Accession Number

2022-3-12

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

13 cm of textual records

Date

1997-[ca. 2012]

Scope and Content

Accession consists of material documenting the Ashkenaz Foundation. Included are memorandums of understanding between UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and Ashkenaz Foundation (2004–2010), a copy of the original letters patent that was issued on 21 July 1997, brochures and flyers, and Ashkenaz records for the years 2004–2012.

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.

Subjects

Festivals

Nonprofit organizations

Name Access

Ashkenaz Festival

Ashkenaz Foundation

Places

Canada

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2013-8-2

Material Format

textual record

graphic material

Physical Description

2.7 m of textual records (35 v.)

6.3 m of photographs : b&w and col.

Date

1949, [197-]-2012

Scope and Content

Accession consists of bound Canadian Jewish News newspapers from 1996 to 2012; bound copies of the Canadian Jewish Review from 1949 and the Canadian Jewish News' photograph collection. The photographs are arranged alphabetcially by subject, with the exception of two blocks of photographs related to "rabbis" and "places".

001: Anti-Zundel rally in front of Old City Hall, 19 Jan. 1984. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2013-8-2. Photo by Graphic Artists.

Custodial History

The records were in the custody of the Canadian Jewish News.

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

Newspapers

Name Access

Canadian Jewish News

Places

Canada

Toronto, Ont.

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2018-7-6

Material Format

graphic material

textual record

Physical Description

62 photographs : b&w and col. ; 10 x 15 cm or smaller

4 cm of textual records

Date

1920-2018

Scope and Content

Accession contains material documenting Gabriella Szanto and her family. Included are family photographs, vital records, correspondence, and a 2018 Baycrest calendar that features a portrait and short biography of Gabriella.

Custodial History

Shirley Worth served as the executor of Gabriella Szanto's estate. Following Gabriella's death, Shirley donated the records that make up the accession to the Ontario Jewish Archives.

Administrative History

Gabriella "Gabi" Szanto (née Lazlo) was born in Budapest, Hungary on 26 January 1916. Gabriella's parents, Arnold and Ilonka Lazlo (née Diamenstein), were women's clothing manufacturers who employed twenty-five people. Their skills complemented each other: Arnold had studied design in Berlin for two years while Ilonka was a dressmaker. On 18 May 1919, Arnold and Ilonka had their second child, George.

During the Second World War, Gabi and her mother moved to the outskirts of Budapest where they passed as Catholics, rarely leaving their house. Miklos Szanto—the man Gabriella married after the war—was sent to the Mauthausen concentration camp. Gabriella's brother, George, was sent to a camp in Siberia and did not survive. It is not known where or how Gabriella's father survived the war.

After the war, Gabriella, her mother and father, and her husband Miklos reunited in Budapest. The four lived in the family apartment near the city opera house.

During the period of Communist rule, Gabriella and Miklos bribed their way out of Hungary and travelled to Vienna. From Vienna, they travelled to Australia, where they lived for five or six years, working as a short order cook and a seamstress respectively.

At some point, Gabriella and Miklos made the decision to immigrate to Canada. Their first stop—most likely in the 1950s—was Montreal. There, Gabriella worked for a high-end retailer before moving with her husband to Toronto one year later. In Toronto, Miklos worked again as a short order cook at the Noshery Restaurant on Eglinton, holding this job until he retried. Gabriella, meanwhile, worked as a seamstress until she was in her mid-80s.

In their retirement, Gabriella and Miklos spent two months each winter in Florida. Gabriella died in 2018.

Use Conditions

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

Descriptive Notes

LANGUAGE NOTE: English, Hungarian, German.

Subjects

Families

Holocaust survivors

Immigrants--Canada

Name Access

Szanto, Gabriella, 1916-2018

Places

Australia

Austria

Canada

Hungary

Source

Archival Accessions

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Accession Number

2018-7-20

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

120 cm of textual records (4 boxes)

Date

1987-2011

Scope and Content

Accession consists of material involving Shoel Silver's involvement with various Jewish organizations including B'nai Brith Canada (BBC), the Canada-Israel Committee (CIC), the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), UJA Federation of Greater Toronto (UJA), and the United Israel Appeal (UIA). Included are meeting minutes, reports, memoranda, correspondence, budgets, discussion documents, resource material, newspaper clippings, photocopies of newspaper articles, briefing papers, resolutions.

Custodial History

Records remained in the custody of Shoel Silver until 27 July 2018 when the OJA acquired the records from the former.

Administrative History

Shoel Silver is a Toronto businessman. He formerly co-chaired the Unity of the Jewish People Committee with Natan Sharansky. Prior to that, he was the scholar in residence for the first Federation Shabbaton.

Use Conditions

Accession is closed for 25 years from date of donation.

Subjects

Israel

Nonprofit organizations

Name Access

B'nai Brith Canada

Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs

Jewish Agency for Israel

Silver, Shoel

UJA Federation of Greater Toronto

United Israel Appeal

Places

Canada

Israel

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

Accession Number

2018-7-24

Material Format

textual record

graphic material

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

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

Date

1988-2016

Scope and Content

Accession consists of material documenting Gerald "Jerry" Rosenberg and his involvement with the Royal Canadian Legion's General Wingate Branch 256. Included are General Wingate Branch 256 meeting agendas (2013-2015), Royal Canadian Legion correspondence (2014), two General Wingate Branch newsletters (October 2015 and March 2016), an annual branch inspection report form (27 September 2015), a branch regulations and clubhouse rules submission form (2012), financial statements and receipts (2013-2015), certificates of merit and appreciation from the Royal Canadian Legion (2002-2009), and a document in Hebrew commemo

In addition to the above documents, there are three photographs for which identification is missing: one of a funeral, one of a demonstrators carrying signs urging recognition of China, and a portrait of an unknown veteran.

Finally, the accession contains an undated letter to the editor of an unspecified newspaper that outline Jerry's views of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Custodial History

At the time of his death, Jerry Rosenberg was living with his partner Frances Cohen. Frances' daughter Ronda "Rhonnie" Cohen took possession of the records following Jerry's death. Rhonnie subsequently gave the records to author Ellin Bessner who donated them to the Ontario Jewish Archives.

Administrative History

Jerry Rosenberg grew up in Hamilton, Ontario along with his twin sister, two brothers, and older sister. When he was seventeen years old, Rosenberg lied about his age in order to fight in the Second World War. He joined the Royal Canadian Navy and served for the duration of the war.

After the war, Rosenberg approached the Canadian Zionist Organization about volunteering in Palestine. After a circuitous journey that first took him from Montreal to New York to France, he arrived in Haifa in February or March 1948. Rosenberg was part of Machal, a group of overseas volunteers who fought alongside Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Rosenberg joined the Haganah and fought in the 52nd Givati Regiment. As part of this unit, he participated in battle in the Arab village of Bashshit.

After the war, Rosenberg made preparations to leave Israel. Upon arriving in Canada, he worked with Jewish organizations and started a family. He became president of the Royal Canadian Legion's Wingate Branch 256. He died on 23 August 2017.

Descriptive Notes

Language: English, French

Subjects

Arab-Israeli conflict

Veterans--Canada

Name Access

Bessner, Ellin, 1961-

Rosenberg, Jerry

Royal Canadian Legion

Places

Canada

Israel

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2018-8-6

Material Format

textual record

graphic material

Physical Description

90 cm of textual records and other material

Date

1988-2016

Scope and Content

Accession consists of material documenting the Canadian Jewish Book Awards. Included are committee minutes, book reviews, award night programs, and miscellaneous correspondence.

Custodial History

Records were in the possession of jury member Judith Ghert prior to donation to the Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre.

Use Conditions

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

Subjects

Literary prizes

Name Access

Canadian Jewish Book Awards

Canadian Jewish Literary Awards

Ghert, Judith

Koffler Centre of the Arts

Vine Awards for Canadian Jewish Literature

Places

Canada

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2019-5-3

Material Format

textual record

object

Physical Description

ca 104 cm of textual records and other material

Date

1952-2017

Scope and Content

Accession consists of material documenting General Wingate Branch 256 of the Royal Canadian Legion. Included are member records of Jewish Second World War veterans and others; thank you cards written by students to members of the veterans; a pamphlet titled Portraits of Bravery that contains portraits of veterans, a short history of the branch, and a brief biography of Major General Orde Charles Wingate (1903-44); a certificate issued by the Royal Canadian Legion establishing a ladies' auxiliary within its General Wingate Branch; and a certificate issued by the Canadian Legion establishing General Wingate Branch, Ontario No. 2561.

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 veterans' branch. The brigade was renamed the General Wingate Branch in the mid-1940s after the British army officer Major General Orde Charles Wingate, DSO. Although Major Wingate was not Jewish, he was a passionate Zionist, hence the name.

At first, the branch met at a veteran’s hall at Crawford and College Streets in Toronto, but later purchased its own house at 1610 Bathurst Street. In 1968, the branch moved to Eglinton Avenue West. It was then located at the Zionist Centre on Marlee Avenue.

The branch held an annual memorial march and service at the Mt. Sinai Cemetery, and distributed poppies to raise funds for veterans and their families, hospitals and medical research. Members also gave speeches at schools on Remembrance Day. It closed in September 2018 after more than eighty years.

Subjects

Veterans

Name Access

Royal Canadian Legion. General Wingate Branch 256

Places

Canada

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2019-5-9

Material Format

object

Physical Description

2 flags

Date

[between 1940 and 2019]

Scope and Content

Accession consists of two flags that belonged to Royal Canadian Legion General Wingate Branch 256. The first is a flag of Israel. The second is a blue ensign bearing the name of the branch. (The blue ensign is a blue flag with the Union Jack in the top corner next to the flagpole; it is similar to the red ensign, which was the flag of Canada until 1965, when it was replaced by the maple leaf.)

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 veterans' branch. The brigade was renamed the General Wingate Branch in the mid-1940s after the British army officer Major General Orde Charles Wingate, DSO. Although Major Wingate was not Jewish, he was a passionate Zionist, hence the name.

At first, the branch met at a veteran’s hall at Crawford and College Streets in Toronto, but later purchased its own house at 1610 Bathurst Street. In 1968, the branch moved to Eglinton Avenue West. It was then located at the Zionist Centre on Marlee Avenue.

The branch held an annual memorial march and service at the Mt. Sinai Cemetery, and distributed poppies to raise funds for veterans and their families, hospitals and medical research. Members also gave speeches at schools on Remembrance Day. It closed in September 2018 after more than eighty years.

Descriptive Notes

Availability of other formats: Photographs of the flags are available as JPEG files.

Subjects

Flags--Canada

Flags--Israel

Veterans

Name Access

Royal Canadian Legion. General Wingate Branch 256

Places

Canada

Israel

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2019-5-13

Material Format

textual record

object

graphic material

Physical Description

7 cm of textual records and other material

3 objects

Date

[194-]-[201-]

Scope and Content

Accession consists of material documenting Nathan Isaacs. Included are letters, photographs, service records, a sight log, a book with photographs of fighter planes active in the Second World War, and telegrams congratulating Nathan's family on Nathan coming home. Also included are a number of objects: Nathan's dog tags, navigator wings, and crest; a flask with Nathan's initials on it; another item with Nathan's initials that he received upon enlisting in 1942 and which would have held a mirror, nail file, and possibly a comb; a cigarette lighter made from an empty shell by ground crew; and, finally, a Bomber Command bar that was issued to Nathan in 2013.

Administrative History

Nathan Isaacs (né Isaacovitch) was born on 20 November 1922. He enlisted on 5 August 1942. After training, Nathan worked in the kitchen at a Royal Canadian Air Force base in Aylmer, Ontario, while awaiting deployment to Europe. After being flown to Yorkshire, England, Nathan went on to fly thirty-five missions. He was twenty-one when he flew his first.

Following the war, bombers like Nathan received little in the way of recognition on account of the heavy civilian casualties caused by bombing. In 2013, Julian Fantino, minister of veterans affairs, gave out the Bomber Command bar to recognize Second World Bombers, including Nathan. That same year, thanks to a photograph that accompanied a Toronto Star article about Second World War bombers, Nathan was reunited with John Mulholland, the pilot with whom he flew his final mission.

Descriptive Notes

Availability of other formats: Six of the photographs and four of the textual records have been scanned and are available as JPEG, TIFF, and/or PDF files.

Subjects

Bomber pilots

Veterans

World War, 1939-1945

Name Access

Isaacs, Nathan, 1922-

Places

Canada

Europe

Source

Archival Accessions

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Accession Number

2019-11-7

Material Format

textual record

graphic material

Physical Description

73 cm of textual records and other material

Date

1963–2018

Scope and Content

Accession consists of material documenting Nate Leipciger. Included are records documenting Nate's involvement with the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Holoaust Remembrance Committee, and the March of the Living, as well as thank you letters from students whom Nate addressed.

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.

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

Holocaust survivors

Name Access

Leipciger, Nate, 1928-

Places

Canada

Israel

Poland

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2019-12-3

Material Format

textual record

graphic material

Physical Description

ca. 33 cm of textual records and other material

Date

1913-2014

Scope and Content

Accession consists of material documenting the maternal (Cohn) and paternal (Levy) branches of the donor's family. Included are cards, certificates, death certificates, degrees, diplomas, family trees, letters, an oral history transcript, passports, photographs, reference materials, telegrams, and other records.

Individuals documented in the records include: Al Berns, Etta Cohn, Judah Cohn, Natalie Cohn, Stanley Cohn, Sylvia Cohn, Al Cole, Myer Drazin, Manny Godfrey, Bert Gold, Dan Gold, Jonah Gold, Yenta Kohl, Ann Levy, Corinne Levy, Edgar Levy, Lois Levy, Nancy Levy, Joan Lipton, Joy Matsuzaki, Raymond Mock,Edythe Noss, Harvey Noss, Mark Noss, Walter Lyons, Judy Rubin, Richard Seymour, and Elaine Zimmerman.

Caption (030): Edgar Levy shortly after arrival in Canada, [ca. 1921]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2019-12-3.

Administrative History

The Noss family traces its origins to Russia/Ukraine. The patriarch, Avraham Noss, died after contracting typhus after being badly beaten in a pogrom. His wife, Toiba, died of either cholera, typhus, or influenza (accounts vary). They left behind four children: Raisa, Meyer, Joseph, and Moshe. The extended family took care of the four orphans but did not have enough food to feed them, so the three youngest were put in a Jewish orphanage. The eldest, Raisa, was too old but came every day to visit her brothers. One day, she arrived only to be told, "The missionaries took them away." The entire orphanage was brought to Canada. A Mr. Hershman from Toronto was involved as was a congregation of Christadelphians from Hamilton including a Mr. Farrar who owned a good-quality clothing store.

Raisa remained in Russia, where she received an education from the Communist Party and became an engineer. Meyer kept in touch with his sister for as long as possible, but the two eventually lost touch.

The Drazin family took in Meyer, the eldest brother, although the family never adopted him. Despite this, he changed his name to Drazin. Joseph ("Joe") was adopted but was returned to Children's Aid, where he went from foster home to foster home. He eventually took back the Noss family name. As for Moshe, he was adopted by Moses Levy and Marietta Steinert. Moshe's new parents changed his name to Edgar Steinert Levy. Edgar Levy is thus the same individual as Moshe Noss. Marietta was well-known in the Hamilton community, and a chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women was named after her.

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

Accompanying material: After donating the records in her possession, the donor emailed the archivist a document titled "Noss Family Story," which the archivist used to compose the biographical sketch. The document has been saved with other supporting documentation.

Subjects

Families

Genealogy

Name Access

Cohn (family)

Levy, Corinne,1917-1978

Levy, Edgar, 1915-1980

Levy (family)

Levy, Marietta Steinbert, 1858-1928

Noss (family)

Places

Canada

Source

Archival Accessions

Part Of

Gerald Tulchinsky fonds

Level

Fonds

Fonds

149

Material Format

textual record

graphic material

Date

[185-?]-2017

Physical Description

4.36 m of textual records and other material

Admin History/Bio

Dr. Gerald “Jerry” Tulchinsky (1933–2017) was born in Brantford, Ontario, in 1933 to Harry Tulchinsky and Anne Tulchinsky (née Stemeroff). Gerald spent his childhood and teen years growing up in Brantford as one of four children. His parents owned and operated the Mayfair dress shop on Colborne Street. The Tulchinsky family were active members of their community and were involved with the Beth David Congregation and the Sharon chapter of Hadassah-WIZO. Anne received multiple awards for her volunteer work.

Gerald Tulchinsky left Brantford in order to attend university. He received his undergraduate degree from McGill University and went on to receive his PhD in history from the University of Toronto in 1971.

Gerald married his wife, Ruth Tulchinsky (née Rice), in 1961, and, after spending the first few years of their marriage in various Canadian cities, they settled in Kingston, Ontario. Tulchinsky and his wife had three children: Steve, Ellen and Laura.

Dr. Gerald Tulchinsky’s professional career as a historian began with a focus on Canadian business and labour; later, his research interests expanded to include Canadian Jewish history. He briefly taught at the University of Saskatchewan before becoming a professor at Queen’s University, where he taught in the history department from 1966 to 2000. During his time at Queen’s, Tulchinsky expanded interest in the field of Canadian Jewish studies through his encouragement and supervision of graduate students. As professor emeritus, he was involved in creating the Jewish studies program at Queen’s, which he later became the director of after his retirement from the history department in 2000. In 2005, Tulchinsky became the recipient of theLouis Rosenberg Award, which honoured his contributions to the field of Canadian Jewish studies.

It was also during this time at Queen’s that he became known as a leading scholar on Canadian Jewish history. Over the course of his career, he published six books, including "The River Barons Montreal Businessmen and the Growth of Industry and Transportation 1837–53," "Taking Root: The Origins of the Canadian Jewish Community," "Branching Out: The Transformation of the Canadian Jewish Community," "Canada’s Jews: A People's Community," "Joe Salsberg: A Life of Commitment," and "Shtetl on Grand." The latter is a collection of short stories based on his experiences growing up Jewish in Brantford.

In addition to his books, he wrote and edited dozens of articles on business, immigration, transportation, and antisemitism during his career. Towards the end of his life, he had been working on a book on the history of the Canadian clothing industry.

Tulchinsky died on 13 December 2017. He was eighty-four.

Scope and Content

Fonds consists of records created and accumulated by Dr. Gerald Tulchinsky. The records relate to his personal life and professional career. The majority of the records are textual and primarily consist of his research on J. B. Salsberg, Canadian Jewish history, business, labour, and the Canadian clothing industry. The records include photocopied research materials, such as articles, statistical reports, and scanned newspaper pages. The records also include research notes; interviews; correspondence; grant applications; photographs; six audio cassettes and two VHS tapes; newspaper clippings; and lecture notes and course syllabi; as well as drafts of Dr. Tulchinsky’s manuscripts, poems, short stories, and articles. Also included among the records are daily planners; some family photographs; birthday and congratulation cards; a passport; a travel diary; a record of the Tulchinsky family tree; Anne Tulchinsky’s volunteer awards and other records; and various materials related to the Tulchinsky family’s involvement in the Brantford Jewish community, the Beth David Congregation, and the Sharon chapter of Hadassah-WIZO.

The fonds is divided into the following six series: 1. Drafts and manuscripts, 2. Research, 3. Personal and family, 4. Correspondence, 5. Teaching materials, and 6. Miscellaneous.

Notes

Associated material: Records of the parish of Gerald Tulchinsky are also held by Queen's University Archives.

Name Access

Tulchinsky, Gerald, 1933-2017

Subjects

Authors

College teachers

Historians

Creator

Tulchinsky, Gerald, 1933-2017

Places

Canada

Accession Number

2008-7-1

2014-8-4

2015-2-2

2016-2-7

2016-5-10

2017-9-4

2018-1-4

Source

Archival Descriptions