Part Of

William Stern fonds

Toronto Jewish community photographs series

Level

Item

Fonds

33

Series

4

Item

20

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[ca. 1970]

Physical Description

2 photographs : b&w (1 negative) ; 18 x 13 cm and 10 x 12 cm

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 and is survived by his wife Eva.

Scope and Content

This item is a portrait of Ben Kayfetz.

Name Access

Kayfetz, Benjamin, 1916-2002

Subjects

Portraits

Repro Restriction

Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Accession Number

2004-5-96

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

William Stern fonds

Toronto Jewish community photographs series

Level

Item

Fonds

33

Series

4

Item

18

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[ca. 1959]

Physical Description

1 photograph : b&w ; 26 x 21 cm

Admin History/Bio

Emil Gartner (1914-1960) was born in Vienna in 1914 and came to Canada in 1938, just before the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1939, he became the conductor of the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir. He is considered by many to be the most influential and dynamic conductor in the choir's history. Under his leadership, the choir became more accomplished and increased in size. As a result, its repertoire increased considerably to include Canadian folk songs, and eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth-century works, in addition to the Yiddish and Hebrew folk songs and operettas that they had performed in the past. During Gartner's tenure the choir also performed with many world-renowned guests and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra often assisted the choir. Fagel Freeman Gartner, the director's wife, was the choir's accompanist.

Gartner was also a faculty member at the Hamburg Conservatory of Music in Toronto and remained conductor of the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir until 1959, a year before his sudden death in an automobile crash in 1960.

Scope and Content

This item is a portrait of Emil Gartner, former conductor of the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir.

Subjects

Immigrants--Canada

Musicians

Portraits

Repro Restriction

Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Accession Number

2004-5-96

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

William Stern fonds

Toronto Jewish community photographs series

Level

Item

Fonds

33

Series

4

Item

9

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[ca. 1936]

Physical Description

2 photographs : b&w (1 negative) ; 14 x 13 cm and 10 x 12 cm

Admin History/Bio

Both Joseph B. Salsberg and Bill's father, Moishe Stern, were from Lagov, Poland.

Scope and Content

This item is a photograph of Joseph B. Salsberg and his wife, Dora Wilenksy. They are both seated in a chair.

Name Access

Salsberg, J. B.,1902-1998

Wilensky, Dora, 1902-1959

Subjects

Married people

Portraits

Repro Restriction

Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.

Accession Number

1991-5-6

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

William Stern fonds

Military photographs series

Level

Series

Fonds

33

Series

2

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1942-[195-?]

Physical Description

28 photographs : b&w (6 negatives) 26 x 21 cm or smaller

Admin History/Bio

Bill Stern enlisted in the Royal Canadian Airforce at the start of the Second World War, at the age of eighteen. He set out for Enlgand via Halifax, in 1942, and saw combat in France, Belgium and Germany as a Leading Aircraftsman.

Scope and Content

This series consists of photographs of Bill Stern and his fellow servicemen, taken during the Second World War. Most of the photographs were taken overseas, however there are a few of Bill, his brother Max, and his parents Moishe and Fanny Stern, which were taken in Toronto, and one of a fellow soldier taken after the war.

The photographs have been arranged chronologically and are described at the item level.

Name Access

Canada. Royal Canadian Air Force

Subjects

Portraits

Accession Number

1980-2-1

2004-5-96

2006-2-8

Source

Archival Descriptions