ID
Fonds 62
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Ben Kayfetz fonds
Level
Fonds
Fonds
62
Material Format
multiple media
Date
1919-2001
Physical Description
93 cm of textual records and other material
Admin History/Bio
Benjamin Gershon Kayfetz was born on December 24, 1916 in Toronto, graduating from the University of Toronto in 1939, with a B.A. in modern languages. Between the years 1941 and 1943, he worked as a high school teacher in Huntsville and Niagara Falls. In 1943, he joined the war effort, working for the Department of National Defense in Postal Censorship and was responsible for reviewing prisoner of war mail. After the war, Kayfetz traveled to British Occupied Germany where he worked as a censor of telecommunications with the Control Commission until 1947.
Upon returning to Toronto, he was hired as the National Director of Community Relations by the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC), and as the Executive (National) Director of the Joint Community Relations Committee (JCRC), a CJC - B'nai B'rith cooperative organization. He also served as the Central Region Executive Director of the CJC between 1973 and 1978. During his tenure, he worked with various churches, unions and minority groups to develop anti-discrimination laws and for the protection of minority and religious rights. Kayfetz was also actively involved in promoting the welfare of Jewish Communities worldwide, and made visits to Cuba in 1962 and 1965, and Russia in 1985, to study and report on the state of these Jewish Communities. After his retirement in 1985, he was awarded the Samuel Bronfman Medal by the Canadian Jewish Congress. In recognition of his efforts to promote Human Rights, he was also awarded the Order of Canada in 1986.
In addition to his professional activities, Kayfetz wrote articles for various Jewish publications under both his own name and the pseudonym, Gershon B. Newman, and gave a weekly radio address on CHIN radio addressing various contemporary Jewish issues. He was also actively involved in the Toronto Jewish Historical Society (serving as its president), Canadian Jewish Historical Society and Yiddish Luncheon Circle. Ben Kayfetz died in 2002.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of materials produced or acquired by Ben Kayfetz in both his personal and professional capacity. It includes biographical materials, minutes, correspondence, recorded CJC and JCRC meetings, memorabilia, transcripts and recorded versions of CHIN radio broadcasts he delivered, as well as various interviews, speeches, articles, book reviews and works he composed. Fonds also consists of minutes, agendas and other records of various Yiddish and historical associations Mr. Kayfetz was involved in.
Notes
Physical Description note: includes 20 photographs, 107 audio cassettes, 1 Beta video cassette and 1 object.
Fonds includes audio tapes 1-5, 7-32, 35-37, 39-42, 44-45, 47-50, 53-56, 58-64, 66-67, 70-85, A1-A5, A7-A9, A12-A14, A16-A20, A23-A28, A30, A32-A38 and A40-A43.
Name Access
Kayfetz, Ben, 1916-2002
Access Restriction
Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA director prior to accessing some of the records.
Related Material
Audio tapes AC 246-AC 275 belonged to Ben Kayfetz and are related to this fonds.
Creator
Kayfetz, Ben, 1916-2002
Accession Number
1975-012, 1976-10-4, 1980-12-13, 1982-2-2, 1983-6-2, 1985-4-2, 1987-2-3, 1996-5-4, 1998-3-22, 2000-11-4, 2004-3-1, 2004-5-20, 2006-2-9, 2006-8-4
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Ben Kayfetz fonds
Collected materials series
Level
Series
ID
Fonds 62; Series 3
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Ben Kayfetz fonds
Collected materials series
Level
Series
Fonds
62
Series
3
Material Format
textual record
graphic material
object
Date
1919-1970
Physical Description
11 cm of textual records
18 photographs
1 object
Scope and Content
Series consists of various materials collected by Ben Kayfetz. It includes various items from Nazi Germany including a Jewish yellow star and number on a badge, Nazi hymn book and a service book of a Nazi Stormtrooper. Among the other materials are photographs of the Bronfman family, World War II enlistment posters, Peretz School Composition books and Jewish Old Folks Home Committee minutes.
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Ben Kayfetz fonds
Collected materials series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 62; Series 3; File 2
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Ben Kayfetz fonds
Collected materials series
Level
File
Fonds
62
Series
3
File
2
Material Format
textual record
Date
1962
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Level
Fonds
ID
Fonds 51
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Philip Givens fonds
Level
Fonds
Fonds
51
Material Format
multiple media
Date
[192-]-1990
Physical Description
1.35 metres of textual records (20 vols.) and other material
Admin History/Bio
Philip (Phil) Gerald Givens, QC, (1922–1995) was a Canadian politician, judge, police commissioner, and active Jewish communal leader. He is is largely remembered as the fifty-fourth mayor of Toronto.
Phil Givens was born in Toronto, the only son of Hyman and Mary Gevertz (Gewercz). As a youth, he attended Harbord Collegiate and graduated from the University of Toronto in political science and economics in 1945. In 1947, he married the former Minnie “Min” Rubin. They had two children together: Eleanor and Michael.
Givens graduated as a lawyer from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1949; however, shortly thereafter, he decided to enter politics, running as a municipal school board trustee in 1950. In 1951, he was elected as alderman for Ward 5, serving in this capacity until 1960, when he was subsequently elected as a controller.
Givens was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1962.
Following the sudden death of Mayor David Summerville in 1963, Givens was appointed by City Council as the mayor of Toronto and was officially elected to the position in 1964, winning a close race against Allan Lamport. As mayor, Givens was automatically a member of the Metropolitan Toronto Executive and Council, the Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission, the Consumer’s Gas Company Executive, the Toronto Hydro Commission and the governing boards of Toronto’s major hospitals.
Givens was publicly seen as an affable and populist mayor, but his tenure was not without controversy. His support for the construction of the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts and his decision to acquire Henry Moore’s bronze sculpture The Archer for the new Nathan Phillips Square were both highly controversial during his term in office. In particular, the Moore sculpture sparked intense controversy and public debate amongst council members and citizens alike, because traditional and representational public art pieces were the norm in Toronto at the time and The Archer sculpture was considered expensive, bold, and unrelatable. The controversy surrounding the statue’s purchase was still partly to blame for Givens’ 1966 election defeat to William Dennison. Ultimately, the sculpture was purchased with privately solicited donations and has become one of Toronto’s beloved and recognized landmarks.
Givens ran for the House of Commons of Canada in the 1957 and 1958 federal elections but was defeated in his bid to become member of Parliament for Spadina. In 1967, Givens entered national politics for the second time, winning a seat as a Liberal in Toronto’s York West riding. In 1971, he stepped down before the end of his term to campaign for a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Again, running under the Liberal banner, Givens won his seat in York-Forest Hill. In the 1975 provincial election, he was re-elected as a member of Provincial Parliament in the Armourdale constituency.
In 1977, Givens retired from politics and was appointed as a provincial court judge and chair of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission, serving in both capacities until 1985, when he left the Commission but continued in the judiciary as a civil trial judge until officially retired from public life in 1988.
In addition to his political career, Givens also worked briefly as a current affairs commentator for local radio broadcaster CHUM 1050 AM.
Givens was an ardent Zionist and a prominent leader of several Jewish communal organizations. He was the founder and first president of the Upper Canada Lodge of B’nai Brith and sat on the executives of the Canadian Jewish Congress, the United Jewish Welfare Fund, the Talmud Torah Eitz Chaim, the Zionist Organization of Canada, the Toronto Zionist Council, Jewish National Fund, State of Israel Bonds, and the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care. He was chair of the United Israel Appeal-Israel Emergency Fund in 1967 and the United Jewish Appeal-Israel Special Fund in 1968. From 1973 to 1985, he was the national president of the Canadian Zionist Federation. In the 1990s, he served as the national chairman of the Committee for Yiddish of the Canadian Jewish Congress.
Givens was the honouree of the Jewish National Fund’s Negev Dinner in 1968. He received the Human Relations Award from the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews in 1969 and the Award of Honour from the Toronto Regional Council of B’nai Brith in 1972.
Givens was also known to be a passionate sailor and was a member of both the Royal Canadian and the Island Yacht Clubs in Toronto.
Custodial History
The records were in the possession of Phil Givens until they were donated to the Archives in September 1990 by his wife.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of records documenting the personal, professional and communal activities of Phil Givens. The bulk of the material is graphic and most of the photographs relate to his tenure as Mayor of Toronto and to his Jewish communal work. The records also include general correspondence, speeches, campaign material, scrapbooks, cartoons, certificates and awards, biographical writings, audio and visual materials and artifacts. The records have been arranged into nine series representing Givens’ various roles and activities and have been described to the file level and item level when necessary. These series are: 1. Personal life; 2. City of Toronto Alderman; 3. City of Toronto Controller; 4. City of Toronto Mayor; 5. Metropolitan Toronto Police Commissioner; 6. Provincial politics; 7. National politics; 8. Legal career; 9. Jewish communal service.
Notes
Physical Description Note: Includes ca. 915 photographs, 14 drawings, 1 print, 1 presentation piece, 27 objects, 4 DVD’s, 4 videocassettes and 1 audiocassette.
Physical Extent Note: Fonds was reduced from 5.5 m of records to 2.6 m of records. Please see accession record for further details regarding the records that were culled.
General Note: Previously cited as MG6 B
Associated material note: City of Toronto Archives: “Philip Givens fonds” (fonds 1301) and Series 363, Sub-series 2 “Mayor' Office journals” (fonds 200). Library and Archives Canada: “Correspondence and subjects” series (R4942-1-1-E) in the Stuart E. Rosenberg fonds (R4942-0-X-E); Henry S. Rosenberg fonds (R3946-0-9-E); Jewish National Fund of Canada fonds (R4347-0-1-E), “Subject series: Givens, Judge Philip G. – Toronto” (R4347-7-4-E); “Correspondence, memoranda, minutes, reports” series (MG31-H67), Zdzislaw Przygoda fonds (R6257-0-0-E) [Sir Casimir Gzowski monument committee records –chaired by Phil Givens]; B'nai Brith Canada fonds (R6348-0-9-E); Canadian Zionist Federation fonds (R9377-0-6-E).
Name Access
Givens, Phillip, 1922-1995
Givens (nee Rubin), Min
Subjects
Law
Politicians
Related Material
See Fonds 2: Benjamin Dunkelman fonds
See Fonds 18: Gordon Mendly fonds
See Fonds 28: Zionist Organization of Canada fonds
See Fonds 37: Gilbert Studios fonds (Negev dinners series, Zionist Building series, Portraits series).
Creator
Givens, Philip, 1922-1995
Accession Number
1990-9-7
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Henry Weingluck fonds
Level
Fonds
ID
Fonds 44
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Henry Weingluck fonds
Level
Fonds
Fonds
44
Material Format
multiple media
Date
[ca. 1939]-1985
Physical Description
60 cm of textual records and other material
Admin History/Bio
Henry Weingluck (1902-1987) was an artist and Toronto art gallery owner, who immigrated to Canada in 1948 after being imprisoned in concentration camps in France during the Second World War. Weingluck was born in Zawiercie, Poland on May 7th, 1902, to an Orthodox Jewish family. He was the son of Alter Weingluck, a footwear designer. He studied at art academies in Crakow, Copenhagen, and Berlin and was a pupil of Professor Max Lieberman, president of Berlin's Academy of Arts prior to the Nazi takeover of Germany. Weingluck often depicted Jewish themes in his paintings, in a style he called "academic impressionism." He exhibited in Paris with Kandinsky and Chagall, as well as at the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Jewish Museum, Berlin. He painted portraits of such prominent figures as Albert Einstein, Max Schmelin, Yehudi Menuhin, and Chaim Weizmann.
From 1933 to 1942, Weingluck lived in France and, during the Nazi occupation of France, was imprisoned in eight concentration camps from 1942 to 1945. The Nazis made use of his artistic talent as a barracks designer and portraitist. During this time, the Germans confiscated 375 of his paintings. After the war, Weingluck moved to Tangiers, Morocco, and then emigrated to Canada to join his brother in Toronto. Henry opened H. W. Art Gallery, at 665 College Street, around 1948, and then Weingluck's Art Gallery and Gift Shoppe at 623 College Street, in the 1950s. In 1950, he married his wife Rae (née Simon) Weingluck (1904-1987), whom he met in Canada. Henry died in Toronto in 1987.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of material related to the personal life and artistic career of Henry Weingluck. The records pertain to the following: his experiences during the war and in the work camp at Beaulieu, France; his emigration to Canada; his restitution claims for artworks confiscated by the Nazis; his exhibitions; and his art gallery on College Street in Toronto. These records include personal and professional correspondence, certificates, photographs, newspaper clippings, personal writings, publications, programmes, exhibition catalogues, designs and sketches, and artifacts.
Notes
Physical description note: includes 30 photographs, 1 audio cassette, 22 designs and sketches, and 16 objects.
Associated material note: the Canadian Jewish Congress National Archives (Montreal) has a collection of paintings and other records of Henry Weingluck.
Name Access
Weingluck, Henry, 1902-1987
Subjects
Artists
Physical Condition
Some of the records are in fragile condition.
Related Material
See also the Ontario Jewish Archives' news clippings file under "Weingluck, Henry"
Creator
Weingluck, Henry, 1902-1987
Accession Number
1988-2-11
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region fonds
Community Relations Committee series
Research Records sub-series
Civil and Human Rights Legislation sub-sub-series
Level
File
Fonds
17
Series
5-4-1
File
12
Material Format
textual record
Date
1950
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records
Scope and Content
File consists of correspondence, newspaper clippings and a statement by Rabbi A.L. Feinberg regarding the Forest Hill Village Board of Education's experimental project to segregate Jewish and non-Jewish students.
Notes
Previously processed and cited as part of MG8 S.
Subjects
Human rights
Source
Archival Descriptions