Accession Number

1984-5-7

Material Format

object

graphic material

Physical Description

1 coin

16 photographs : b&w ; 7 x 10 cm

Date

1939-1945

Scope and Content

This accession consists of one Mount Sinai Lodge A.F. & A.M. No. 522 G.R.C. 25th anniversary coin. The coin has the lodge's coat of arms on the recto and a set of tablets with the words "keep these and good fortune will be yours" on the verso.

Also included are 16 photographs of the Allied Forces (including the Canadian Army) at Bergen-Belsen in April 1945 following the liberation of the camp. Pictured are the general grounds, mass graves with sign markers, a group of (local German?) women crowded around the back of an army truck, army personnel observing and taking photographs of a deceased victim, a crematoria, and Sam Pizel (standing right) and other servicemen with a box of human ashes.

Administrative History

Sam Pizel (?-29 Sept. 2004) was married to Lily and was the brother of Irving Pizel.

Use Conditions

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.

Descriptive Notes

Availability of other formats: Digitized material.

Subjects

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)

World War, 1939-1945

Name Access

Pizel, Sam

Bergen-Belsen

Places

Germany

Source

Archival Accessions

Part Of

Samuel Posluns fonds

Level

File

Fonds

70

File

5

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1947

Physical Description

51 photographs : b&w ; 17 x 12 cm or smaller

Scope and Content

File consists of black-and-white photographs related to the Tailor Project, including photos taken at Bergen-Belsen Displaced Persons Camp showing the Tailor Project team testing candidates. Other photos include scenes of devastation in Hanover, documentation of concentration camps at Belsen and Dachau, and two photos of Posluns with unidentified individuals taken at the Munich Military Post Officers Club. Other identified individuals include Max Enkin and Samuel Herbst.

Subjects

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)

Refugee camps

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.

Places

Germany

Source

Archival Descriptions

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Part Of

Samuel Posluns fonds

Level

Fonds

Fonds

70

Material Format

cartographic material

graphic material

textual record

Date

1925-1984

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

91 photographs : b&w ; 25 x 20 cm or smaller

1 map : 46 x 65 cm

Admin History/Bio

Samuel Posluns (1910–1994) was born in Toronto to Abraham Isaac Poslaniec (1870–1922) and Sheindel Saltzman (1872–1960). He had three brothers and three sisters: Joseph, Louis, Abe, Gertrude Miriam, Anne, and Sarah. His father, Abraham, established the family-run clothing firm Superior Cloak Company in 1916. In 1934, it was bankrupted and closed after a lengthy strike. In 1936, Samuel opened his own business, Popular Cloak Company. In 1967, the Posluns family purchased Tip Top Tailors, in partnership with entrepreneur Jimmy Kay. A year later they incorporated their new venture under the name of Dylex as a holding company for the Tip Top chain of stores.

During the Second World War, Samuel Posluns served as a member of the air force reserves. After the war, he was elected president of the United Jewish Welfare Fund in 1947. That same year, in collaboration with the Canadian Jewish Congress and the Jewish Labour Committee, Posluns helped lead the Tailor Project along with Max E. Enkin, which was aimed at helping Jewish displaced persons immigrate to Canada by securing them employment as tailors. A committed advocate for Jewish education, Posluns also served as the first president and founding chair of the Board of Jewish Education (BJE) in 1949. He remained honorary president for life and continued to attend meetings until health problems held back his participation in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Posluns was also a founding board member of the North York General Hospital.

Samuel Posluns died in Toronto in 1994.

Scope and Content

Fonds consists of records related to the Posluns family and their clothing business, Popular Cloak Company. The records include correspondence, financial records, periodicals and newsletters, photographs, certificates and personal identification. The fonds also includes textual documents and photos documenting Samuel Posluns' involvement in the Tailor Project.

Name Access

Bergen-Belsen (Concentration camp)

Canadian Jewish Congress

Enkin, Max E.

Jewish Labour Committee

Popular Cloak Company

Posluns, Samuel, 1910-1994

Subjects

Clothing trade

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)

Immigrants--Canada

Access Restriction

Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA director prior to accessing some of the records.

Creator

Posluns, Samuel, 1910-1994

Places

Germany

Accession Number

1997-7-6

2004-5-79

Source

Archival Descriptions

Accession Number

2023-12-1

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

2 letters

Date

May 1945

Scope and Content

Accession consists of material documenting Shelly Grimson. Included are two Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) letters written by Shelly's uncle Harry Fistell to Shelly's grandmother/Harry's mother. The first letter, written May 1945, describes Harry's impressions after visiting the recently liberated Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The second letter, also written May 1945, describes Harry's feelings upon the Second World War ending and recounts trips to Holland, Antwerp, and Hamburg.

Use Conditions

Copyright may not be held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Subjects

Concentration camps

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)

World War, 1939-1945

Name Access

Grimson (family)

Grimson, Shelly

Places

Germany

Source

Archival Accessions