Accession Number

2006-4-1

Material Format

text

Physical Description

4 texts

Date

1935-2000

Scope and Content

Accession consists of 4 books of poetry written by Morris J. Granite / Morris Granatstein including Street Corners (1935), My City Lodz (1995), Welcome to the Year 2000 (1999), and Toronto, My City (2000).

Administrative History

Morris J. Granite was born in 1911 in Lodz, Poland. His parents had a small business dyeing textiles, which they operated out of their apartment on Constantinouska Street, Lodz. His father's family originally came from Glowaszow in Radom, Poland.

In 1926, the family immigrated to Toronto. During the Great Depression, he worked in Toronto, New York City and Philadelphia as a waiter, power press operator, construction worker and teacher at Hebrew and Yiddish schools. Morris served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. He later worked as a teacher and draftsman in his early years and then as a builder in his middle to later years. The buildings and homes that he worked on still stand in Cuba, Detroit and Toronto.

He served as president of the Jewish Public Library, editor of the Canadian Jewish Outlook, and as a member of the League of Canadian Poets. He was also a major supporter of artistic and progressive causes.

Throughout his life, he possessed a true passion for the written word. He published many articles and poems in literary magazines. He also produced four books of poetry: Street Corners (1935), My City Lodz (1995), Welcome to the Year 2000 (1999), and Toronto, My City (2000). At first, he published under the name Granite and later relied on Granatstein as his surname for his last three books.

He had one daugher, Ettie and two grandchildren. His long-time companion was Barbara Moore.

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2007-9-2

Material Format

graphic material (electronic)

textual record (electronic)

architectural drawing (electronic)

Physical Description

37 photographs : b&w and col. (jpg) + 2 identification keys

16 documents (28 jpgs)

2 architectural drawings (jpg)

Date

[189-]-2004

Scope and Content

Accession consists of scanned copies of original records documenting the Jewish community in Cornwall. The records relate to various individuals in the community, including the donor, as well as organizations such as B'nai Brith, Hebrew Ladies' Aid Society, and the Beth-El Congregation. The items include scans of cemetery plans, burial certificates, photographs, meeting minutes, memorial books and various legal documents.

Photographs are as follows:

01. Sixtieth anniversary of D-Day program.

02. Abe and Rose Goldhamer, Long Sault Rapids before the seaway, ca. 1941.

03. Al Burnes in uniform. Al lived in Cornwall and moved to Toronto, [between 1939 and 1945].

04. Archie Dover, first person buried in the new cemetery, pg. 1, 1962.

05. Archie Dover, first person buried in the new cemetery, pg. 2, 1962.

06. Beth El Synagogue, exterior, nd.

07. Beth El Synagogue, interior, nd.

08. Birdie Phillips Miller.

09. B’nai Brith, ca. 1961. [obverse]

10. B’nai Brith, ca. 1961. [reverse]

11. B’nai Brith entertaining seniors from Glen Stor Dun Lodge, 1964.

12. B’nai Brith girls temporary charter, 1967.

13. B’nai Brith Youth Organization temporary charter, 1967.

14. Boys playing hockey behind the shul, 1930s. Back row, left to right: unidentified, Jack Abrugov, Murray Berns, Julius Kolomier. Front row, left to right: unidentified, Jack Goldhamer, unidentified, unidentified, unidentified.

15. Braham Goldhamer on piano.

16. Cemetery plan from office of LP Stidwill, civil engineer and Ontario land surveyor, April 18 1958.

17. Cemetery plan, nd.

18. Construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway, Robert Saunders Dam, 1957.

19. B’nai Brith emergency meeting minutes, 1967.

20. Entertainer, Helen Goldhamer and her father, Julius Miller.

21. General meeting regarding building of the synagogue, pg. 1, Oct. 5, 1924.

22. General meeting regarding building of the synagogue, pg. 2, Oct. 5, 1924.

23. B’nai Brith Cornwall Lodge, 1961. [obverse] Pictured are, Standing left to right: Moe Helperin, Peter Solway, Oscar Niduvitch, Louis Dubinsky, Alex Abugor, Sam Nyman, Moe Schulman, Bernard Miller, I. Martin, Saul Schulman. Seated left to right: Mark Goldhamer, Sam Smolkin, Saul Kaye, Mrs. Eddie Cantor (guest speaker), Rabbi Matts, Julius Miller.

24. B’nai Brith Cornwall Lodge, 1961. [reverse]

25. Hebrew School, ca. 1958.

26. Helen, Mark and Brham Goldhamer, ca. 1958.

27. Helen Goldhamer on the St. Lawrence just west of Cornwall.

28. Helen Goldhamer speaking.

29. Helen Goldhamer thanking guest speaker.

30. Joel Horovitz, bar mitzvah programme, 1954.

31. Julius Miller and daughter Helen Goldhamer with father Moses Miller (seated) and grandson Braham Goldhamer at age 2.

32. Julius Miller and wife Birdie in front of their furniture company’s first truck, ca. 1946.

33. Julius Miller Grove invitation to ceremony, 1969.

34. Julius Miller Grove letter, 1969.

35. Julius Miller Grove plaque, ca. 1969.

36. [Phillips family?], ca. 1900.

37. Annette Phillips and Mary Phillips, ca. 1948.

38. Julius Miller presented with a pin by Mrs. Eddie Cantor at an Israel Bonds drive, 1961.

39. Nathan Phillips with unidentified boy.

40. Left to right: Annette Phillips, Mary Phillips, Birdie Phillips Miller and Riva Phillips, 1940s.

41. Left to right: Archie Dover, Julius Miller and Rabbi Lewin at the Memory Board dedication.

42. Left to right: Helen Goldhamer, Sarah Vineberg, Mrs. M. Phillips, Birdie Phillips Miller, Annette Phillips, ca. 1938.

43. Succot. Left to right: Margot Miller, Jack Miller and Braham Goldhamer, ca. 1956.

44. Left to right: Mark Goldhamer, Iruim Thaw, Saul Schulman and guest speaker, ca. 1961.

45. Nathan and Sam Phillips, ca. 1920.

46. Legal letter regarding the deed to the cemetery, pg. 1, 1929.

47. Legal letter regarding the deed to the cemetery, pg. 2, 1929.

48. Markus Goldhamer RCAF discharge papers, pg. 1, 1945.

49. Markus Goldhamer RCAF discharge papers, pg. 2, 1945.

50. Markus Goldhamer RCAF photo, Second World War.

51. Mary Phillips, life member of Hadassah-WIZO card, April 5, 1954.

52. Memorial book, pg. 1, 1926.

53. Memorial book, pg. 2, 1926.

54. Memorial book, pg. 3, 1926.

55. Memorial book, pg. 4, 1926.

56. Memory board.

57. Moses Miller.

58. Original minutes forming the B’nai Brith chapter in Cornwall, pg. 1, 1934.

59. Original minutes forming the B’nai Brith chapter in Cornwall, pg. 2, 1934.

60. Original minutes forming the B’nai Brith chapter in Cornwall, pg. 3, 1934.

61. Original minutes forming the B’nai Brith chapter in Cornwall, pg. 4, 1934.

62. Part of crowd at the annual dinner in Beth El Synagogue hall.

63. Photocopy of Hebrew Ladies’ Aid meeting minutes, pg. 1, Nov. 29, 1922.

64. Photocopy of Hebrew Ladies’ Aid meeting minutes, pg. 2, Nov. 29, 1922.

65. President of B’nai Brith Mark Goldhamer speaking. Helen Goldhamer seated to his left.

66. Riva Phillips beside Julius Miller Furniture shop, 1950s.

67. Thank you card to Mark Goldhamer, pg. 1.

68. Thank you card to Mark Goldhamer, pg. 2.

69. [Phillips family?], ca. 1900.

Custodial History

The original records are in the possession of the donor. The OJA was granted permission to scan the records in September 2007, as part of the Ontario Small Jewish Communities initiative. These copies were then donated to the Archives on 2007-09-04.

Subjects

Communities

Cemeteries

Name Access

Goldhamer, Mark

Places

Cornwall (Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

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Accession Number

2010-10-7

Material Format

architectural drawing (electronic)

graphic material (electronic)

textual record (electronic)

Physical Description

3 compact discs

Date

1976-2008

Scope and Content

This accession consists of three CDs containing 1. The original plans created by Jerome Markson for the Bathurst Jewish Community Centre along with relevant photographs and documents. These records were created between 1976 and 1984 and were digitized in 2007. 2. The mechanical as-builts for the Lipa Green Centre's Family Pavillion, created in 2008. 3. The drawings and specs issued for construction of the Lipa Green Centre's Family Pavillion created in May 2008.

Custodial History

The discs were in the possession of Stephanie Olin Chapman, Facilities Developer for the UJA Federation's Tomorrow Campaign.They were loaned to the Archives for copying and returned on Oct. 28, 2010.

Administrative History

UJA Federation's Tomorrow Campaign is Canada’s largest non-profit community development project. It is Federation's response to the need for new facilities and services brought about by the growth of Toronto’s Jewish community. The Tomorrow Campaign is mandated with the fundraising and creation of three campuses for Jewish life in the GTA. The Downtown District, serving Toronto's growing Jewish population in the city core, is anchored by the new Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre at Bloor & Spadina and the Wolfond Centre for Jewish Campus Life at Harbord & Huron. The new Sherman Campus, on Bathurst north of Sheppard, will include the new Prosserman Family Jewish Community Centre, where the Bathurst Jewish Community Centre is currently located, a new Koffler Centre for the Arts, a new National Centre for Jewish Heritage including the Canadian Jewish Musuem, the Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre and a renovated Lipa Green Building for Jewish Community Services. The Lebovic Jewish Community Campus, at Bathurst & Weldrick north of Rutherford, is designed to provide programs and services for York Region's Jewish community of 60,000 - the fastest growing in Canada. The Lebovic Campus will be highlighted by the Kimel Family Education Centre, housing the northern branch of the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto (CHAT); the Schwartz-Reisman Centre offering recreational, educational, cultural, social and fitness facilities; community services; a United Synagogue Day School and other schools as well.

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.

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2020-1-1

Material Format

textual record

text

Physical Description

1 book

1 folder of textual records

Date

1959-2011

Scope and Content

Accession consists of materials collected by Lil Blume for an anthology called "Letters and Pictures from the Old Suitcase". The anthology was published in 2011 for a Jewish Literary Festival that Lil Blume ran in 2010. Included in the collection is handwritten autobiographical pages as well as photocopied pages from Miriam Beckerman. In addition, there are two photocopies of a 1959 letter to the Irgun regarding redirecting of reparations due to Moshe Beckerman. The document provides a summary of Moshe Beckerman's wartime experience including enlistment with the British Military serving with the Regiment of Royal Engineers (1940), transfer to Greece (1941), capture by Germans (1941), escape and recapture in Italy and eventual internment in Minchen and then Danzig prior to his release in 1945 by the second British Army.

The Beckerman's contribution to the anthology included translated copies of four Yiddish language letters written by Miriam and Moshe Beckerman to Miriam's parents in Toronto while the couple were living in Palestine and then Israel in 1947 and 1948.

In addition, there is a copy of the publication "Letters and Pictures from the Old Suitcase" edited by Ellen S. Jaffe and Lil Blume. Contributors to the anthology listed in alphabetical order include Alvin Abram, Larry Anklewicz, Miriam Beckerman, Maxianne Berger, Steven Michael Berzensky, Helen Blum, Aha Blume, Lil Blume, Baila Ellenbogen, Shelley Halpern Evans, Joi Freed-Garrod, Ellen S. Jaffe, Beth Kaplan, Nomi Kaston, Agnes Klinghofer, Myrna Neuringer Levy, Carol Lipszyc, Malca Litovitz, Janice Masur, Seymour Mayne, Maria Meindl, Wendy Morton, Sharon H. Nelson, Aviva Ravel, Karen Shenfeld, Ken Sherman, Sharon Singer, Joan Sohn, J.J. Steinfeld, Pia Taavila, Carolynne Veffer, and Thomas Verny.

Custodial History

Miriam Beckerman sent handwritten autobiographical pages as well as photocopied pages to Lil Blume, as part of her contribution to the anthology that Lil Blume published in 2011.

Administrative History

In 2011, Lil Blume published an anthology called "Letters and Pictures from the Old Suitcase". The publication was edited by Ellen S. Jaffe and Lil Blume for a Jewish literary Festival that Lil Blume ran in Hamilton in 2010.

Miriam Beckerman (née Dashkin) is a Yiddish literature translator. She attended the Farband Folks Shule in Toronto during the 1930s and later worked as a bilingual secretary (Yiddish and English) at the Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region. In 1946, she travelled to Israel where she met her husband, Moshe Beckerman, at a kibbutz. The couple married in October 1947 and emigrated from Israel to Toronto with their children in 1952. Beckerman continues to work as a Yiddish translator for individuals, scholars and institutions. She has a number of published translations, including her recent collaborative work "A Thousand Threads: a story through Yiddish letters." Her work has been recognized by the Dora Teitelboim Foundation of Coral Gables, Florida. Her husband Moshe passed away in 1993.

Use Conditions

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

Subjects

World War, 1939-1945

Israel-Arab War, 1948-1949

Israel--Emigration and immigration

Source

Archival Accessions

Part Of

Edelstein family fonds

Level

Fonds

Fonds

111

Material Format

textual record

graphic material

object

text

Date

1890-2005

Physical Description

2 m of textual records

30 photographs

4 posters

2 artifacts

12 books

1 CD

Admin History/Bio

Isaac Edelstein (1889-Dec. 1954) was born to Ronya Edelstein (née Silver) ([18--?]-June 1921) and Abraham Edelstein (1846-[19--?]). The family moved to Canada in 1913, arriving in Quebec before settling in Toronto. Isaac, the eldest, had five siblings: Archibald, Bessy, Lilian, Goldie, and Harry. Isaac married Ida (Hebrew name: Chaya) (1898-1978), who immigrated to Canada from Gomel district in Homiel Province, Belarus.

Isaac was a tailor and Ida was a dressmaker. Isaac and Ida had two children: Rony (nickname Renne) Rabassa (b. 4 Jan. 1931) and Albert (nickname Abi) Edelstein (26 Sept. 1925-1 May 2021).

After meeting through shared involvement in Habonim, Albert married Ruth (née Blumenstein) (15 Sept. 1928-30 Mar. 2023) on 2 Jan. 1949. They had 4 children, 11 grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren.

Albert received vocational training as a watchmaker at Central Technical School, and spent the majority of his career as a retailer, operating a jewelry store with his wife Ruth. He was the president of the District Jewelers Association (1983-1984) and the chairman of the Queen Broadview Business Improvement Area in the 1990s. Ruth and Albert's children were educated in the Jewish day school system. Ruth was involved in the National Council of Jewish Women.

Scope and Content

Fonds consists of records documenting the personal lives of members of the Edelstein family and their communal affiliations.

Name Access

Edelstein (family)

Subjects

Families

Creator

Albert Edelstein

Accession Number

2000-1-1

2000-2-2

2000-3-3

Source

Archival Descriptions

Accession Number

2023-2-2

Material Format

textual record

object

text

philatelic record

Physical Description

10 cm of textual records

1 sheet of postage stamps

8 artifacts

1 prayer book

1 plaque

8 photographs : b&w and col ; 10 x 18 cm or smaller

Date

[ca. 1910]-2013

Scope and Content

Accession consists of two scrapbooks containing emails, letters of thanks, articles and program materials related to Judith's various speaking engagements and presentations as a survivor speaker. Also included are eight photos of family members, a prayer book, plaque, a spice box and eight kiddush cups, two certificates affirming completion of English language courses at McGill University, two certificates of recognition of commitment to Holocaust Education from the Ontario Government and the Government of Canada, one sheet of stamps remembering the Holocaust issued by Canada Post, and a labour discharge certificate from the Tailor's Immigration project.

Administrative History

Judith Cohen was born in 1928, in Debrecen, Hungary. Cohen was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration and Death Camp, and to other labour camps. Cohen lived in a displaced persons camp in Germany following liberation where she reunited with her remaining siblings. In 1948, Cohen arrived in Canada as part of the Tailor Project, originally settling in Montreal and later moving to Toronto. She chaired the Holocaust Education Centre and is a committed Holocaust educator and speaker as well as a human rights activist.

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.

Source

Archival Accessions