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

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

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

2012-4-2

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

30 cm of textual records and other material

Date

[190-]-1994

Scope and Content

Accession consists of records documenting the literary and military careers of Leo Heaps, as well as a small selection of family photographs and textual records. Included are various manuscripts and other writings, newsclippings and documents related to Heaps' role as a British paratrooper and his subsequent awarding of the Royal Military Cross. The photographs document the Heaps family, as well as the underground resistance movement in Arnhem, of which he was a part.

The videocassette documents a family trip to Arnhem in 1994 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem.

Photo Caption (035): Seargent Alan Kettley of the Glider Pilot Regiment, [194-?]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2012-4-2. Courtesy of the Heaps Family.

Photo Caption (038): Gilbert Sadi-Kirschen known, head of the Special Air Service mission to Arnhem, [194-?]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2012-4-2. Courtesy of the Heaps Family.

Photo Caption (046): Major Tony Hibbot (left) about to take off for Arnhem, [194-?]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2012-4-2. Courtesy of the Heaps Family.

Custodial History

The records were in the possession of Adrian Heaps, son of Leo Heaps.

Administrative History

Leo Heaps (1923-1995) was born in Winnipeg in 1923, the son of A. A. Heaps and Bessie Morris. His father A. A. was a founder of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, the forerunner of the New Democratic Party. Leo Heaps was raised in Winnipeg and received an education at Queen's University, the University of California, and McGill University. During the Second World War, at the age of 21, Heaps was seconded to the British Army and found himself commanding the 1st Battalion's Transport. He participated in the Battle of Arnhem as a paratrooper.

Leo Heaps was awarded the Royal Military Cross for his work with the Dutch Resistance. His brother, David, had also achieved the same distinction, thereby making them the only Jewish brothers during the Second World War to win the decoration. After the war, Heaps went to Israel and aided their army in the establishment of mobile striking units. Whilst there, he met his wife-to-be, Tamar (1927-). Together they had one son, Adrian, and three daughters, Karen, Gillian, and Wendy.

During the Hungarian Revolution he led a special rescue team to bring refugees out and across the border. In the mid-1960s he returned to Britain where he dabbled in various entrepreneurial projects as well as writing several books, notably "The Grey Goose of Arnhem", telling his own story of Arnhem, the aftermath of the battle, and also the stories of other Arnhem evaders and their dealings with the Resistance.

Leo Heaps spent most of his life in Toronto, Canada, and was amongst the forty Canadian veterans who returned to Arnhem in 1994 to mark the 50th anniversary. He died in 1995.

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.

Publication credit line must read: Courtesy of the Heaps Family.

Descriptive Notes

Physical Description note: Includes ca. 100 photographs; 1 videocassette (ca. 32 min) : col, sd. ; VHS, and 1 presentation piece : 52 x 49 cm.

Subjects

World War, 1939-1945

Name Access

Heaps, Leo, 1923-1995

Source

Archival Accessions

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

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

• 
• 
• 

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

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

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

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

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Accession Number

2014-5-2

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

15 cm of textual records

8 architectural drawings

2 CDs

Date

1960-2011, predominant 2011

Scope and Content

Accession consists of architectural drawings for the construction of the Northern YM-YWHA at 4600 Bathurst Street (1960) as well as floor plans for the proposed re-development of the site in 1999. Also included are submissions for the competition to design and build the Jewish War Veterans of Canada memorial at the Sherman Campus (2011).

Use Conditions

UJA Federation meeting minutes and general correspondence are closed for 10 years from date of creation. Contracts and donor agreements are permanently closed.

Subjects

Architecture

Charities

Veterans--Canada

Name Access

Young Men's Hebrew Association (Toronto, Ont.)

Bathurst Jewish Community Centre

Jewish War Veterans of Canada

UJA Federation of Greater Toronto

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

• 
• 
• 
• 

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

2017-8-10

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

3 cm of textual records

3 photographs : b&w ; 13 x 9 cm and smaller

1 DVD

Date

[ca. 1920]-2012

Scope and Content

Accession consists of records related to the history of the Dora Wilensky Salsberg Memorial Fund at Jewish Family and Child. Included are: a Canadian Jewish News feature ("Legacy of Life") on Dora Wilensky; a Dora Wilensky Memorial Fund pamphlet; correspondence from J. B. Salsberg regarding Sharyn’s ongoing role with the Jewish Communal Service Graduate Studies Scholarship Program; correspondence regarding the Fund between Sharyn Salsberg Ezrin and Richard Cummings, Ron Levin, Gordon Wolfe, and Sam Helfenbaum; fund and endowment statements regarding the Dora Wilensky Memorial Fund; and correspondence between Sharyn and the Toronto Jewish Congress Endowment Fund. Also includes: records documenting the J. B. Salsberg Tribute Dinner held at Beth Sholom Synagogue on November 13, 1991; Canadian Jewish News and Toronto Life profiles of J. B. Salsberg; an interview of J. B. Salsberg by Sandy Naiman; J. B. Salsberg's eulogy by Irving Abella; and one DVD of a J.B. Salsberg video tribute. Also includes three photographs of J. B. Salsberg and Dora Wilensky, and four issues of various JF&CS publications.

Administrative History

Dora Wilensky Salsberg was one of Toronto’s earliest professionally trained Jewish social workers and a leader in the Canadian social work field. She was born in Russia on July 28, 1902 to Hyman and Mary Wilensky. She had three younger sisters: Bertha (b. 1903) Jenny (b. 1905), and Fagel (b.1910). In 1907, the family immigrated to Toronto where Hyman worked at a cap factory.

Dora had the highest marks in the province of Ontario upon graduating from high school and graduated as a gold medalist in modern history from McMaster University in Toronto. She initially pursued a career in teaching, but had difficulty securing a job due to discrimination. When her only job offer from Oshawa was given on the condition that she change her last name, Dora decided to become a social worker.

After studying at the New York School for Social Work and working briefly in Chicago, Dora returned to Toronto and took up the position as Executive Director of the Jewish Family Welfare Bureau in 1931. When the JF&CS was formed in 1943 she served as its first Executive Director. Under her leadership, JF&CS gained a reputation as being one of the most advanced and progressive agencies in Toronto. She was among the first to hire a psychiatric social worker and to introduce play therapy as part of treatment; she remained on top of advances being made in the field in other countries and encouraged her staff to regularly engage in professional development activities.

Dora attempted to enter the United States for professional development in the fall of 1948. She was refused entry by the commissioner of immigration and naturalization. Her aim was to attend a postgraduate course in social work at the University of Pennsylvania. In spite of numerous official letters of endorsement, her application for admission was denied.

Dora was also actively involved in various professional organizations. She was a member of the National Board of the Canadian Association of Social Workers, served on the Board of Governors and various committees of the Canadian Welfare Council, and was active on the Social Planning Council (formerly the Welfare Council of Toronto). In addition, she was instrumental in the establishment of the University of Toronto’s post-graduate course in social work. For her service to the field, she earned both the King George V and Coronation medals.

In 1927, Dora married J. B. Salsberg. Although she legally adopted his name, she always used her maiden name professionally. They did not have any children. On March 20, 1959, Dora passed away from cancer at the age of 56.

Subjects

Charities

Charities

Name Access

Salsberg, J. B.,1902-1998

Wilensky, Dora, 1902-1959

Places

Toronto, Ont.

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2018-7-21

Material Format

textual record

graphic material

multiple media

Physical Description

113 cm of textual and other records

1 scrapbook

Date

1938-2016

Scope and Content

Accession consists of material documenting the Act to End Violence Against Women organization. Included are: meeting minutes of the executive board; a ledger containing executive board waivers of notice; meeting minutes and resolutions from the yearly conventions; photographs of Act to End Violence Against Women members; correspondence with other organizations; correspondence, research material, public reactions, and ephemera from various campaigns; a commemorative booklet for a B'nai Brith cantorial concert; a scrapbook on the formation of the B'nai Brith Women Claire Morry Chapter; constitutions, constitutional amendments, reports, budgets, resolutions and other records of Act to End Violence Against Women; member lists and honour roll of past chapters; material and correspondence with B'nai Brith Washington; UJA material concerning assimilation and intermarriage and 2001 Jewish census data results.

Administrative History

The first Canadian chapter of B'nai Brith Women International was formed in Windsor, Ontario in 1923. Other chapters were soon formed throughout Eastern Canada and additional chapters were established in Winnipeg and British Columbia after 1949. The organization was initially administered by the American B'nai Brith Women. In 1976, it finally became autonomous (although still affiliated with the American agency) and changed its name to B'nai Brith Women of Eastern Canada. In 1981, its name was changed again to B'nai Brith Women of Canada. In 1995, the organization became known as Jewish Women International of Canada (JWIC). In November 2011, the organization underwent a final name change to Act to End Violence Against Women.

JWIC is committed to social change, with a particular focus on improving the lives of women and their families. In the 1980s, the agency initiated programs to counter domestic violence and began operating safe housing for Jewish women and children known as ASTEH (Alternative Safe Temporary Emergency Housing). JWIC also runs the JWI Residential Treatment Centre for emotionally disturbed youth.

Use Conditions

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

Descriptive Notes

Language note: Material in English, Russian and French.

Subjects

Charities

Family violence

Women

Name Access

Act to End Violence Against Women

Places

Canada

Source

Archival Accessions

Part Of

Jewish Family and Child fonds

Level

Fonds

Fonds

79

Material Format

multiple media

Date

1933-2011

Physical Description

ca. 4.8 m of texutal records and other material

Admin History/Bio

Jewish Family & Child was established in 1943 from the amalgamation of a variety of different social agencies formed as early as 1868. These included the Ladies Benevolent Fund, the Free Burial Society, Jewish Family Welfare Bureau, Jewish Children’s Bureau, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and the Ladies Maternal Aid Society. Much of its funding and support after its inception came from the United Jewish Welfare Fund.

The first executive director of the agency was Dora Wilensky. She was a trained social worker who served for twenty-eight years, until her untimely death from cancer in 1959. Jerome Diamond took over in 1960 and Gordon Wolfe succeeded him in 1981. Ron Levin briefly replaced Wolfe after his retirement in 2003, and was succeeded in 2006 by Dr. Richard Cummings who then retired in 2015. As of 2017, Brian Prousky is the organization’s current executive director.

During the early years, fees were established, but the agency never refused to assist clients because of their inability to pay. JF&CS became one of the first agencies to rely on trained social workers. It was also the first social agency in Canada to become unionized.

Over the years the agency’s role has changed and it has expanded significantly, in terms of its staff and services. After the Second World War it played a pivotal role supporting the Holocaust orphans who came to Canada as refugees, particularly in the area of locating foster parents for these children. By 1957, the agency hired its first counsellor and became a member of the United Community Fund of Greater Toronto. The year 1968 marked the start of JF&CS’ new program involving the use of a mobile treatment centre to reach out to Jewish street kids and in 1974 they established the Jerome D. Diamond Adolescent Centre.

In 1981, JF&CS was mandated by the Province of Ontario as a Jewish children’s aid society responsible for the care and protection of all Jewish youth in the GTA. In 1983 they established the Just-A-Second Shop at 3101 Bathurst Street, which took in used goods from the community to pass on to needy families. Two years later they established the Henry G. Goodman Home for developmentally challenged children on Wilmington Avenue. The following year marked the opening of the Elm Ridge Group Living Residence for elderly people. In 1988, they opened a special shelter for abused women and children, and in 1994, they introduced their Homework Club for kids.

The current mission of Jewish Family & Child is to support the healthy development of individuals, children, families, and communities through prevention, protection, counselling, education, and advocacy services, within the context of Jewish values. Their services include counselling, rehabilitation and support, foster care, family services, and community services. These services are offered in a host of different languages including Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian, French, and English.

JF&CS is an independent organization that receives its funding from a variety of different sources such as UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, United Way Toronto and York Region, the Government of Ontario, and individual donations.

As of 2017, JF&CS has nearly 130 staff providing more than thirty community services with a budget of almost $20 million. Their main office is located in the Lipa Green Centre for Community Services at 4600 Bathurst Street. They also maintain offices and run services out of their downtown branch at 35 Madison Avenue, their York Region branch inside UJA’s 1 Open Door at the Lebovic JCC, and their Jerome D. Diamond Adolescent Centre in midtown Toronto.

Name Access

Jewish Family and Child

Wilensky, Dora, 1902-1959

Wolfe, Gordon

Diamond, Jerome D.

Subjects

Charities

Children

Families

Nonprofit organizations

Access Restriction

Closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director and head of Jewish Family and Child prior to accessing the records.

Related Material

See also: Jewish Child Welfare Association fonds (fonds 86); Jewish Family Welfare Bureau fonds (fonds 87); Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of Toronto fonds (fonds 66); and, United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds (fonds 67).

Creator

Jewish Family and Child (Toronto, Ont.)

Accession Number

2004-5-101

2004-1-8

2002-10-38

2006-6-7 (Shelf 03-6,Orphan index cards)

2009-12-9

2010-4-1 (Shelf 34-1)

2010-10-5

2015-8/11

2015-9/1

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Toronto Hadassah-WIZO fonds

Annual Bazaar series

Level

Series

Fonds

71

Series

1

Material Format

multiple media

Date

1924-2006

Physical Description

90 cm of textual records and other material

Admin History/Bio

In 1924 the first official Toronto annual Hadassah Bazaar was held at the Masonic Temple at Davenport and Yonge. Over the years, venues changed with increasing demands for space as the popularity of the event grew. These locations included Varsity Stadium (1945-1948), the Automotive Building at the CNE (1949-1999), and currently the CNE’s National Trade Centre (Direct Energy Centre).Toronto pioneered the mammoth volunteer-run bazaar concept and was followed by other cities – Montreal (ca.1932), Vancouver (1951) and a number of smaller communities.

Admission fees were documented from 25 cents in 1934 to $4 in the 1990s.In most instances throughout the years, reduced or free admission was offered to preschoolers and seniors.

The early bazaars sold used clothing, hand sewn articles and home cooked kosher specialties. The 1930s saw the introduction of “carnival elements” such as fortune telling and bingo, and social events that included dinners, floor shows and dancing to the music of well known bands. The “Beautiful Child Photography Contests”, fashion shows, art exhibits, and the Hadassah Exposition and Bazaar Cooking Schools were inaugurated during the same decade.

During the Second World War, the Red Cross and war efforts were incorporated into bazaar activities. In the 1950s auctions were introduced.1963 saw the first Eilat Lighthouse – a colossal advertising pyramid. From the 1970s to the 1990s, new features such as clothes boutiques, mini-stores, and disco contests appeared.

Proceeds from the fairs and bazaars from the Bazaar’s inception until recent years rose exponentially from a thousand or so dollars to hundreds of thousands. These funds have generally been directed to medical and welfare services for needy women and children in Israel. From 1939-45, some of the monies were directed to war projects in Palestine, England, and Egypt. Recent beneficiaries include Asaf Harofe Rehabilitation Hospital, Nahalal (a co-educational secondary school focusing on farming technology), and medical research at the Hebrew University.

Enthusiastic crowds of up to 60,000 continue to line up at 6 am on the last Wednesday of October every year. The City of Toronto has recognized the Bazaar since 1989 with it’s proclamation of “Hadassah – Wizo Bazaar Day”.

From modest beginnings, Toronto’s Hadassah Bazaar has evolved into what is billed as the “largest one day bazaar in the world”.

The 84th was the last bazaar held in October 2008.

Scope and Content

The series consists of records in the form of textual documents, photographs, posters, scrapbooks and audio- visual recordings that document the history of the Toronto Hadassah Bazaar from 1924-2006.These include activities such as social events, meetings, rallies, as well as records including press clippings, memorabilia, correspondence, and financial reports.

Photo Captions:

028 - [Unidentified], Ella Fleischmann, [Unidentified], Israel Booth at Hadassah Bazaar, Exhibition Place, Toronto, Ontario [ca. 1965].

Notes

Physical description note: Includes 2472 photographs, 3 posters, 2 audio recordings, 4 video recordings, 2 artifacts, and 8 scrapbooks.

Subjects

Bazaars (Charities)

Arrangement

The textual records are aranged in chronological order and then by activity such as planning, correspondence and publicity.

Source

Archival Descriptions

Accession Number

2023-5-5

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

40 cm of textual records and other material

Date

1982-2017, predominant 2014-2015

Scope and Content

Accession consists of records documenting David Matlow's role as chair of the UJA Campaign 2015, his involvement in the March of the Living, and other community organizations. Also reflects Andrea Cohen's role as co-chair of campaign and Allison Himel as chair of Women's Philanthropy. Includes 40 cm of textual records, 16 photographs (col. ; 22 x 28 cm or smaller), 2 prints (poster ; 28 x 36 cm or smaller), 1 wristband, 1 medal (8 cm in diam. on loop 4 x 42 cm), 1 t-shirt, and 1 papercut (18 x 18 cm in frame 30 x 36 cm).

Administrative History

David Matlow is the owner of the world’s largest private collection of Theodor Herzl memorabilia and is the producer of My Herzl, a 52 minute documentary by Israeli film maker Eli Tal-El. A partner at Goodmans LLP in Toronto, David was the co-chair, together with Andrea Cohen, of Toronto’s 2015 Campaign for the United Jewish Appeal.

Subjects

Fund raising

Jewish outreach

Jewish philanthropists

Name Access

Matlow, David

UJA Federation of Greater Toronto

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2008-10-4

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

6 m of textual records and other material

Date

1939-2000

Scope and Content

The accession consists of records and artifacts created or collected by Rabbi David Monson during his career. This includes his annual journals, marriage registers (1939-2000), newspaper clippings, photographs, awards, certificates, letters, a vinyl record, and several artifacts. The artifacts include objects of recognition from Shaare Zedek Medical Centre in Jerusalem and from a Negev Tribute in 1977, and items of regalia clothing from the Order of the Masons. There are also two scrapbooks of clippings: one documents Beth Sholom Synagogue in the 1940s, and the other is about the University of Waterloo in the 1960s.

Among the photos in this collection is the confirmation of Iona Feldt (m. Silverberg) daughter of Samuel (Shmeal) Feldt.

Administrative History

Rabbi David Monson was born in Ottawa in 1917. He was educated at Yeshiva University and later was ordained by the Rabbinical College of Canada of Montreal in 1939.

He served as a rabbi for Shaarei Shomayim Synagogue in Toronto from 1939 until 1943. During the war, he served as a Chaplain with the Canadian military until 1945. After his return to Toronto, he founded Beth Sholom Synaogogue and served as rabbi there until his retirement in 1985. During his tenure, he officiated his first bat mitzvah in 1953, introduced a mixed choir to the service, and allowed men and women to sit together in the sanctuary.

Rabbi Monson was a founding member of the Canadian Council for Christians and Jews. Over the years, he served on the Ontario Police Services Commission and many other government committees. He also helped establish Or Yehuda, a community centre for underprivileged Iraqi and Romanian children in Israel. As well, he was also instrumental in the establishment of the University of Waterloo. He organized the Hebrew Association of the Blind, and was named by the Prime Minister John Diefenbaker to the Board of the Canada Council. He was also active in the Order of the Masons. Finally, Rabbi Monson was a great supporter of Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Centre. Through his persistent efforts, the small hospital he first visited during the Six Day War was transformed into a modern, state-of-the-art facility.

During his career he became widely known as the "people's rabbi", due to his ability to connect with community members from all branches of Judaism as well as non-Jews. He died on July 28, 2008, at 91 years of age. His wife Susan predeceased him and he left behind one child, Judith Waldman.

Descriptive Notes

Associated material note: Library and Archives Canada possesses 30 cm of records created by Rabbi Monson as well.

Source

Archival Accessions

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Part Of

United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds

Level

Fonds

Fonds

67

Material Format

multiple media

Date

1936-2010, predominant 1938-1976

Physical Description

14.3 m of textual records

5593 photographs, 25 x 20 cm and smaller, and other media

Admin History/Bio

The Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of Toronto (FJPT) was incorporated in Ontario in March 1917 to coordinate the fundraising activities of Jewish charitable, philanthropic, and social service agencies in Toronto. In 1918, ten separate agencies were funded by the FJPT. By 1937, fourteen agencies were funded. The Great Depression of the 1930s and the development of several newer Jewish aid, education, and medical care organizations created both increased need for resources and growing competition for ever-more scarce dollars. Within a very few years, this funding crisis forced a major review of the organization.

During 1936, a series of special meetings of leading individuals were held to examine the income and expenditures of all Toronto Jewish agencies and also to speculate about the need for a new Toronto Jewish "community chest" as the sole fund-raising organization for a federation of all Jewish agencies, including the FJPT. In 1938, the new United Jewish Welfare Fund was formally constituted. Added to the FJPT's previous list of Toronto client agencies in 1938 were: the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Hebrew National Association, the Jewish Immigrant Aid Association, the Mizrachi Society, the Toronto Free Loan Association, the Geverkshaften, and Old Folks Home, and the United Palestine Appeal, raising the total number of agencies to twenty-two.

When the State of Israel was established in 1948, the UJWF's annual fundraising campaign was combined with the CJC's United Palestine appeal to form a new, combined campaign named the United Jewish Appeal (UJA). In 1967, the UJA name was legally changed to the United Jewish Appeal of Metropolitan Toronto.

In mid-1976, the organization's public name was changed to the Toronto Jewish Congress. Although initially thought of as a merger between the UJWF and the CJC, the actual result was the expansion of the UJWF responsibilities to include local education and welfare services previously shared with the Canadian Jewish Congress, Central Region. The UJWF, however, remained the legal senior entity.

In 1991, the public name was again changed to the Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto and, in 1999, to UJA Federation of Greater Toronto. By this date, over thirty beneficiary and affiliated agencies, forty-nine affiliated schools and five federation departments were fully or partly funded by the federation.

In June 2010, the organization altered its legal structure, with the senior legal entity becoming the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto.

Scope and Content

Fonds consists of 25 series: Annual Meetings, Annual Reports, Board of Directors, Constitution Committee, Executive Committee, Officers Committee, Budget and Finance Committee, Administration Committee, Social Planning Committee, Committee on Capital Needs and Planning, Central Committee on Scholarships in Aid, Joint Committee of the BJE and UJWF Study on Jewish Education, Nominations Committee, Pension Fund Committee, Coordinating Committee, Special Ad Hoc and Temporary Committees, Annual Campaign, Client Agencies, Joint Committee of the CJC and the UJWF, Committee on Community Organization, Sub-Committee on Construction and Administration of Community Schools, Joint Committee on Fundraising, Personnel Committee, Community Leadership Development Council, and Israel at Fifty Community Celebration.

Over 4500 photographs and a variety of other media are managed within Series 17, Campaign records.

Notes

For exact details about the contents of individual series and sub-series, please review their scope and contents notes.

Name Access

United Jewish Welfare Fund

Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of Toronto

United Jewish Appeal

Toronto Jewish Congress

Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto

UJA Federation of Greater Toronto

Subjects

Charities

Fund raising

Access Restriction

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

Related Material

For records of the predecessor of the UJWF, see Fonds 66, the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of Toronto fonds.

Further detailed documentation of the proposed merger between the UJWF and the CJC (creation of the TJC) may be found in Fonds 67, Sub-sub-series 5-5-1, Files 171 and 221.

Further documentation on the United Jewish Welfare Fund may be found within Fonds 9, Series 7, records of the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society.

For further detailed records of a key community leader's involvement with the UJWF see Accession 1982-8-8, the records of Samuel Godfrey, 1943-1972.

Creator

United Jewish Welfare Fund (1938-)

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Solomon Edell fonds

Personal series

Life cycle and family events sub-series

Level

Sub-series

Fonds

4

Series

1-5

Material Format

multiple media

Date

[ca. 1900]-2000

Physical Description

37 cm of textual records and other material

Admin History/Bio

Sol Edell had a large family and a large circle of friends and aquaintenances. Consequently, he was invited to many circumcisions, weddings and bar and bat mitzvahs. He also set up several memorial funds in memory of his sister and wives.There are also documents in this sub-series that relate to family members.

Scope and Content

Sub-series consists of correspondence, receipts, diplomas, photographs and films documenting various family celebrations, vacations and home life. There is a selection of invitations, cards and benchers sent by the Edell, Weinstock and Hoffman families as well as ones that they received from family and friends. In addition, there are newspaper clippings and notices of the deaths of Edell family members and friends as well as correspondence and receipts relating to memorial funds set up in their memory. The sub-series also contains films of family and friends taken at home, on vacation and at family celebrations.

Notes

Physical description note: includes 10 photographs, 7 film reels, and 1 audio reel.

Name Access

Hoffman family

Weinstock family

Edell, Dolly

Edell, Celia

Subjects

Families

Source

Archival Descriptions

Accession Number

2012-8-1

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

ca. 18 cm of textual records and other material

Date

1884-1985

Scope and Content

Accession consists of records documenting the Coppel and Cooper families of Galt (now Cambridge) and Toronto respectively. Coppel family records include family correspondence, photocopies of Moses Kappel's discharge papers from the Austro-Hungarian military (1884), B'nai Israel Synagogue sisterhood meeting minutes, financial records, photographs, Hadassah booklets and programmes, and a photo album documenting the closing of B'nai Israel Synagogue in 1985. Also included are records relating to Elizabeth Cooper (née Coppel)'s involvement in Canadian Young Judaea and her work as a camp counselor at a Jewish day camp near Kitchener-Waterloo (Judaean Day Camp/Camp Ruach). These records include correspondence, publications, activity schedules, lists of camp counselors, and a Young Judaean scarf. Coppel family records also include marriage and burial records of Aaron Coppel, audio cassettes of an oral history interview conducted with Cy Coppel in 1976, and military records documenting Max David Simonoff's service in the Canadian Navy during the Second World War. Finally, included is a Farband Shule (Folks School) program book (1927) and class photo (ca. 1931). Identified in the photograph is Ethel Raicus (first row, third from the right).

Cooper family records include digital photographs of Sam Cooper and the weightlifting club at the YMHA in Toronto (1930s), portraits of Jacob Cooper (Cooperberg), a school photo of Sam and Max Cooper, and a photo of Hilda Cooper.

Finally accession consists of program books for various events, including a Canadian Jewish Congress song book, an Israel Dance Theatre at the Royal Alexandra, and a Queen Esther Purim play.

Administrative History

Aaron Selig (Archie Aaron) Coppel (Kappel / Koppel / Cappell / Kappele) was born to Moses Kappel and Perl (nee Pistenfeld) in Galicia in 1882. He came to Canada in 1903 and lived with a landsmen family, the Siegels. Mr. Siegel was a horse dealer who took Aaron under his wing and taught him the horse trade. Aaron married Mr. Siegel's daughter, Chaya Geitel (Gertrude) Seigel, in 1905. Aaron and Geitel had seven children: Helen, Rose, Newt, Cyrus ("Cy," born in 1911), Les, George, and Harry. After marrying, Aaron and Geitel remained in Galt, and Aaron continued dealing in livestock. Although he was eager to assimilate into Canadian society (he gave his children British names and spoke with no accent), the family kept kosher and Aaron hired itinerant Hebrew teachers for the children.

Cyrus Coppel married Channa "Anna" Simonoff on 25 August1946. Anna was born in Russia to Avraham Dov and Chashe Bryna Tzaitzeck. Anna had three siblings: Sarah Merle, Faigle (died en route to Canada), and Mordecai Doved. She immigrated to Ottawa in 1914 with her family. An uncle already living in Ottawa had changed his last name to Simonoff and the family decided to change their name to Simonoff as well. Avraham worked as a tailor in Russia and likely continued in this profession in Canada. The family moved to Toronto sometime after 1919 and was actively involved in the Labour Zionist movement. Anna was in the milliner's union and two of her aunts, Slaava Raicus and Esther Cohen, were members of Club One (Pioneer Women). Anna and Cyrus had two children together: Bryna (24 February 1949-12 January 2006) and Elizabeth (b. 16 Dec. 1950). Cyrus initially worked as a mechanic, but later worked in the office of an auto shop and traded in auto parts. He also traded in livestock as a hobby. Cyrus was one of the founders of the B'nai Israel Synagogue in Galt. Initially, synagogue services were held in the homes of local residents, such as the Spring family; however, a building was finally purchased in 1946. After the synagogue closed, the Torahs and plaques went to the synagogue in Kitchener. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jacob Cooperberg (Kupferberg, Cooper) came to Canada around 1910 from Kielce, Poland. His wife and children (Max, Sam, and Aidel or Ida) remained in Poland, waiting for Jacob to earn enough money for them to come to Canada as well. His family was unable to join him until after the First World War had ended, arriving in 1920. Jacob and Sarah had three more children in Canada: Irving, Joey, and Hilda. Jacob worked as a peddler in Toronto and later opened a scrap yard, Cooper Iron and Medal. The family lived on Oxford Street in the Kensington Market area.

Sam Cooper married Kay Gernstein in 1948. They had two children together: Neil and Donna (married name is Speigel). Sam initially worked as a tailor, but later worked as a scrap dealer. Neil married Donna Coppel and also works in the scrap trade. Donna is a librarian.

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

Includes 1 photo album, 7 photographs (tiff), 3 photographs, 2 audio cassettes, and 1 scarf.

Subjects

Families

Places

Galt (Cambridge, Ont.)

Toronto (Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

• 
• 
• 

Accession Number

2015-11-13

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

8 photographs : b&w ; 41 x 51 cm and smaller

1 object

1 book

Date

[193-]-1976

Scope and Content

Accession consists of photographs of Sandra (née Title) Samuels; a hanger from Shiffer-Hillman and a published book "The Prominent Jews of Canada" that belonged to Sandra's in-laws, Kate and Alex Samuels.

Administrative History

Samuel (ca. 1882-1929, Russia) and Gussie (nee Moscovitz) (b. ca.1884, Romania) Fishman, immigrated to Welland, Ontario from Romania. Both arrived in the United States as teenagers sometime around the turn of the century. Samuel and Gussie were married in the United States and by 1920 had immigrated with their young family to the historic township of Crowland in Welland County. Here they opened and operated a men's clothing store. Together they had six children; Molly (b. 1909, USA), Abe (b. 1911, USA), Morris (b. 1916, USA), Ruth (b. 1915, USA), Ann (b. 1920, Ontario) and Ethel. Morris married Pauline and lived in St. Catherines, Ruth married Nate Oelbaum and lived in Tucson, Arizona, Anne married Alec Rothman and lived in Port Colborne, Ethel married Eddie Matchtinger and lived in Toronto and Abe never married. Yeva Fishman, the niece of Samuel Fishman married Morris Turk. Her father was (Frank Fishman?) and her mother was Sara Leah Fishman. Molly Fishman married Harry Title (Teitelebaum) (b. ca. 1903). They had three children, Greta (nee Title) Greisman, Sandra (nee Title) Samuels and Stephen (m. Carole Hillman, niece of Ben Hillman). Harry Teitelbaum was the son of Israel and Frumeth Teitelbaum. He was born in Gdansk, Poland (b. ca., 1903). Harry Title had four younger siblings; Lloyd, Birdie (m. Witlin), Arthur and Lorelle (Lieba) the youngest who was born in Toronto. Harry arrived to Canada shortly after the First World War and worked in the garment industry. He and his brother Arthur founded the Title Dress Company in the late 1920s and operated the business out of 355 Adelaide St. West. In the late 1980s, the business moved from this location to Adelaide and Bathurst. Sandra Title (b. Oct 27, 1936, Toronto), the middle daughter of Molly Fishman and Harry Title, married Lawrence Samuels. Together they had five children Joanna, John, Noah, Tom and Caroline. Lawrence was the eldest son of Alex Samuels (d. 1966) and Kate (nee Goldberg) Samuels. He had two younger siblings Herbie and Florence (m. Bill Goodman). Lawrence's father Alex Samuels immigrated to Canada from Dubrovna, White Russia (present day Dubrouna, Belarus). He immigrated to Canada with his parents Samuel and Chana Samuels and his younger siblings Sol, Ben, Riva and Polly. Alex and his brothers Sol and Ben established Reliable Toy Company around 1929 on Carlaw Ave. They sold the company in 1990.

Use Conditions

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

Subjects

Families

Name Access

Samuels, Sandra, 1936-

Shiffer-Hillman (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Accession Number

2018-8-13

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records and architectural drawings

1 videocassette (ca. 27 min.)

Date

2006

Scope and Content

Accession consists of material documenting the Eker family. Included are: a videocassette of home video footage; a memoir written by P. M. Eker, Glen Eker's father, in 2006; and architectural drawings of Eker residences at 1050 College Street in Toronto and 5034 Esplanade Avenue in Montreal.

Administrative History

Glen Eker was born in Toronto, Ontario to Paul Eker and Dorothy Horwitz. He grew up in the Forest Hill neighbourhood of Toronto before moving with his family to Hamilton. He received two master’s degrees (one in sociology, the other in political science) from McMaster University and a third master’s degree (in library science) from the University of Toronto.

Glen's wife, Deborah Pekilis, was born in Montreal and lived there until her parents moved to Toronto. She was the librarian for the Jewish Genealogical Society and sat on the Hamilton Historical Board. She is currently a writer.

Glen has worked as a research assistant and a teaching assistant at McMaster and has taught at Ryerson University and Mohawk College. At present, he works as an estate and genealogy researcher.

Glen has published a book on Karl Marx, five indexes of Jews in Canada, and one index of Amish and Mennonites in Canada. His genealogy articles have appeared in various magazines and his short stories and poems have appeared in print as well.

Glen has worked on his family genealogy for a number of years. His paternal family line derives from Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Poland while his maternal line derives from Byelorussia and Romania. He is descended from the Horwitz and Strachman families on the latter.

Subjects

Families

Name Access

Eker (family)

Eker, Glen

Places

College Street (Toronto, Ont.)

Montréal (Québec)

Source

Archival Accessions

Part Of

Frankel and Draper family fonds

Level

Fonds

Fonds

104

Material Format

multiple media

Date

1895-2009

Physical Description

21 cm of textual records and other material

Admin History/Bio

Gottschall Frankel (1832–1918) and his wife Mina Meyer (1841–1921) were born in Biblis (Hessen) and Aschaffenburg, Germany, respectively. Gottschall died in Biblis and is buried in Alsbach, Germany. Mina passed away in Toronto and is interred in the old Holy Blossom Cemetery.

Leo Frankel (1864–1933) was one of nine children born in Biblis, Germany, to Gottschall and Mina. His siblings were Salmon (1874–1906), Benno (d. 1921), Ike (d. 1950), Louis (1879–1952), Maurice (1865–1935), Sigmund (1866–1936), Ida (1870–1952) (m. Levy) and Herman (1871–1939). Three of the siblings are buried in Montreal, and the rest are buried in Toronto.

Leo immigrated to Canada in 1881 at the age of seventeen. In 1886, he established Frankel Brothers (scrap metal and processing) in association with his brothers. The siblings were eventually succeeded by several sons of the original partners. The company subsequently became Frankel Steel Ltd. and Steel Structures Corporation.

Leo married Helena "Lena" Mayer of Florsheim, Germany, on 2 July 1890 in New York City. They had three sons: Egmont Leo (1891–1964), Carl Milford (1894–1984), and Roy Hecker (1896–1983). The family lived at 504 Jarvis Street, the former Goodman residence in Toronto, from 1908.

Carl married Dorothy Jacobs (1903–1987), who was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Her parents were Bernard Jacobs of Texas and Henrietta Altheimer of Arkansas. Carl and Dorothy had two daughters: Nancy Jean Frankel (b. 1928) and Carol Nina Frankel (1930–1999).

Carl was a prominent member of the Toronto Jewish community, active in Holy Blossom Temple, several Masonic lodges, and was a founder of the North Toronto YM-YWHA.

His daughter Nancy attended Jarvis Collegiate Institute and was confirmed at Holy Blossom Temple. She married Darrell (Drapkin) Draper (1922–1992) of Fort William/Port Arthur in 1949. Darrell had studied at the University of Toronto and became a lawyer and judge. The couple's three children are Dr. Paula Jean Draper (b. 1953), a historian; Phillip Jacobs (b. 1954), a real estate lawyer; and Kenneth Lewis (b. 1957). Collectively, the siblings have six children and several grandchildren. Nancy Draper has been a longtime volunteer at the Ontario Jewish Archives.

Nancy's sister Carol married Mandel Sprachman (1925–2002), the son of a renowned architect Abraham Sprachman of the firm Kaplan and Sprachman. Mandel followed his father into the profession, specializing in cinemas and theatres, including the award-winning restoration of the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres (1985–1989).

The Frankel family genealogy is wide in scope, extending from Germany and England to the United States and Canada. One notable ancestor with German lineage is Israel Beer Josephat, who changed his name to Paul Julius Reuter and founded the Reuters News Agency.

Scope and Content

Fonds consists of records documenting the Frankel and Draper (Drapkin) families and their connected branches, such as the Jacobs (English in origin), Josephat, Meyer, and Altheimer (all German in origin) families. Records include: photographs of the exterior and interior of the Frankel home at 504 Jarvis Street, Toronto; formal individual and group photographs taken in Toronto and other cities of family members at various gatherings and of Nancy Frankel's confirmation class at Holy Blossom; pictures of Darrell Drapkin (later Draper) and his Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity brothers at the University of Toronto; group photographs of members of the Palestine Lodge of Masons, of which Carl and his brother Egmont were members; and a variety of candid shots in many locations including outside the Frankel family home in Biblis, Germany.

Textual records include: essays and programs concerning Holy Blossom, publications from Camp Wabi-Kon and Jarvis Collegiate yearbooks, and material from the Ulyssean Society at Hart House, the Oakdale Golf and Country Club, and the Carmel Chapter of Hadassah documenting Nancy's involvement with these organizations.

Objects include a souvenir matchbook from the wedding of Darrell Draper and Nancy Frankel and a membership coin and badge in a leather case documenting Carl Frankel's involvement with Masonic lodges.

Notes

Physical description note: Includes 250 photographs, 3 objects,1 CD, and 1 video cassette.

Name Access

Draper (family)

Draper, Nancy (1928-)

Frankel (family)

Subjects

Families

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Cowan family fonds

Level

Fonds

Fonds

102

Material Format

multiple media

Date

1902-2002

Physical Description

90 cm of textual records and other material

Admin History/Bio

Saul Cowan (1910-2002) was the seventh of nine children born to Zvi Hirsh (Harris) Cohen (1872-1954) and Chana Leah (Annie) (née Gollom) Cohen (1873-1960). His siblings were Woolf Cowan (Colvin) (1896-1987), Kate Cowan (b.1898) (m. Wener), Jack Cowan (1900-1992), Rivka (Reva) Cowan (1902-ca.2002) (m. Lieberman), Moe Cowan (b.1904), Jeanne Cowan (b.1906) (m. Kallman), Norman Cowan (b. 1909) and Miriam Cowan (b. 1919) (m. Rose).

The Cowan family immigrated to Toronto from England with their six oldest children circa 1908. Harris worked as a tailor in England and as an operator in men's clothing factory Tip Top Tailors in Toronto.

Saul graduated from the University of Toronto in 1931 in honours philosophy.

In 1932, Cowan married Lillian Rosenthal (1910-1978), the daughter of Morris (1883-1967) and Nessie (Celia) (née Soren) Rosenthal (1881-1969). Together, they had two children, Michael (b. 1939) and Trudy (b. 1941). The Rosenthal family ran a boarding house on Hanlan's Point and had a place at Belle Ewart. In 1945, Morris and Celia purchased Wapaska Lodge on Muskoka Bay just outside Gravenhurst and ran it as a family resort from 1948-1965.

Lillian, who was a public school teacher, passed away in 1978 and the following year Saul married Libbie Aiken (d. 2006). Libbie had been the head physiotherapist at the Toronto General Hospital during the late 1940s.

Saul pursued a career with the North York Board of Education serving as both trustee and chairman from 1958 to 1976. He was also very involved with the Jewish community and the growing North York community. He was also involved with organizations such as B'nai Brith, Canadian Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (CPPNW), and the North York Social Planning Committee. He was a founder of the York Finch General Hospital.

Trudy studied physical and occupational therapy at the University of Toronto but changed career direction when she moved to Calgary in 1969 and became involved in historical organizations such as the Glenbow Museum, the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation, and the Lougheed House Conservation Society. She married Leonid Luker (b. 1937) in 1982.

Scope and Content

Fonds consists of records documenting the Cowan (Cohen) family and their connected branches including the Rosenthal, Soren, Gollom, Aiken, and Altshuller families. The records originated from Saul Cowan, his first and second wives, Lillian Rosenthal and Libbie Aiken, and his daughter, Trudy Cowan Luker. Records include photographs of family members at graduations, weddings, school, religious events, camping activities, and milestone celebrations. Textual records include traditional and email correspondence, marriage certificates, passports, immigration documents, family histories, theatre and concert programmes, and newspaper clippings. Many of the records document Saul Cowan's personal and professional activities. The majority of the material relates to the Cowan and Rosenthal families.

Notes

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION NOTE: Includes 386 photographs, 2 audiotapes, and 6 objects.

Four books from the collection have been removed and integrated into the OJA's library holdings. These include titles Have I Ever lied To You Before? by Jerry Goodis, My Outlook by Jack Cowan, When Partners Become Parents by Carolyn Pape Cowan and Philip A. Cowan, and Front Page Challenge: History of a Television Legend by Alex Barris.

Name Access

Cowan (family)

Subjects

Families

Accession Number

2008-6-11

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Congregation Beth David fonds

Level

Fonds

Fonds

88

Material Format

multiple media

Date

[ca. 1916]-1996, predominant 1940-1996

Physical Description

38 cm of textual records (9v.) and other material

Admin History/Bio

The Brantford Hebrew Association, Congregation Beth David’s precursor, was founded in 1907 when Rabbi Backer officiated Brantford’s first public Jewish religious service in an upper hall on George Street. Services had previously taken place in the homes of Jewish families, who had begun settling in the area around the turn of the century. By 1911, services had moved to the old Conservative Hall at Dalhousie and King Street. In 1915, the congregation purchased a building at 33 Palace Street and remodeled it into a synagogue. This building was also used as a community centre and for the Congregation’s Hebrew school.

On October 13th, 1911 the congregation was incorporated, and the following year it purchased land for a cemetery in the northeast corner of Mount Hope Cemetery. Due to increasing membership, a new synagogue was built at 50 Waterloo Street in 1948. In January 1950, the congregation changed its name to Beth David in honour of member David Axler, who died during the Second World War while training as a pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

The congregation was at its peak in the 1960s with 150 member families. However, membership drastically fell after the children of this generation moved to larger cities and their parents followed after retirement. By 1999, only 28 families remained as members and services were reduced to being held on the High Holidays and special occasions, such as, b'nai mitzvah. Dwindling resources and membership forced the congregation to close around 2001. Throughout its existence, over 30 rabbis served the congregation, including Rabbi Saul Wolfe Gringorten (ca. 1910-1923). Its cemetery continues to be looked after by Allan Norris, a past president of the congregation.

Scope and Content

Fonds consists of records documenting the acitivities, religious programs and services, membership, and finances of Congregation Beth David, as well as the recognition and honours awarded by and to Brantford's Jewish community. Included are meeting minutes, photographs, plaques, a key, a marriage register, general ledgers, ledgers and lists of membership dues and receipts, audited financial statements, budgets, correspondece, bulletins, office stationary, newsclippings, certificates, library book cards, bookplates, rabbi contracts, and surveys.

Fonds has been arranged into the following six series: 1. Meetings ; 2. Religious programs and services; 3. Finances & accounting ; 4. Administrative functions ; 5. Bulletins ; and, 6. Events.

Notes

Includes 10 microfiches of textual records, 5 architectural drawings, 11 photographs (4 negatives), 3 plaques, 1 mounted letter and 1 key.

Fonds was reduced from ca. 1 metre to ca. 45 cm. See accession 2001-10-3 for further information about the culled material.

Name Access

Congregation Beth David (Brantford, Ont.)

Subjects

Architecture

Communities

Synagogues

Physical Condition

The binding on some of the general ledgers is fragile and coming apart. They have been stored flat to reduce any strain.

The architectural drawings have some tears and should be flattened.

Related Material

Please see the Sadie Stren fonds 78 for other records documenting Brantford's Jewish community and the Beth David Congregation, including the synagogue's original letters of incorporation.

For other photographs documenting Congregation Beth David, see: accesssion 1976-6-5 (photo # 1133); accession 1976-6-6 (photos # 1138, 1137, 1136); accession 1976-6-13; accession 1986-2-2 (photos #3593-3595, 3856, 3889-3894), photo #918; and, photo #578.

For records related to Beth David's namesake, David Axler, and photographs of its cemetery, please see accession #2004-5-71.

For records of Rabbi Gringorten, see accession #2009-2-5 and 2008-11-3

For additional records related to Brantford families and other Jewish organizations, such as the Hadassah chapter and B'nai Brith lodge, please see accession #2001-10-3; MG 2J29a, #2009-7-1, 1978-11-4, 1977-8-16, 1992-8-3, 1980-1-14, 1978-1-2, 2008-7-1, photo# 109, photo# 755, and photo #758.

Arrangement

Fonds is arranged to the file-level, but only described to the series-level. Three file-level descriptions exist for files attached directly to the fonds. Photographs with existing item-level descriptions were also attached to the fonds.

Creator

Congregation Beth David (Brantford, Ont.)

Places

Brantford (Ont.)

Accession Number

2001-10-3

1978-11-4

1981-12-2 / MG3 B16

1976-6-8

Source

Archival Descriptions

Accession Number

2017-7-5

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

45 cm of textual records (6 vol.)

ca. 1000 photographs : b&w and col. ; 25 x 20 cm or smaller

5 drawings

2 ribbons

Date

1976-2007

Scope and Content

Accession consists of photographs and textual records that document the activities of the General Wingate Branch 256 from 1976-2007. Also included in the accession are 6 albums dated 1976, 1984, 1985-1986, 1998-2002, 2002-2004, and 2002-2007.

The album for 1976 consists of material related to the First World Assembly of Jewish War Veterans held in Jerusalem. Included are photographs, correspondence, a contact list for branch officers, executive committee and chaplains for 1976/77, newsclippings and general memorabilia related to the First World Assembly in Israel. Of note is a photograph of Moshe Dayan at a lecture of the First World Assembly and of Ephraim Katzir, Israel's fourth president.

The album for 1984 consists of material related to the unveiling of the Canadian Jewish War Veterans's Cenotaph at Mt. Sinai Cemetery, Toronto. Included are photographs of the Cenotaph, Mt. Sinai cemetery, the annual Remembrance Day parade, newsclippings, drawings and political cartoons. Of note are letters of congratulations from members of Parliament to the General Wingate Branch for their efforts in making the Cenotaph possible.

The album for 1985-1986 consists of material related to the annual memorial service dedicated to the men and women who lost their lives in World War II and in particular the 430 Jewish men and women slain in the Canadian Forces. Included are photographs and newsclippings related to the annual memorial service at Mt. Sinai cemetery, Remembrance Day parade and fundraising events.

The album for 1998-2002 consists of material related to the memorial service dedicated to 50th anniversary of the end of WWII. Included are photographs of the memorial service, articles related the Wingate Branch donations to Baycrest and Sunnybrook Hospitals, the CNE Warrior Day parade, the annual Veterans' seder and poppy campaign and the Jewish military exhibit held at Toronto's Lipa Green Building. Of note is a letter from Jean Chretien paying tribute to war veterans.

The album for 2002-2004 consists of material related to the 70th anniversary of the General Wingate Branch 256. Included is a 70th anniversary commemorative soft cover booklet, photographs, newsclippings, general meeting newsletters, correspondence, letters from members of Parliament and the 2004-2005 report to the community.

The album for 2002-2007 consists of material relating to the Wingate Branch annual memorial services held at Mt. Sinai cemetery. Included are photographs of the annual memorial services, community and fundraising events, newsclippings concerning the diminishing membership of the Canadian Legion, letters from members of Parliament, a Portraits of Bravery: Canadian Jewish War Veterans brochure and photo negatives of 2003-2006 events.

Administrative History

The Jewish Brigade was a member of the Great War Association in the 1920s. After its first president was installed in the early 1930s, the Royal Canadian Legion granted a charter for a Jewish Veteran’s Branch. The brigade was renamed the General Wingate Branch in the mid-1940s after the British army officer Major General Orde Charles Wingate, D.S.O. Although Major Wingate was not Jewish, he was a passionate Zionist. At first, the branch met at a veteran’s hall at Crawford and College Street in Toronto, but later purchased its own house at 1610 Bathurst Street. In 1968, the branch moved to Eglinton Avenue West. It is currently located at the Zionist Centre on Marlee Avenue. The Branch holds an annual memorial march and service at the Mt. Sinai Cemetery where there stands a Cenotaph funded and maintained by the branch. The Cenotaph memorializes Jewish servicemen who died and are buried overseas, as well as those who fought in Israel's War of Independence and partisans who fought the Nazis. Once a year veterans distribute poppies and the funds raised are disbursed to assist veterans and their families, hospitals, medical research and charitable causes in the community. In 2018, after more than eight decades of operation Toronto's General Wingate Branch 256 of the Royal Canadian Legion voted to close its doors and give up its charter.

Subjects

Veterans--Canada

Name Access

Royal Canadian Legion. General Wingate Branch 256

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2015-9-2

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

ca. 8 cm of textual records and other material

Date

[ca. 1938]-[ca. 2009]

Scope and Content

Accession consists of material documenting the Silberg family's immigration to Ontario, family life in South Africa and Ontario, education, communal involvement in Hamilton, and pharmacy businesses. Included are photographs, correspondence, ephemera from the pharmacy businesses (such as bags and a name tag), newspaper clippings, certificates, invitations, flyers, school transcripts, architectural drawings for Night-Day Pharmacy on Ryman Road East, cookbooks, and photo albums. Also included is a JNF book for a Negev dinner honouring Hilton and Shirley Silberg as well a copy of Beth Jacob Synagogue's 125th anniversary book (the Beth Jacob Family Album).

Administrative History

Hilton Silberg was born in Durban, South Africa in 1951 to Sam and Brina Silberg. Sam worked in the retail furniture business and Hilton has three siblings: Sheryl, Lynn and Brett. Hilton was very active in sports and played soccer, cricket and swimming. At age 11, he started competing in ballroom dancing with his sister Lynn. At age 16, he and Lynn were the South African Juvenile Ballroom Champions and runners up in the Latin American Championship. In highschool, Hilton started his own DJ business which he continued through his first years of pharmacy school.

Shirley (nee Gitlin) Silberg was born in Durban in 1951 to Max and Isabel Gitlin. Max was a physical medicine specialist and Isabel ran his practice. Shirley has two siblings: Brian and Barbara. Shirley was very active in her school's netball, field hockey and swimming teams.

Hilton and Shirley met at the Natal Pharmacy School in Durban and married in 1974. After marriage, Hilton completed his one-year mandatory service in the South African army as an officer. After his service, he and Shirley went on a ten month long backpacking trip which ended at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. This trip was an eye-opener for them and they realized that they no longer wanted to live in a country with apartaid politics. They didn't want to raise children in South Africa. They chose Canada as their destination and applied three times for entry. Thier application was rejected all three times, but Hilton staged a "sit-in" at the Canadian embassy in Pretoria and an immigration officer eventually met with him and overturned thier rejection. They arrived in Canada in August 1977.

They went to the University of Toronto School of Pharmacy for two years to re-license in Canada. In the evenings they worked in a pharmacy owned by their Canadian sponsor. In 1981, Hilton and Shirley partnered with their Canadian sponsors and opened the Amhurst Pharmacy in Dundas. In 1982 the pharmacy's name was changed to Hilton's Pharmacy. In 1987 Shopper's Drug Mart purchased Hilton's Pharmacy. The Silberg's stayed on to operate two of the franchises in Dundas. In 1992, Hilton and Shirley left Shppers Drug Mart to open the DayNight Pharmacy on the east Hamilton Mountain. This was the first pharmacy in Hamilton to remain open until midnight. Their pharmacy eventually expanded to include five stores. In 2007, they sold their business to Rexall Pharma Plus.

Hilton and Shirley have three children: Mark, Maxine and Brad. Hilton and Shirley were very active in Hamilton's community. Hilton was involved in a variety of organizations including, Beth Jacob synagogue, Shalom Village, and Jewish National Fund Hamilton. Shirley has volunteered with various Hamilton JCC programs, the Hamilton North End Breakfast Program, the 'Out of the Cold' Program, Goldie's Place day program for adults at Shalom Village, and the Jewish National Fund Hamilton.

Descriptive Notes

Physical description note: includes ca. 80 photographs, 4 cookbooks, 1 architectural drawing, 3 bags, and 1 name tag.

Related material note: oral history #419.

Subjects

Immigrants--Canada

Families

Occupations

Societies

South Africa--Emigration and immigration

Name Access

Silberg, Hilton

Silberg, Shirley

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2003-5-5

Material Format

multiple media

Date

[192-?]-1975

Scope and Content

The records in this accession document the Raxlen family and the Raxlen Clinic and Doctor's Hospital that was set up by the Raxlen brothers. The records also include personal correspondence between Katie Cherney and her mother, family photographs, greeting cards, press clippings and a booklet of articles written by Rabbi Fine of Peterborough. This booklet includes translated documents that he produced as rabbi from 1926 to 1934. Finally, there are three historic postcards documenting Holy Blossom's building on Bond Street, Jarvis Collegiate, and the Doctor's Hospital

Custodial History

Records were collected by Karen Fejer, the daughter of Alexander Raxlen.

Administrative History

The Raxlen brothers were born in Toronto in Cabbagetown, where their father operated a grocery store. The four brothers were Saul, Benjamin, Alexander, and Sam. All of the brothers graduated in medicine during the 1930s, except for Sam, who became a dentist. Together, they opened up the Raxlen Clinic in 1937, which was located on Carleton Street.

In 1953, the brothers opened their own private hospital, the Doctor's Hospital, which was located on Brunswick Avenue. The hospital started in a ninety-year-old building that was owned by a religious order. The brothers modernized and expanded it from a facility accomodating 59 patients to one that could hold up to 168 beds by 1955. It soon became the largest privately-held, non-profit hospital in North America. By the time the brothers sold it during the late 1970s, it had 554 full-time staff and five hundred hospital beds.

The other family documented in this accession is the Cherney family from Peterborough. The patriarch and matriarch were Abraham and B. Cherney. They had two children, Katie ("Kaye") and Meyer. Abraham and B. divorced, and Abraham remarried and had three more kids: Harry, Helen, and Louis. The family remained in Peterbough, but the ex-wife moved to Toronto. Kaye married Dr. Alexander Raxlen, and they had three children. Karen Fejer, their daughter, is the donor.

Use Conditions

Correspondence is restricted. Researchers must contact donor for permission to access them. The rest of the collection is open.

Descriptive Notes

Restrictions on access, use, reproduction, and publication: Some of the photographs are the property of the City of Toronto Archives.

Subjects

Families

Hospitals

Rabbis

Name Access

Doctor's Hospital (Toronto, Ont.)

Fine, Abraham

Places

Peterborough (Ont.)

Toronto (Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Part Of

Solomon Edell fonds

General community activities series

Level

Series

Fonds

4

Series

11

Material Format

multiple media

Date

1950-2010

Physical Description

77 cm of textual records and other material

Admin History/Bio

In addition to his ongoing involvement with Clanton Park, the Canadian Jewish Congress Archives, the Aliyah Support Group, Jones Avenue Cemetery, Shomrai Shabbos and Adas Israel, Sol Edell undertook special projects on behalf of a wide array of Jewish organizations. These include cultural (Toronto Cantorial Scholarship Fund), educational (Netivot Hatorah and Yeshivat Or Chaim Ulpanat Orot), religious (Union of Jewish Orthodox Congregations), social welfare (Association of Jewish Seniors and Co-Ordinated Services to the Jewish Elderly) and Zionist (Canadian Friends of Yeshivat Hakotel and State of Israel Bonds) organizations.

Scope and Content

Series consists of records documenting Sol Edell's involvement with a wide variety of Jewish educational, social and religious organizations and institutions in Canada, the United States, and Israel. Included are meeting minutes, publications, reports, photographs, correspondence, invitations, programmes, financial records, an architectural drawing, and a sound recording. While many of these organizations such as Eitz Chaim, Or Chaim Ulpanat Orot (educational), Mizrachi Organization of Canada, Emunah Women (Zionist) and Beth Jacob V’Anshe Drildz (synagogue) are orthodox, others such as Associated Hebrew Day Schools (educational), State of Israel Bonds (Zionist) and Co-ordinated Services to the Jewish Elderly (social welfare) have no religious affiliation.

Notes

Physical description note: includes 26 photographs, 1 audio cassette, and 1 architectural drawing.

Name Access

Eitz Chaim

Or Chaim Ulpanat Orot

Mizrachi Men’s Organization

Emunah Women

Beth Jacob V'Anshei Drildz (Toronto, Ont.)

Associated Hebrew Day Schools

State of Israel Bonds

Co-ordinated Services to the Jewish Elderly

Camp Moshava

Harbord Collegiate

Netivot Hatorah

Union of Jewish Orthodox Congregations

B'Nei Akiva

Toronto Committee for Bikur Cholim Hospital

Subjects

Charities

Children

Education

Fund raising

Older people

Religion

Zionism

Source

Archival Descriptions

Accession Number

2013-12-6

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

ca. 200 photographs and other material

Date

[193-]-[2007?]

Scope and Content

Accession consists of material documenting the personal life and family of Myra Merkur. The bulk of the accession consists of photographs and home movies documenting family activities and an outing to High Park and the Toronto Zoo, holiday celebrations (such as Hanukkah Purim, Passover, and New Year's Eve costume parties), milestones (such as, Myra's wedding and graduation), cottage life at Gamebridge Beach and Camp Wishiwami, and family holidays and travel (such as to Israel, Blue Mountains in Collingwood, and Grossingers in New York).

Also included are sound recordings of a speech made by David Merkur to Nomi Tepperman at her bat mitzvah (17 May 1998) and of an interview with David Merkur who explains to his tweleve year old granddaughter what life was like when he was twelve (1 Nov. 2000).

Finally, accession includes a photocopy of a tribute Myra wrote for her late mother Lena Charlotte Gula documenting Lena's life and Myra's memories of her.

Administrative History

Myra Merkur (née Gula) was born to Lena Gula (née Neimen) and Jack Gula in Toronto in 1933. She had one sister, Elaine Wolfish. As a child, Myra and her family lived with her maternal grandmother, Betty "Brindel", at 234 Markham Street. They later moved into their own home at 1 Enid Crescent in 1949. Myra's father initially worked as a tailor but later went into the sales business selling furniture and insurance. Myra's mother initially stayed at home but obtained work in the mid-1950s as a saleswoman at Morgan's department store.

Myra married David Israel Merkur in 1954. David was a civil engineer and lawyer. He later started a family real-estate business that involved buying, selling, and maintaining properties. Myra and David had three children together: Shauna Tepperman (b. 1956), Lorne Merkur (b. 1957), and Jordan Merkur (b. 1962).

Myra completed her undergraduate degree from Atkinson College (York University) around 1975. She obtained her master of education from OISE in 1982. Myra worked as an ESL teacher with the Toronto Public School Board and was involved as a volunteer and leader with the National Council of Jewish Women, JF&CS, and the Jewish Women's Federation (Women's Philanthropy).

Descriptive Notes

Physical description: includes 1 folder of textual records, 2 sound recordings (wav), and 7 DVDs

Subjects

Families

Vacations

Fasts and feasts--Judaism

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

New York (State)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2015-12-7

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

ca. 10 cm of textual records and other material

Date

1986, 1991-2015

Scope and Content

Accession consists of material documenting the personal and professional activities of Janice Benatar. Personal records include a family tree, speeches Janice delivered at the Lipa Lippers Toastmaster's Group meetings, a Sephardic cookbook, immigration papers, and a Sharon School Reunion invitation for alumni living in Toronto. Also included are photographs of Janice with her family, performing in a ballet production with the Academy of Ballet and Jazz, with her newborn son, at her son's bar mitzvah at Chabad Flamingo, and with the keys to her first home in Thornhill. Also identified in photographs are: Elan Levitan, Viviane Benatar, Michael Benatar, Claudia Benatar, Rachel Pasternak, and Samuel Pasternak.

Also included are speeches, invitations, event programs, and video recordings of Book Of Life events as well as a bookmark that was designed by artist Enya Keshet for Book of Life honourees. Finally, accession also includes Professional Advisory Committee meeting minutes (2009-2015) and breakfast seminar presentations (2014-2015).

Use Conditions

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

Descriptive Notes

Physical description note: includes 7 photographs, 4 DVDs, 200 KB of textual records, and 1 bookmark.

Subjects

Immigrants--Canada

Nonprofit organizations

Philanthropy and fundraising

Women

Name Access

Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2015-12-5

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

4 folders of textual records

ca. 94 photographs : b&w and col. (44 tiff.) ; 20 x 25 cm or smaller

1 plaque

Date

1936-1990, predominant 1951-1990

Scope and Content

Accession consists of records documenting the activities of Ronnie Roth. Included are textual and graphic materials relating to Ronnie's personal life and career such as, photographs of family milestones and events; Ronnie's youth and early adulthood in South Africa, his involvement with Betar; and time as a paratrooper with the Israeli Army; Ronnie and Sandra's wedding; travel; Ronnie's insurance broker license graduation; and condolence letters sent to the Roth family after his passing. Also included are records documenting Ronnie's communal involvement, particularly his involvement with B'nai Brith Raoul Wallenberg - Yorkdale Circle Lodge, Antibes-Torresdale Ratepayers Association, and Forest Hill Ratepayers Association . B'nai Brith material includes photographs of Ronnie's participation in B'nai Brith Canada's 1986 Mission to Israel; photographs of events honouring Ronnie and his work; and an issue of The Orbit that eulogizes Ronnie. Finally, the accession consists of a business card for Ronnie's film and video entertainment company in South Africa and a Prime Minister's Certificate of Appreciation from the Conservative Party of Canada.

Identified in the photographs are: Ronnie Roth, Sandra Roth, Chantal [Roth], Gavin Roth, Elana [Roth], Morris Flicht, Frank Dimant, Ralph Snow, Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir, Harry Bick, Sam Pacht, Merv Rosenstein, Ralph Cohen, [?] Steinmetz, Colin Baskind, Dr. Meister, Esther Shiner, Peter Roth, Paul Roth, and Annie Guttman.

Custodial History

Material was in possession of Sandra Roth, Ronnie's wife. Sandra donated it to the OJA.

Administrative History

Ronnie Roth was born on December 24, 1938 to Mr. Dezso (Desmond) and Mrs. Erzsi (Elizabeth) Abraham of Johannesburg, South Africa. Throughout his youth, Ronnie was active in a variety of Zionist groups including: the Zionist Youth Movement of South Africa, Betar, the Zionist Revisionist Organization and the South African Zionist Federation. In his late teens, Ronnie went on Na[c]hal Tzonei-ach and joined the Tzanchanim, the elite paratrooper corps of the Israeli Army. Ronnie served in the military for three years. His time in Israel also included work on a kibbutz.

By the age of 25, Ronnie had returned to South Africa and was a director of the Tollman Group of hotels and manager of the famous Johannesburg restaurant, The Colony. Ronnie married Sandra Benn from Port Elizabeth, SA, in August 1964. Sandra was a singer, dancer and entertainer. After their marriage, they settled in Johannesburg where Ronnie continued to work as an hotelier. Their first daughter, Chantal, was born in 1966 followed by Gavin in 1969 and Elana in 1973. During this period, Ronnie’s community involvement grew as he became Executive Director of Tel Hai in 1968 and served in this role until 1970. He then joined the Jewish United Communal Fund and ran their fundraising campaign.

The Roth’s were unhappy with South Africa’s apartheid politics and were eager to emigrate. Ronnie sought employment opportunity abroad and was offered employment as a fundraiser for UJA Federation in Toronto in 1975. Ronnie accepted the position and immigrated to Toronto in 1976. Sandra followed him with their children a few months later. When he completed his UJA assignment, he became an insurance broker. After a year, he founded KRG Insurance Brokers with two partners in 1980.

Upon arriving in Canada, Ronnie became interested in immigration issues and co-founded the South African Jewish Association in Canada (SAJAC) to help other South Africans with immigration and adjustment to Canadian life. He was the organization’s first president from 1976 to 1981 and again from 1986 to 1987. Ronnie’s involvement in assisting newcomers extended to his roles as Member of the Board of Directors and Member of the Integration Committee of the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society as well as Chairman of the Sherut Shalom Employment & Integration Assistance to African Jews.

Ronnie was also active in B’nai Brith Canada. He joined the Yorkdale Lodge in 1983 and went on to serve as both vice-president and president. During his tenure as president, he played a critical role in the integration of the Yorkdale and Circle Lodges into the unified Raoul Wallenberg Lodge. He also served in various positions at the National level with B’nai Brith Canada, including as National Chairman of the Israel Cabinet, Co-Chairman of the Fundraising Committee and a member of the National Executive and Board of Governors. In 1986, the National Leadership awarded him with the B’nai Brith Canada Achievement Award. In the same year, he and his wife and fellow lodge member Sandra (the lodge’s first female full member) were honoured recipients of the Israel Bonds Negev Award.

Ronnie also held important roles in the community at-large as president of the Antibes-Torresdale Ratepayers Association and Forest Hill Ratepayers Association; president and founder of the Rockford Community Summer Day Camp; Member of the City of North York Condominium Committee; Member of the Board of Directors of Baycrest’s Men’s Service Group; and Member of the Board of Directors of Bank Leumi (Canada).

Ronnie passed away on October 14, 1989 at the age of 50 years.

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

Immigrants--Canada

Societies

South Africa--Emigration and immigration

Source

Archival Accessions

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Accession Number

2016-1-5

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

ca. 10 cm of textual records and other material

Date

1957-2015, predominant 1974-2015

Scope and Content

Accession consists of textual and graphic material documenting Claude Heimann's immigration to Canada, career, involvement with Temple Har Zion and family life. Included are photographs, correspondence, newsletters and journals, writings and presentations by Heimann, certificates, newspaper clippings, event and conference programs, and business cards. Also included are documents with the text used for Totum Research's website.

Administrative History

Claude Heimann was born on 21 March 1944 in Johannesburg, South Africa to Wilhelm (Bill) Otto Heimann and Lotte Heimann (nee Rosenberg). He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Witwatersrand in 1966. In 1969, he married Adele Masail at the Pine Street Synagogue in Johannesburg. They lived in Windsor Park, Johannesburg and had two children together: Nicole Heidi (now married to Marshall Starkman) and Marc Steven.

Claude initially worked for Market Research Africa interviewing farm workers across the country. In 1971 he joined Reader's Digest in South Africa as a Research Director. Believing there would not be a peaceful solution to apartheid, Claude had decided at a young age that he would evenutally leave South Africa. He hoped that Reader's Digest was a company that might be able to transfer him to work in another country. Ten years later, in 1981, an opportunity came up with the Canadian edition of Reader's Digest in a similar role. Claude accepted the position and immigrated with his family to Toronto in May 1981. For their first few months they lived at Glengrove Manor on Yonge Street between Lawrence and Eglinton. In July, they moved into their home in Thornhill. Adele initially stayed home with the family, but eventually worked as a bookkeeper for a variety of different businesses.

Claude left Reader's Digest in 1990 to become a partner in Totum Research. Throughout his career, Claude has served on the Research Committee of PMB and has been a member of the Board of Directors of CARF for whom he served as Technical Director. He has also served on a number of other media research related committees, including the Technical Committee of AMPS and the Magazines Canada Research Committee. Claude was also active on the Board of Temple Har Zion, holding a variety of positions, including: regular Board member, vice president for worship, vice president, treasurer, president and past president for two years on the Executive. He also reported Board decisions for the THZ monthly bulletin.

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

Physical description note: includes 2.3 MB of textual records, 6 photographs, 17 slides, and 26.3 MB of photographs.

Subjects

Immigrants--Canada

Occupations

South Africa--Emigration and immigration

Synagogues

Source

Archival Accessions

• 
• 
• 
• 
•