Accession Number

2006-4-4

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

3 photographs : b&w (tif)

5 documents (tif)

1 folder of textual records

1 DVD

1 videocassette

Date

1941-2004

Scope and Content

Accession consists of copies of electronic copies of photographs, postcards and telegrams as well as newsclippings, a video and a DVD documenting the career of Sam Shapiro in the RCAF and his time as a Prisoner of War at Stalag Luft 3 in Poland.

Administrative History

Sam Shapiro enlisted as a pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force in September 1940. He received his wings in Brantford and was sent overseas in April 1941 as a sergeant pilot. He was in Squadron ten and flew eight successful missions before his plane was shot down over Holland in August 1941, killing two of the crew.

Shapiro was captured by German forces on 17 August 1941 and was taken to Stalag Luft 3 camp in Poland, where the "Great Escape" took place. Shapiro was not part of the breakout, but did help dig the tunnel that allowed seventy-six of his fellow prisoners to escape.

While a Prisoner of War, Shapiro was promoted to warrant officer. He was liberated on 16 April 1945 and arrived in England five days later. Shortly after arriving home in 1945, Shapiro received the YMCA sports badge for his conduct in the POW camp and the Canadian Volunteer Service medal. He married his fiance Geraldine Perlman in 1945.

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.

Subjects

Canada--Armed Forces

World War, 1939-1945

Name Access

Shapiro, Sam.

Stalag Luft 3

Perlman, Geraldine

Source

Archival Accessions

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Accession Number

2014-8-14

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

1 scrapbook

1 folder of textual records

2 photographs : b&w ; 13 x 18 cm and 21 x 25 cm

Date

1941-1951, 1959-1961

Scope and Content

Accession consists of a scrapbook documenting the military career of Seymour Bernard. Included in the scrapbook are photographs, newspaper clippings, correspondence, the transcript for a CFRB radio segment featuring Bernard, invitations for dinners honouring Bernard, a booklet (possibly by the Canadian Jewish Congress) entitled "Jews Have Always Fought for Freedom", and a torn black ribbon that was likely worn by Bernard's parents during shiva after he died in 1951 (kriah). The scrapbook was likely assembled by Bernard's parents.

Accession also includes material documenting Joel Snitman's confirmation at Holy Blossom Temple and involvement in the BBYO. Included are photographs and programs documenting Holy Blossom Temple's confirmation class of 1959, the program book of the B'nai Brith Youth Organization (BBYO) Southern Ontario Region Fall Conclave (1960), a BBYO AZA Sweetheart Ball booklet (1961), and the Lorac Letter newsletter (1959) which was a chapter of the AZA BBYO. Identified in the photographs are: Joel Snitman, Susie Romm, Karen Smith (?), Don Smith, Rabbi Eisen, and Rabbi Feinberg.

Administrative History

Beatrice Bernard (1913-1998) was born to Louie Bernard (1895?-1956) and Esther Berger (1892-1983) in Toronto in 1913. She had two younger siblings: Seymour (was a tailgunner in the RAF during the Second World War) and Gertrude. The family lived at 410 Crawford Street and Louie owned his own dress store at St. Clair and Yonge Street. Beatrice helped her father in the dress store in the 1930s. Louie eventually owned a coat manufacturing business which was located in the Balfour Building. Beatrice married Michael Snitman in 1935. Michael Snitman (1910-1978) was born to Harry and Lottie in Russia in 1910. He immigrated to Canada with his parents in 1912 and had two younger siblings who were born in Toronto: Bill (1912-2013) and Judy (Judith). Michael attended Harbord Collegiate and ran his own business called Plastwood Products in the early 1940s. Around 1947 he entered the photographic business as a distributor. He ran the Toronto branch of Montreal-based Anglophoto, which was owned by his brother-in-law, Abe Feigelson. Michael and Beatrice had two children together: Joel (b. 1943) and Bernard (Bernie) (b. 1948). Joel received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto and taught Biology for five years before entering the real estate and property management business. He met his wife Blossom (nee Houpt) in the B'nai Brith Youth Organization and they had their first date on April 9, 1960. They later married in Aug. 1964 and had three children together: Aryeh, Sheri, and Aviella.

Descriptive Notes

Availability of other formats: Digitized material.

Subjects

Canada--Armed Forces

Scrapbooks

World War, 1939-1945

Name Access

Bernard, Seymour

Snitman, Beatrice, 1913-1998

Snitman, Michael, 1910-1978

Snitman, Joel, 1943-

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2017-2-12

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

45 cm of textual records and other material

230 photographs : sepia and b&w ; 23 x 30 cm and smaller

8 sound recordings (50 wav files; 1 microcassette)

1 artifact

Date

1937-2004

Scope and Content

Accession consists of textual records, photographs and audio recordings documenting the lives of Dick Steele, his wife Esther, and friend Bill Walsh. The materials are mostly correspondences between Dick and Esther during his internment at the Don Jail and Ontario Reformatory in Guelph, and from Dick and Bill's military service overseas during the Second World War. They also include correspondences between Esther and Bill, Bill and Anne Walsh, "Jack" and Esther, and other family and friends. Some of the letters show evidence of being censored. There are news clippings in English and Yiddish about the family from various newspapers including the Canadian Tribune (a Communist Party paper). There is a letter Esther wrote to campaign for Dick's release from internment, part of women's activism in this period. There is also a photocopy of a memoir written by Moses Kosowatsky and Moses Wolofsky "From the Land of Despair to the Land of Promise" ca. 1930s.

The photographs include Dick and Bill in the army during the Second World War, a signed picture of Tim Buck addressed to Esther and the twins and a photo of Dick delivering a speech related to the Steel Workers. Also included is a recording of edited sound clips of Bill and Esther talking about Dick, Esther speaking about the letters, (how she received letters and flowers from Dick after he had already been killed), Bill reading a letter Dick wrote to Esther that he left with friends in England to send her in the case that he was killed (which he was), recordings of "Bill Walsh Oral history" Vols.1 and 2 compiled by Leib Wolofsky's (Bill's nephew), and 5 audio recordings by Adrianna Steele-Card with her grandparents Bill and Esther. There is also a microcassette labelled "Joe Levitt."

The accession also includes the stripe of a German corporal that Bill captured as a prisoner, peace stamps and an early copy of Cy Gonick's A Very Red Life: The Story of Bill Walsh, edited by Bill.

Administrative History

Richard "Dick" Kennilworth Steele is the name adopted by Moses Kosowatsky. He was born in 1909 in Montreal to Samuel Kosowatsky and Fanny Held. He lived in a laneway off Clark Street, below Sherbrooke, where his father collected and recycled bottles. He grew up with his siblings, Joseph, Mortimer, Matthew, Gertrude, and Edward.

Bill Walsh (birth name Moishe Wolofsky) was born in 1910, to Sarah and Herschel Wolofsky, the editor of the Keneder Adler (Montreal's prominent Yiddish newspaper). He attended Baron Byng and then Commercial High School, where he met Dick Steele. Bill recalled that Dick denounced militarism in the school when a teacher tried to recruit students to be cadets.

Bill moved to New York City in 1927. His brother, who was living there, helped him get a job as a messenger on Wall Street. He also worked in the drug department at Macy's while attending courses at Columbia University in the evening. Dick worked on a ship for a year and then joined Bill in New York City in 1928. Dick worked at a chemical plant called Linde Air Products while also studying in the evenings at Columbia University.

In 1931, Dick and Bill boarded a ship together in New York bound for Copenhagen. Together, they travelled across Europe, witnessed a Nazi demonstration in Breslau, Germany, and found work in Minsk and Moscow, Russia. This trip inspired them to become Communists. In 1933, Bill's father was on a Canadian trade mission to Poland, which he left to "rescue" his son from the Bolsheviks. Bill agreed to return to Canada after being advised to do so by the Comintern. He then changed his name to Bill Walsh to protect his family.

In 1934, Bill moved to Toronto. He worked as the educational director for the Industrial Union of Needle Trade Workers and the Communist Party, where he met Esther Slominsky/Silver, the organization's office manager. Dick joined Bill in Toronto soon after. Bill introduced Dick and Esther, who then married. In 1940, Esther gave birth to twin sons, Michael and John Steele. Esther was born in Toronto in 1914 to Joseph Slominsky and Fanny (Blackersany?). Her siblings were Bella, Eileen, Morris, and step-sister Eva. Her father, Joseph, was a cloak maker and Esther also worked in the garment industry. Her mother Fanny passed away in 1920 at the age of twenty-six from tuberculosis.

Dick was a metal worker and became a union organizer in the east end of Toronto. He was the head organizer of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and the Steel Workers Organizing Committee of Canada (SWOC) until 1940, when he was dismissed for being a Communist. Bill helped organize Kitchener's rubber workers into an industrial union and was also an organizer for the United Auto Workers of Windsor, Ontario.

Jack Steele, an alias for Dick's brother Mortimer, fought with the Mackenzie-Papineau Brigade in the Spanish Civil War. Jack Steele was recalled to Canada in October 1937 to rally support for the efforts in Spain, returned to the front in June 1938, and was killed in action in August. Some of Dick's letters to his wife, Esther, are signed "Salud, Jack" and were likely written in 1940 when the Communist Party (CP) was banned by the Canadian government under the War Measures Act.

In November 1941, after Mackenzie King's call for enlistment, Dick wrote to the Department of Justice to ask permission to join the army. He never received a reply. On 1 April 1942, Dick's home was raided and he was interned at the Don Jail until September 1942, when he was moved to the Ontario Reformatory in Guelph. Esther wrote a letter to the minister of justice, Louis St. Laurent, to appeal on his behalf.

Major public campaigning by Communists and the wartime alliance with the USSR after 1941 shifted public opinion toward the CP, and the Canadian government slowly began releasing internees in January 1942. Dick was released in October 1942 and enlisted at the end of the month. Dick died on 17 August 1944 in Normandy, France. He was a tank driver in the Canadian Army.

Bill was similarly arrested in 1941, spending time in jail and then an internment camp with other members of the CP. He joined the Canadian Army in 1943 and fought in Holland and Belgium. Bill was first married to Anne Weir who died of a brain hemorrhage in 1943, just before he enlisted. The family believes this may have been due to drinking unpasteurized milk. Encouraged by Dick Steele to take care of his family should he pass in the war, Bill married Esther Steele in 1946. They had a daughter named Sheri and were members of the United Jewish People's Order. For twenty years, Walsh worked for the Hamilton region of the United Electrical Workers (UE). Bill remained a member of the CP until 1967, when we was expelled for criticizing another union leader. He died in 2004. Esther passed away in 2010 at age ninety-six.

Use Conditions

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

Descriptive Notes

RELATED MATERIAL NOTE: Library and Archives Canada has the William Walsh fonds and MG 28, ser. I 268, USWA, vol.4, SWOC Correspondence, has various letters from Dick Steele ca. 1938. Museum of Jewish Montreal has an oral history with Leila Mustachi (daughter of Max Wolofsky, Bill's brother) where she speaks about Bill, Dick and Esther. USE CONDITION NOTES: For "Bill Walsh Oral history" Vols.1 and 2, some contributors stipulate that recordings are restricted to personal use only and must not be used for any commercial purpose.

Subjects

World War, 1939-1945

Politics and government

Labour and unions

Name Access

Steele, Michael

Steele, Dick

Walsh, Bill

Walsh, Esther Steele

Places

England

Fort William (Ont.)

Germany

Guelph (Ont.)

Hamilton (Ont.)

Montréal (Québec)

Netherlands

Oshawa (Ont.)

Ottawa (Ont.)

Thunder Bay (Ont.)

Toronto (Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

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Part Of

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 Arab-Israeli War.

Benjamin was born in Toronto to David Dunkelman (1883–1978) and Rose (née 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 Zionists.

Benjamin attended Upper Canada College and, at the age of eighteen, visited Palestine for the first time. While in Palestine, he worked for a year on a kibbutz, mostly as a guard. During the Second World War, he served as a major in the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada; as major, he 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 returned to Palestine to join the Haganah in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. As a commander, he captured Nazareth and brought northern Galilee under Jewish control. Near the end of the war, he met and married Yael Lifshitz (m. Dunkelman), a corporal in the Israeli army. Benjamin was elected national commander of the Jewish War Veterans of Canada in 1977.

In addition to his work as a soldier, Benjamin was a successful businessman. He served as president of Tip Top Tailors after his father stepped down; he was also director of Colonial Finance Corporation, president of Cloverdale Shopping Centre, and president of Renforth Developments. Besides operating the Dunkelman Gallery, Benjamin 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" (published by MacMIllan). 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 1948 Arab-Israeli War. 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

Accession Number

2014-10-2

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

40 cm of textual records and other material

Date

[192-]-[200-]

Scope and Content

Accession consists of records related to the life and career of David Green and the Jaffey family. Records include sound and video recordings of events, Goodwill Sales accounting ledgers, meeting minutes from the Jewish Canadian Military Archives and Museum, David Green's military ephemera, manuals and reports of the Jewish Federation Board of Trustees and Bequest and Endowment Fund, and Jaffey family correspondence and photographs. Records also include certificates of appreciation awarded to David Green, mainly from UJA Federation.

Administrative History

David Green (1919-2014) was born in the Junction in west Toronto. He served as a private in the Canadian army as part of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He was captured and designated MIA when he was held as a POW in Belgium. He became a member of General Wingate Branch 256 Jewish Canadian Legion. In the mid-1940s he married his wife, Sylvia (nee Jaffey) (d. 2010) and they had a daughter, Miriam. He was a longtime volunteer for the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto. In 1990, he was one of the first individuals to establish an Endowment Fund at the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto.

The Jaffey family consisted of Kaby Jaffey, his wife, Nellie, and their children Sylvia, Jess and Albert.

Descriptive Notes

Physical description note: Accession also consists of photographs and textiles.

Subjects

Canada--Armed Forces

Charities

Families

World War, 1939-1945

Name Access

Green, David, 1919-2014

Places

Toronto, Ont.

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2003-8-1

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

6.6 m of textual records and graphic materials

Date

[198-]

Scope and Content

Accession consists of records relating to Markson's design work for the Holocaust Centre, for Jewish Family & Child Services, and for the film, Growing up in America. These records include textual records, slides, negatives, photographs, films, and sound recordings in various formats.

Use Conditions

Donor retains copyright. Material can be made available for viewing and reference at the OJA. Researchers who require copies for personal use or publication must obtain permission from donor first.

Records in off-site storage; advance notice required to view.

Subjects

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)

Name Access

Markson, Morley

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2012-3-8

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

58 photographs (tif) and other material

Date

1945, 1965-2003

Scope and Content

Accession consists of records documenting the establishment and activities of Toronto's Holocaust Memorial and Education Centre as well as the personal life and professional activities of Gerda Frieberg. Holocaust Education Centre records include audiovisual material, sound recordings, meeting minutes, financial records, booklets and brochures, photographs, and flyers. Of note is a video of the opening and dedication of the Holocaust Museum in 1985 and the sheet music and sound recordings of the musical score Gerda commissioned for the centre by Srul Glick.

Records in the Gerda Frieberg fonds document her involvement with the Holocaust Education Centre, the Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Canada, B'nai Brith Women, the Federation of Jewish Women's organizations, and her other activities. Included are photographs, newspaper clippings, meeting minutes, and correspondence. Also included is a sound recording from a Federation of Jewish Women's Organizations event and a DVD copy of the film "Mend the World," a CBC documentary that features Gerda and other Toronto Holocaust survivors. The electronic images were scanned from Gerda's personal scrapbooks.

Custodial History

Records were in the possession of Gerda Frieberg until she donated them to the OJA in 2012.

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.

Descriptive Notes

Includes 4 audio cassette tapes, 4 VHS tapes, 3 DVDs, 3 cm of textual records, and 8 photographs.

Subjects

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)

Name Access

Frieberg, Gerda

Source

Archival Accessions

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Accession Number

2017-6-1

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

95 cm of textual records

42 photographs : b&w and col. ; 9 x 13 cm and 10 x 15 cm

5 audiocassettes

Date

1974-2016

Scope and Content

Accession consists of the records documenting Nathan Leipciger's role as the Chairman of the Holocaust Remembrace Committee, as well as his affiliation with other Holocaust commemoration organizations in Poland and Toronto. Organizations documented in this collection include: the Canadian Jewish Congress Holocaust Remembrance Committee and its Education Sub-Committee, the March of the Living, Yad Vashem, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., the State Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the International Council to the Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Christian-Jewish Dialogue of Toronto, the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews, the Board of Education of North York, and the Holocaust Memorial and Education Centre (now Neuberger). Events documented include Yom HaShoah programs, the Canadian Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and Their Children, and Holocaust Education Week. Records include Holocaust Remembrance Committee meeting minutes, correspondence (including correspondence between Mr. Leipciger and the director of the museum at Auschwitz), programming material, curriculum development material, event flyers, newsclippings, synagogue newsletters featuring published memoirs by Mr. Leipciger. Also included are architectural drawings of the Holocaust Memorial and Education Centre (now Neuberger), one copy of a small book entitled, "60 Days for 6 Million," published by Tribe UK, and five audiocasettes of recordings from the 22nd International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies conference on the topic of the shared history of Poles and Jews (August 2002, Toronto, Ont.).

Administrative History

Nate Leipciger was born in Chorzów, Poland, in 1928. He survived the Sosnowiec Ghetto and the camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Funfteichen, GrossRosen, Flossenberg, Leonberg, and Dachau. Nate and his father were liberated in May 1945, and immigrated to Canada in 1948. In Toronto Nate attended high school and eventually obtained a university degree in engineering. He later established an engineering firm with several partners. In 1982, Nate chaired the Toronto Holocaust Remembrance Committee, later becoming an executive member of the Canadian Jewish Congress National Holocaust Remembrance Committee. Nate was a member of the International Council to the Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau for fifteen years and has been an educator on March of the Living trips to Poland and Israel for fifteen years. In 2015, The Azrieli Foundation published Nate's 280-page memoir "The Weight of Freedom" as part of their series of Holocaust memoirs by survivors in Canada. In 2016, Mr. Leipciger guided Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on a tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Descriptive Notes

General: Contains photographs of the Holocaust, some of which may be disturbing.

Subjects

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)

Name Access

Leipciger, Nate, 1928-

Places

Poland

Toronto, Ont.

Source

Archival Accessions

Part Of

United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds

Toronto Holocaust Museum series

Level

Series

Fonds

67

Series

28

Material Format

multiple media

Date

[197-]-[200-]

Physical Description

5.8 metres of textual records and other material

Admin History/Bio

The Toronto Holocaust Museum's mandate is to foster understanding and knowledge of the Holocaust and related human rights issues and promote dialogue about civil society. Its origins can be traced to the late 1940s, when the Federation of Polish Jews of Canada began organizing an annual event to commemorate the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (now often held in conjunction with Yom HaShoah or Holocaust Remembrance Day). In the 1950s, the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) took over this role and established the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Committee. By the early 1970s, the CJC had renamed this committee the Holocaust Remembrance Committee.

Throughout the 1970s, the scope of the committees work expanded to include liaison with school boards regarding Holocaust curriculum, outreach with Christian communities, school visits by survivor speakers, and the sponsorship of Holocaust-related events. In 1976, the committee became accountable to the newly formed Toronto Jewish Congress (TJC) but continued to report to the CJC Central Region.

By 1976, committee members were discussing the need for a Holocaust memorial in Toronto. Space for such a memorial became available when the Lipa Green building at 4600 Bathurst Street was being planned. A separate committee known as the Toronto Holocaust Memorial Committee formed around 1983 under the chairmanship of Gerda Frieberg to help plan and fundraise for the memorial. Funds were raised through parlour meetings in private homes, grants from the federal and provincial governments, and the sale of memorial tiles which were inscribed with the names of relatives who perished in the Holocaust. The Holocaust Education and Memorial Centre opened in September 1985. It consisted of a Hall of Memories, which housed the memorial tiles, and an audiovisual presentation and text panels on Jewish history and the Holocaust. Soon after the opening, the Toronto Holocaust Memorial Committee merged with the Holocaust Remembrance Committee.

During the early 1980s, while plans were still underway for the memorial centre, the Holocaust Remembrance Committee continued to expand its activities to include the development of annual workshops and symposiums for teachers and students, planning an annual Holocaust Education Week, initiating an oral history program to document the testimony of local survivors, and offering programs for children of survivors. After the Holocaust centre opened in 1985, it began running tours led by survivors for community and school groups in its new facility. The 1990s was marked by increased services and programs for survivors, outreach with younger generations, the establishment of an annual writing contest for high school students, and the establishment of a resource centre that came to be known as the Anita Ekstein Holocaust Resource Library. In 1992, the TJC and CJC transferred responsibility for the centre to the United Jewish Appeal (UJA) Federation, and the centre remains part of that organization today.

Since 2000, the centre has continued to increase its programming. In 2003, it began presenting an annual program to commemorate Raoul Wallenberg Day. In 2007, the museum’s exhibition was fully re-designed and updated. Since its establishment, the centre has sponsored and hosted a variety of temporary Holocaust-related exhibitions and programs across the province and has partnered with other agencies to advocate for human rights, promote Holocaust education, and document survivor testimony. In 2009, the centre was renamed the Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust and Education Centre. In 2023, the centre was renamed the Toronto Holocaust Museum to reflect its new state-of-theart museum located on UJA's Serhman Campus.

Scope and Content

Series consists of records documenting the history, governance, operation, programs, and activities of the Toronto Holocaust Museum. Included are meeting minutes, reports, publications, correspondence, photographs, invitations, statistics, financial records, sound recordings, promotional material, forms, studies, ...

Series is arranged into 21 sub-series: 1. Holocaust Education Committee; 2. Executive Committee; 3. Administration; 4. General correspondence; 5. Committees and meetings; 6. Studies and surveys; 7. Youth for Youth subcommittee; 8. Special Services Committee; 9. Christian Jewish Dialogue; 10. Generation to Generation subcommittee; 11. Hidden Children/Child Survivors; 12. Education; 13. Museum; 14. Yom Hashoah; 15. Holocaust Education Week; 16. Raoul Wallenberg Day; 17. Documentation; 18. Projects and events; 19. Survivor speakers, docents and volunteers; 20. Membership; 21. Marketing and publicity; and 22. Subject files.

Notes

Physical description note: Includes ca. 2000 photographs, 5 buttons, 11 audio recordings, 3 DVDs, 3 video cassettes and 2 posters.

Subjects

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)

Access Restriction

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

Accession Number

2002-10-30

2002-10-67

2004-6-10

2005-2-3

2005-3-1

2006-8-15

2007-8-7

2010-6-2

2011-12-2

2012-3-8

2012-3-2

Source

Archival Descriptions

Accession Number

2017-8-14

Material Format

graphic material

textual record

multiple media

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records ca. 2cm of textual records

12 photographs : b&w and col ; 30 x 35 cm or smaller

1 scrapbook

Date

1900-1950, [196?], 1970-1995

Scope and Content

Accession consists of 12 photographs (ca. 1900-1930, 196?) of members of the Schönberger family, including family portraits, class portraits, and a group photograph of the United Cloth Hat & Cap Makers Union Local No. 41. Accession also contains a scrapbook (ca.1937-1945) kept by Walter Schoenberger consisting of ca. 90 photographs and other graphic materials (eg. cigarette cards, photographic postcards) documenting his life in Vienna, England, Quebec and Toronto. This scrapbook includes photographs of Schoenberger's internment at a Kitchener Camp in Kent, England, as well as photographs of a parade at Old City Hall in Toronto.

Accession also consists of 1 folder of textual records, including Canadian citizenship and naturalization documents, a Vienna drivers license, one postcard, wedding invitations and certificates, newspaper clippings, personal writings, and a death certificate. There are also a number of documents ca. 1939-1942 relating to Walter Schoenberger's time at the Kitchener Camp in England, including letters from the Red Cross, the American Embassy to Vienna, the American Consulate General in London, the Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society, the Central Council for Jewish Refugees Agricultural Committee, and Tip Top Tailors.

Accession also includes Victory Bonds certificates (1943-1945), an issue of the Toronto Star from December 3, 1992, a Toronto Transit Commission map, a program for a "Life Begins at 65" celebration for George Burns, and a book entitled "Collective Poems - The Terrace Holocaust Survivors Group" consisting of poetry by Holocaust survivors. Also included are documents relating to the Schwab family.

Ancestor chart of Mindy Schönberger

Custodial History

Collection of Walter Schoenberger, donated by daughter Mindy Pollishuke.

Use Conditions

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

Subjects

Tailors

Immigrants--Canada

Labor unions

Clothing workers

Postcards

Refugee camps

Refugees

World War, 1939-1945

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

England

Austria

Germany

Source

Archival Accessions

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Accession Number

2015-3-6

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

5 cm textual records and other material

Date

[ca.1890]-[ca. 1940]

Scope and Content

Accession consists of personal records of Hyman (Ben) Benjamin, and records documenting Arthur Benjamin's military service. Records include ca. 30 photographs of three generations of the Benjamin family, Rosh Hashanah greeting cards, Hyman Benjamin's birth certificate and first aid certificate. Records also include correspondence between several branches of the Canadian government and Arthur's mother, Annie, regarding the circumstances of Arthur's death; his grave site and his army pension.

Custodial History

The records were donated to the Archives by Nancy Rose, daughter of the great-nephew of Hyman (Ben) Benjamin.

Administrative History

Hyman "Ben" Benjamin (ca. 1884-1969) was born in Leeds, England to Lazuras and Annie Benjamin. He married Hilda (Holds) Benjamin, and they immigrated to Canada in 1911. He worked as a car mechanic. They had two daughters, Laura (b. 1911) and Florence (b. 1912).

Arthur "Abraham" Benjamin (ca. 1882-1917) was Hyman Benjamin's brother. He immigrated to Toronto from Leeds some time after 1911 and worked with Hyman as a car cleaner. He joined the 198th Battalion of the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force in 1916, and was killed in the First World War.

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.

Subjects

Canada--Armed Forces

World War, 1914-1918

Name Access

Benjamin, Arthur, 1882-1917

Benjamin, Hyman, 1884-1969

Source

Archival Accessions

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