Name

Alex Enchin

Number

OH 118

Subject

Businessmen

Synagogues

Interview Date

Jul. 1977

Quantity

1 cassette (1 copy)

1 WAV file

Interviewer

David Enchin

Total Running Time

31.20 minutes

Conservation

Copied August 2003

Digitized in June 2014

Use Restrictions

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

Biography

Alex Enchin emigrated from Russia to Guelph, Ontario, in 1912. Enchin was one of Guelph's earliest Jewish settlers and an active member of the Jewish community. His son, David, ran two businesses, the Arcade and the House of David, both located in downtown Guelph.

Material Format

sound recording

Language

English

Geographic Access

Guelph (Ont.)

Original Format

Audio cassette

Copy Format

Audio cassette

Digital file

Transcript

G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 118 - Enchin\OH118_Log.pdf

Source

Oral Histories

Name

Rose Kaplan

Number

OH 211

Subject

Zionism

Communism

Reform Judaism

Interview Date

4 Aug. 1986

Quantity

2 (1copy)

2 WAV files

Total Running Time

53 min.

Conservation

Copied to cassette August 2003

Digitized January 2015

Notes

Participants in the discussion are not clearly identified.

Use Restrictions

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

Biography

Rose and Julius Kaplan were married in a Reform synagogue in 1924. They lived in Dundas, Ontario, where Julius ran a ladies' wear business. They were both members of a large extended family living in Dundas, Ontario; Hamilton, Ontario; and Guelph, Ontario. Rose passed away of a tumor.

Material Format

sound recording

Geographic Access

Hamilton (Ont.)

Guelph (Ont.)

Original Format

Audio cassette

Copy Format

Audio cassette

Digital file

Transcript

Side One: A – female main interviewee (Ida’s niece), B- female, secondary participant (Rose?, Ida’s granddaughter, Millie’s daughter), C – male, secondary participant 00:25: Discusses B?’s mother, Millie’s childhood. Born in 1912. Had two brothers, Julius and Oscar. The family lived above a furniture store on a main street in Dundas, Ontario. Store sold general merchandise and furniture. 1:05: Discussion about photos and their location. Mentions that Julius has photos. 3:29: A’s father moved to St. Catharines and later to London. 3:40: Lou and Jenny Levine lived in St. Catharines and later Niagara Falls. Families would get together for family occasions, not Jewish holidays. 4:32: A’s parents were Max and Sophie. Adele was born in 1934, after Harry’s death. 4:55: A reminisces about family get-togethers. 5:55: Harry had a successful ladies wear store. Julius joined the business. 6:14: Harry bought a large home in Dundas, Ontario. A describes the grandeur and mentions servants. A mentions that Rose has a picture of the mansion. 8:00: Rose and Julius were married in 1924. 8:33: B is Millie’s daughter. Millie liked “the good life.” A discusses Millie’s relationship with her brothers. 9:58: Both Oscar and Julius were musical. Oscar played piano and Julius played violin. 10:43: A reports that the family (Harry and Ida) was not involved with the synagogue and felt isolated from Jewish society. 12:06: Harry and Ida joined a Reform temple in Hamilton (with services held on Sunday). 13:20: Rose and Julius were married in the Reform synagogue. 13:56: Rose’s family (Stoller) was more traditional and later became involved in a Conservative synagogue in London. 14:33: Oscar was never involved in religion but was involved with Jewish Congress. 15:00: Reminisce about Millie. Millie married Dave at age twenty-four. She ran the household and raised two children. Millie’s daughter was born in 1943. 18:00: Millie was devoted to her mother. Her mother died from cancer. 18:34: A discusses Ida and Harry’s marriage. 19:18:Oscar was married to Eva. 20:33: Ida, Millie and Nathan – all family members with hearing loss. 24:00: Henry, Harry’s brother, lived in Guelph. Harry also had a sister who lived in the United States. 25:17: Henry had two daughters, Celia and ? 26:32: Max went to Guelph when he came from Europe. He worked with Henry. A’s brother was born in Guelph. 28:17: A lists members of the family: Ida, Max, Nathan, Molly and Gertrude. Gertrude, who had Communist leanings, moved to a commune in Petaluna, California. Later, Gertrude moved to Israel, where she died of a heart ailment. Side Two: Side 2 focuses on a discussion of the family tree involving three-to-four individuals. 00:06: The family was anti-Zionist, but after the Holocaust views changed. Gertrude moved to Israel in the late 1950s. 1:38: Ida’s (B’s grandmother) siblings were Nathan, Molly (Carson), Gertrude, Max, Rose (died from a tumor), Chana, another sister(?Motla remained in Poland whose last name was Frank List and discusses the offspring of the siblings: Nathan’s children, Molly’s children, Chana’s daughters (Jenny Levine and Genia and Genia’s children) and grandchildren who lived in Israel, Frank family children 9:50: The Frank brothers went to Palestine in the 1930s. The family that remained in Poland were exterminated during the war. 10:29: Genia’s son, Elisha, survived the war in Russia and Genia’s daughter, Raya escaped to Sweden. Elisha and Raya independently went to Israel after the war. 13:24: The participants discuss the family members in California. Nathan’s family. Eugene married with daughter, Leah, married with two children, Jackie and ?, Lou married to Edith with 2 children, Trudy (joined a cult), Greg married twice, David married with 2 daughters, Ellen Berg and Jamie 19:35: Chana’s daughter, Jenny, was the only family member who came to Canada. The rest of the family died during the war. Jenny had two children, Harold Levine and Adele (Berg). 20:21: Max had two children, Leo and A. Discuss Leo’s family. Leo was married to Molly with daughter, Susie (married with two children) and Dick (married with two children). 21:35: A is married with three sons, ?, Bob, and Dave.

Source

Oral Histories

Name

Colleen "Chips" Klein and Paul Klein

Number

OH 444

Subject

Canada--Emigration and immigration

Jews--South Africa

South Africa--Emigration and immigration

Interview Date

13 Mar. 2017

Interviewer

Lisa Newman

Total Running Time

OH 444 part 1: 7 min.

OH 444 part 2: 7 min.

OH 444 part 3: 37 min.

OH 444 part 4: 2 min.

Biography

Although they both grew up in Jewish neighbourhoods, Chips and Paul met for the first time at Margate, a decidedly non-Jewish seaside resort on South Africa’s southern coast. Chips’ grandmother, who was with Chips at the time, scouted the area for Jewish men, which is when she spotted Paul. Convinced the two were bashert, she indulged in a little matchmaking, with the result that Paul phoned Chips when he returned home. While they did break up at one point, Chips’ grandmother’s judgment was vindicated when the two married at Cyrildene Shul in Johannesburg a few years later.

When their children were three and five years old, the couple made the decision to immigrate to Canada. Paul, an engineer by training, was transferred to Guelph. There, the family joined the local synagogue and enrolled their children in public education. It was while living in Guelph that Chips and Paul became involved in work combating antisemitism. Growing up in Jewish communities, neither had encountered much antisemitism, but living in a small town they were forced to come to terms with being different.

Once their children were grown up, Chips and Paul moved to Toronto, purchasing a house in Thornhill in order to be close to the South African community. Both Chips and Paul are involved in Jewish education through their local synagogue and remain active in a variety of sports. In addition to their faith, sport is one of the ways they stay in touch with their grandchildren, which is why Chips says, “As long as we’re able, we’re going to keep doing it.”

Material Format

moving images

Language

English

Name Access

Klein, Colleen

Klein, Paul

Geographic Access

Guelph (Ont.)

Johannesburg (South Africa)

Thornhill (Ont.)

Toronto (Ont.)

Original Format

Digital file

Copy Format

Digital file

Transcript

Part 1:

00:00 Chips discusses the areas in Johannesburg where she was born and raised.

01:30 Chips discusses her education. She attended King David School. She notes that her parents may have been founding members of King David.

02:37 Chips discusses her career in dance as a dancer and as a teacher in her own dance school.

05:22 Chips describes growing up in South Africa. She discusses her family's warm relationship with their servants.

06:20 Chips mentions her own political involvement as a teenager in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She explains why and her husband decided to leave South Africa.

Part 2:

00:00 Paul discusses his parents' arrival to South Africa. His father fled from Berlin in 1937. His mother fled from Frankfurt, Germany in 1936. His father served in the British army during the war.

01:34 Paul explains why his father did not join a synagogue. Paul did not have a bar mitzvah. He recounts an incident that he attributes to his connection to Judaism.

02:55 Paul explains that having Jewish friends only became an issue for him when he started dating.

03:20 Paul explains that his father's fellow workers were secular German Jews.

03:40 Paul discusses his limited Jew upbringing. He discusses how and why he started to learn about and practice Judaism.

05:02 Paul has one sister living in Montreal. He discusses other relatives, some of whom survived the Holocaust.

06:30 Paul discusses how he met Chips.

Part 3:

00:00 Chips discusses how she met Paul.

00:48 Chips and Paul describe how they reconnected with Chips when Paul graduated from engineering.

03:49 Paul discusses their early marriage. He explains the factors that contributed to his decision to leave South Africa and immigrate to Canada. He expresses satisfaction with their decision to come to Canada.

05:25 Chips notes their children's positive comments about growing up and living in Canada.

05:56 Paul discusses his professional career.

07:30 Chips discusses their friends' and relatives' reactions to their decision to leave South Africa. They left in 1975. Chips' and Paul's parents immigrated to Canada around 1981.

09:18 Paul describes his parents' reaction to their decision to emigrate.

10:14 Chips discusses her parents' comments about leaving South Africa.

10:49 Chips and Paul discuss their return visits to South Africa. Chips describes her children's impressions of South Africa.

12:45 Chips discusses their early time in Canada. They first came to Guelph. She discusses establishing a Jewish home/environment for their children.

13:42 Paul recounts antisemitic incidents while living in Guelph.

15:20 Paul discusses their involvement with a program out of Lipa Green focused on assisting small Jewish communities. He comments on the program's success. Paul served as vice-chair.

16:50 Paul discusses the impact of the program on his children. He describes their strong connection to Israel.

17:37 Chips and Paul explain the program and how it was implemented.

18:46 Paul discusses his involvement with the synagogue in Guelph and in Toronto.

20:39 Paul explains why they decided to move to Thornhill in 1991. They belong to a synagogue on Green Lane.

21:33 Paul explains that the company he worked for in South Africa transferred him to Canada.

22:32 Chips discusses her community involvement including participation in Hadassah-WIZO and participation in the synagogue.

23:26 Chips discusses the creation of a business. She discusses her involvement in a women's inventors project. Chips mentions that she and Paul run a business together.

25:47 Chips describes her involvement in the development of a book to assist women with the patenting and marketing of products. She describes a federal government initiative that she was involved in to develop a book for the government to help women entrepreneurs. She also assisted with the development of a books for teachers and Girl Guides geared toward female inventions.

27:52 Paul discusses an acclaimed dance program that Chips was involved with South Africa.

30:22 Chips and Paul discuss their involvement in Jewish education. Chips spearheaded an adult education program for women and men. Paul discusses his involvement teaching Parshat HaShavuah.

35:45 Chips discusses her family's involvement in sport, including marathons and skiing.

36:47 Paul ponders the question of feeling Canadian.

Part 4:

00:34 Chips comments on when she first considered herself Canadian.

02:02 Paul mentions a National Film Board documentary about Jews in small communities and their inclusion in the film.

Source

Oral Histories

An Entrepreneurial Spirit

Always a Stranger

Antisemitism in Canada

Small Town Life