- 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
- Part Of
- Benjamin Dunkelman fonds
- Business series
- Level
- Series
- Fonds
- 2
- Series
- 3
- Material Format
- textual record
- graphic material
- architectural drawing
- Date
- 1898, 1941-1988
- Physical Description
- 56 photographs and other material
- Admin History/Bio
- Ben Dunkelman’s involvement in business was wide-ranging. He served as president of Tip Top Tailors after his father and as president of Cloverdale Shopping Centre. Along with his wife, Yael, he also opened the Dunkelman Gallery for modern art and Dunkelman's restaurant.
- Scope and Content
- Series consists of photographs, correspondence, pamphlets and papers documenting Benjamin Dunkelman’s business activities. The files are organized into three sub-series: Tip-Top Tailors, Constellation Hotel, and Dunkelman Gallery.
- Notes
- Physical description: Includes 6 cm of textual records, 5 architectural drawings, and 1 postcard.
- Subjects
- Business
- Physical Condition
- Most photographs are warped.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- Benjamin Dunkelman fonds
- Business series
- Tip Top Tailors sub-series
- Level
- Sub-series
- Fonds
- 2
- Series
- 3-1
- Material Format
- textual record
- graphic material
- Date
- 1898, 1941-1988
- Physical Description
- 4 cm of textual records
- 16 photographs
- Admin History/Bio
- David Dunkelman, Benjamin's father, started Tip Top Tailors in Toronto in 1909, and by 1950 it had become a thriving business, with more than 1000 outlets across the country. During the 1930s, Ben had worked for the company, and following the Arab-Israeli War in 1948-49, he returned to Tip Top. He took over as company CEO in the 1950s until the company was sold to Dylex Ltd. in 1967.
- Scope and Content
- Sub-series consists of photographs, correspondence and clippings documenting David and Ben Dunkelman's involvement in the family firm, Tip Top Tailors.
- Name Access
- Tip Top Tailors
- Physical Condition
- Most photographs are warped.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- Benjamin Dunkelman fonds
- Business series
- Tip Top Tailors sub-series
- Level
- File
- Fonds
- 2
- Series
- 3-1
- File
- 10
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1898-1988
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Scope and Content
- File consists of notes and documents Ben Dunkelman wrote or gathered to provide biographical information about David Dunkelman for a Zionist encyclopedia.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions