Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Toronto Holocaust Museum series
Special events and projects sub-series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 67; Series 28-18; File 35
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Toronto Holocaust Museum series
Special events and projects sub-series
Level
File
Fonds
67
Series
28-18
File
35
Material Format
textual record
Date
1992-1994
Physical Description
1 folder textual records
Scope and Content
File consists of itineraries, registration forms, and correspondence related to Jewish Missions to Poland
Places
Poland
Source
Archival Descriptions
Accession Number
2013-3-1
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2013-3-1
Material Format
graphic material
textual record
Physical Description
ca. 71 photographs
1 folder of textual records
Date
1919-1939, [ca. 2005]
Scope and Content
Accession consists primarily of photographs documenting the early life of Bella Wilder (née Goldbach) and her family in Poland. Included are images of Bella with her siblings and friends, group photos of Bella at her Jewish school in Poland, a group image of Victor in the Polish army, and other photographs of Bella's family and friends. Also included are two family histories documenting the story of Bella's mother, Shifra Frimeth Goldbach, and the story of Max and Bella Wilder, which was written by their granddaughter Sandee Sharpe. Of particular note is a 1925 school photograph of the Workers Evening School in Opatow (?), which has Yiddish writing suggesting that the school may have received aid from an organization referred to as "Gives Relief" in Toronto.
Custodial History
The records were originally donated to the Jewish Genealogical Society of Canada (Toronto section) by Bella's daughter Ann Sharpe. JGS Toronto donated the material to the OJA a few months later with her consent.
Administrative History
Bella (nee Goldbach) Wilder was born on May 12, 1910 in Opatow, Poland to Chaim Shlomo Goldbach and Shifra Frimeth Schatz Goldbach. Bella's older brothers, Victor, Jack and Hymie began immigrating to Toronto in the 1920s and had saved enough money by 1936 to bring Bella and her mother to Toronto. After arriving in Toronto Bella found work sewing in a factory.
Bella married Max Wilder on September 29, 1939. Max worked at Superior Men's Tailoring where he sewed zippers into men's pants. They had two children together: Ann (born 5 April 1940, married Norman Sharpe) and Stan (born 21 Jan. 1945, died June 1974). Max passed away in 1999 and Bella passed away in 2002.
Descriptive Notes
Availability of other formats: Photographs have been digitized and are available as digital images.
Subjects
Immigrants--Canada
Families
Name Access
Goldbach, Shifra
Sharpe, Ann
Wilder, Bella, 1910-2002
Wilder, Max, ?-1999
Places
Poland
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2013-7-8
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2013-7-8
Material Format
textual record
moving images
graphic material
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records
1 optical disc (48:20 min.) : col. ; DVD
35 photographs : col. ; 16 x 11 cm
Date
2006-2012
Scope and Content
Accession consists of records related to the military career of Corporal Tamar Freeman, particularly her 6-month deployment to Kandahar, Afghanistan. Included is postcard and email correspondence sent to her parents detailing issues of camp life, her religious observance, as well as her role as a medic; a DVD of the film "Sisters in Arms" written and directed by Tamar's sister, Beth Freeman; newspaper clippings and articles on Tamar and the film "Sisters in Arms"; photographs of Tamar receiving an award from the Canadian Jewish Congress, of her family greeting her at the airport upon return to Canada, a portrait of Tamar with another soldier and General Hillier, as well as images taken of fellow soldiers and the surroundings while in Afghanistan.
Administrative History
Corporal Tamar Freeman (1967-) is the daughter of Harvey and Gilda Freeman. She began her military career as an army reservist in 1990. As a reservist, she committed one day per week and one weekend per month to working in hospitals on board ships and in defence research facilities. In 2006, she joined the regular infantry as a medic in the Second Field Ambulance unit. She served in Kandahar for 6 months between 2006 and 2007 as a medic treating wounded soldiers, Afghan allies and civilians. She also served as part of the Provincial Reconstruction Team at a village medical clinic. She received the Alan Rose Award for International Human Dignity from the Canadian Jewish Congress in 2007. Corporal Freeman is currently stationed at Base Borden in Ontario.
Use Conditions
Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing some of the records.
Descriptive Notes
Use restrictions note: Personal emails are confidential and require the permission of Tamar Freeman before accessing.
Subjects
Afghan War, 2001-
Soldiers--Canada
Name Access
Freeman, Tamar
Places
Afghanistan
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2017-2-13
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2017-2-13
Material Format
graphic material
textual record
Physical Description
ca. 150 photographs : b&w and col ; 21 x 27 cm or smaller
1 photograph : negative print on transparency
1 scrapbook
1 folder of textual records
Date
1925-1996
Scope and Content
Accession consists of photographs documenting the family life of Henry and Bella Rosenbaum. Included are photos from Poland, Italy, Israel, and Canada. In addition, there is a scrapbook of photos prepared by their daughter Brenda on Henry and Bella's thirtieth wedding anniversary in 1976. In addition, there is a more comprehensive biography written by Henry and Bella's son-in-law Eric Bornstein.
Administrative History
Henry "Hanoch" Rosenbaum (1925-2015) was born in Radom, Poland. He was the seventh of eight children born to Rachel Rosenbaum (née Katz) and Moshe Rosenbaum. Henry learned the fate of his parents, two siblings and their families, after the war. All were innocent victims murdered during the Holocaust. Most of Radom's Jews were murdered in Treblinka following the August 1942 liquidation of its ghettos.
Henry Rosenbaum met his Bella Rotbard (1925-2012) in Italy in the aftermath of the Second World War. Although Bella was also from Radom, she did not know the Rosenbaum family. Bella's parents, her sixteen-year-old sister and four-year-old brother along with most of her parents' extended families were murdered in the Holocaust.
While in Italy, the Joint Distribution Committee funded 'mock' kibbutzim, preparing Holocaust survivors for immigration to Palestine and kibbutz life. Bella, a one-time member of the secular Jewish youth movement Hashomer Hatzair in Poland, believed that she was destined to be a kibbutznik. Henry would follow.
Bella and Henry were part of the illegal immigration to Palestine in 1946 and spent their first few days in Atlit, a British Mandate detainee camp. Soon Bella settled on a kibbutz but soon after married Henry. In 1946, Bella and Henry married in their apartment in Ramat Gan. At the time, Henry was serving in the IDF’s motor pool. Finding the weather exasperating her migraine symptoms, Bella, Henry, and their toddler daughter Brenda (b. 1949) immigrated to Toronto in 1952.
With the assistance of a relative, Henry gained employment in a print shop sweeping floors. Shortly thereafter, he advanced to machine operator and, in 1961, he opened his own print shop. Bella found employment in the garment industry sewing collars onto shirts and earning her wages by piece work. Bella stopped working when their son Murray (b. 1961) was born. Henry served as editor for the quarterly Yiddish and English journal the Voice of Radom and was an active life-long member of the Radom Society.
Use Conditions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Subjects
Families
Name Access
Expo 67 (Montréal, Québec)
Rosenbaum, Henry, 1925-2015
Places
Canada
Israel
Italy
Poland
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2017-6-1
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
Accession Number
2017-6-5
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2017-6-5
Material Format
graphic material
textual record
textual record (electronic)
Physical Description
ca. 30 cm of textual records
89 photographs : b&w and col. (7 negatives) ; 18 x 13 cm or smaller
1 CD-ROM (textual record)
19 videocassettes (ca. 22 hr.)
Date
[19--?]-2008
Scope and Content
Accession consists of material documenting Abe and Margot Zukerman, their family, and the Wierzbniker Friendly Mutual Benefit Society. Included are: awards, identity documents, legal documents, letters, photographs, publications, videocassettes, and vital records.
Photo Caption (015): Abe Zukerman's father, [19--?]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2017-6-5.
Custodial History
Mel Perlmutter, stepson of Abe Zukerman and son of Margot Zukerman, donated the records to the Ontario Jewish Archives.
Administrative History
Abe Zukerman (1914-2009) was born in Wierzbnik, Poland in 1914. He was the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust. In 1948, he came to Canada, where he became involved in the Wierzbniker Friendly Mutual Benefit Society and married. His first wife, Esther, predeceased him. In 1975, he married his second wife, Margot, who had two children from a previous marriage. In addition to serving as a senior executive member of the Wierzbniker Friendly Mutual Benefit Society for over 50 years, Abe volunteered with United Jewish Appeal and State of Israel Bonds. He passed away 8 Feb. 2009. Margot Zukerman (née Rubin) was born in Berlin, Germany on 31 December 1922. Still a child when the National Socialists came to power, she was denied schooling. She arrived in Toronto in 1939 never having received a formal education. Despite this, she was able to learn English and operate her father's small ladies' wear store in Hamilton for at least a dozen years. In 1944, she married her first husband Alexander Perlmutter, with whom she had two children: one in 1945 and another in 1948. In 1970, she moved to Toronto, where she acted as caregiver to her father. In 1974, she met Abe, whom she married on 14 February 1975. Like her husband, Margot was an active member of Toronto's Jewish community.
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.
Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing some of the records.
Descriptive Notes
ASSOCIATED MATERIALS: Other records relating to Abe Zukerman can be found in Accession 2017-9-1.
Subjects
Families
Societies
Name Access
Wierzbniker Friendly Mutual Benefit Society
Zukerman, Abe, 1914-2009
Zukerman, Esther, 1912-1972
Zukerman, Margot, 1922-
Zukerman family
Places
Canada
Israel
Poland
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2018-4-4
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2018-4-4
Material Format
graphic material
textual record
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records
ca. 35 photographs : b&w and col. ; 33 x 27 cm or smaller
Date
1891-2013
Scope and Content
Accession consists of material documenting members of Harvey Freeman's family, several of whom served in the armed forces. Included are: family photographs, a Krugel family tree, a copy of Itzik Kriegel (Harvey's grandfather)'s army discharge, an attestation paper for Louis Krugel (Harvey's uncle), a signed program for a "stag whoopee dinner and night of blissful freedom" in honour of Lou Krugel's approaching marriage, and printed images of Harvey's daughter Tamar Freeman in Afghanistan. One of the photographs depicts Louis Krugel with professional wrestler and actor Tor Johnson, aka the Swedish Angel.
Photo Caption (001): Wellesley Public School, [ca. 1915]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (002): Louis Krugel. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (003): Buba Sluva with Sara, Moe, Lou, and Harry, 1909. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (004): Berel Krugel in front of 22 Gerard Street West, Toronto, [ca. 1919]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (005): Wedding, 28 September 1926. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (006): Louis Krugel. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (007): Baba Tzluva with Harry, [189-?]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (008): Louis Krugel. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (009): Shabbat dinner, [ca. 1940]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (010): Norman, Buba Sluva, and Bert, [ca. 1922]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (011): Family portrait, 1909. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (012): Harry and Sara, 1916. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (013): Louis Krugel, [192-?]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (014): Louis Krugel and unknown man posing with boxing gloves, [1918?]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (015): Louis Krugel, 1918. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (016): Harvey Freeman at Camp Borden, 1945. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (017): Unknown. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (018): Louis Krugel and unknown man, 1918. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (019): Louis Krugel with Tor Johnson, aka the Swedish Angel, [194-]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (020): Signed portrait of Louis Krugel. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Photo Caption (021): Louis Krugel, [192-]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2018-4-4.
Administrative History
Harvey Freeman was born on May 22, 1928. As a youth, he attended Harbord Collegiate and went on to join the militia, where he was the lone Canadian Jewish bagpiper.
Harvey made his living in business, working in different areas including furniture manufacturing and property management. As part of a change in lifestyle, he took up marathons in his early seventies.
Harvey has four children.
Use Conditions
Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing some of the records.
Descriptive Notes
ASSOCIATED MATERIALS: Records for Harvey's daughter Tamar can be found in Accession 2013-7-8.
Subjects
Afghan War, 2001-
Families
Soldiers--Canada
Name Access
Freeman, Harvey
Freeman, Tamar
Johnson, Tor, 1903-1971
Places
Afghanistan
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2018-8-8
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2018-8-8
Material Format
moving images
Physical Description
2 videocassettes (180 min.)
Date
1986-1997
Scope and Content
Accession consists of two videocassettes.
The first videocassette is titled Anguish to Hope: May 1-19, 1997 and records the travels of forty Canadian university students to Hungary, Poland, and Israel. During their travels, the students visited the birthplace of Theodor Herzl in Budapest, took part in the March of the Living from Auschwitz to Birkenau on Holocaust Remembrance Day, and celebrated Yom Ha'atsmaut in Jerusalem. Anguish to Hope was sponsored by the United Israel Appeal of Canada and local UJA/CJA Federations. Participants included: Gary Abenaim, Lesley Arbus, Andrew Bloom, Jessica Blumberger, Aaron Bockner, Shelly Brenner, Jason Brookman, Neshama Carlebach, Jennifer Cohen, Judy Cohen, Shoshana Cohen, Aliza Dwoskin, Alison Engel, Elissa Flagg, Cindy Goldbenberg, Henry Goldstein, Sarah Gonshor, Itai Hammer, Judy Heilik, Jocelyn Heisel, Daniel Hertzman, Gideon Hess, Naomi Hirshberg, Chaim Indig, Muki Jankelowitz, Andy Koltai, Yonina Machlis, Deborah Mervitz, Marla Munk, Oren Ognigwicz, Marla Pinsky, Bryan Rappaport, Eli Rubenstein, Lauren Schwartz, Ilana Sernick, Tammy Sitcoff, Elan Sloim, Noah Solomon, Julie Stevens, Rachel Stys, Nicole Sussman, Andrea Syrtash, Simone Vigod, and Laura Weinrib. The recording, which ends abruptly, is two hours in length.
The second videocassette is a recording of a Rogers Cable 10 special presentation: The Official Opening of the Baycrest Hospital Ben & Hilda Katz Building. The opening took place on 4 May 1986, where it was broadcast live from the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in North York. The recording is one hour in length.
Custodial History
The videocassettes were donated to the Ontario Jewish Archives by Elissa Flagg, one of the participants in the Anguish to Hope trip. She is also the great-niece of Ben and Hilda Katz, the couple honoured in the Baycrest opening.
Use Conditions
Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
Descriptive Notes
Availability of other formats note: Available as DVD reference copies.
Subjects
Hospitals
Name Access
Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care
Flagg, Elissa
Jewish Federations of Canada – UIA
Rogers TV
Places
Canada
Hungary
Israel
Poland
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2019-11-7
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
Address
24 Cecil Street
Source
Landmarks

The Labour Zionist Order was an outgrowth of the Labour Zionist party in Israel (the Mapai party). They carried out a number of different functions. They were pro-labour and pro-Zionist. They acted as a mutual benefit society—the Labour Zionist Alliance or Farband, formally known as the Jewish National Workers Alliance or Farband Labour Zionist Order. They also operated a school for children called the Farband Folks Shule (later Bialik Hebrew Day School). There was a fundraising organization that they oversaw called the Israel Histadrut of Toronto whose annual campaign raised money for the Israel Histadrut in Israel (the Federation of Labour in Israel), founded in 1920. The campaign money was used to fund economic, trade union, military, social, and cultural activities in Israel, as well as to provide a comprehensive system of health insurance and hospital services to workers. The Israel Histadrut campaign in Toronto had an autonomous executive board, however it's activities were overseen by the Labour Zionist Order.
Address
24 Cecil Street
Time Period
1922-
Scope Note
The Labour Zionist Order was an outgrowth of the Labour Zionist party in Israel (the Mapai party). They carried out a number of different functions. They were pro-labour and pro-Zionist. They acted as a mutual benefit society—the Labour Zionist Alliance or Farband, formally known as the Jewish National Workers Alliance or Farband Labour Zionist Order. They also operated a school for children called the Farband Folks Shule (later Bialik Hebrew Day School). There was a fundraising organization that they oversaw called the Israel Histadrut of Toronto whose annual campaign raised money for the Israel Histadrut in Israel (the Federation of Labour in Israel), founded in 1920. The campaign money was used to fund economic, trade union, military, social, and cultural activities in Israel, as well as to provide a comprehensive system of health insurance and hospital services to workers. The Israel Histadrut campaign in Toronto had an autonomous executive board, however it's activities were overseen by the Labour Zionist Order.
History
The Labour Zionist Order purchased the house at 24 Cecil Street in 1922 and established a library in it. It was called the Farband Institute.
Category
Political
Organization
Source
Landmarks
Part Of
Henry Rosenbaum fonds
Level
Fonds
ID
Fonds 121
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
Henry Rosenbaum fonds
Level
Fonds
Fonds
121
Material Format
graphic material
graphic material (electronic)
textual record
Date
1928-2015
Physical Description
247 photographs : b&w and col. (1 negative); 20 x 25 or smaller
13 cm of textual records
Admin History/Bio
Henry "Hanoch" Rosenbaum (1925-2015) was born in Radom, Poland. He was the second youngest of eight children born to Rachel Rosenbaum (née Katz) and Moshe Rosenbaum.
In the aftermath of the Second World War, Herny learned the fate of Radom's Jewish civilian population. Two thirds of Radom's Jewish population were victims of mass murder and perished in the extermination camp Treblinka, immediately following the first liquidation of Radom's large ghetto in August 1942. Henry's parents, two siblings, and their families were among the innocent victims murdered during the Holocaust.
Henry Rosenbaum met his wife Bella Rotbard (1925–2012) while living in an Italian DP camp after the war. Although Bella was also from Radom, she did not know the Rosenbaum family. Bella's parents, her sixteen-year-old sister, and four-year-old brother, as well as most of her parents' extended families, were also victims of the Holocaust.
While in Italy, the Joint Distribution Committee funded "mock kibbutzim," preparing Holocaust survivors for immigration to Palestine and kibbutz life. Bella, a one-time member of the secular Jewish youth movement Hashomer Hatzair, believed that she was destined to be a "kibbutznik," a member of a kibbutz.
In 1946, Bella and Henry immigrated to Palestine as part of the Bricha. The Bricha supported the illegal immigration of Holocaust survivor refugees to Palestine. They spent their first few days in Atlit, a British Mandate detainee camp and soon settled on kibbutz. Bella married Henry in 1946 and moved to an apartment in Ramat Gan. During this time Henry served in the IDF’s motor pool.
Henry, Bella, and their young daughter Brenda (b. 1949) immigrated to Toronto in 1952. With the assistance of a relative, Henry gained employment in a print shop sweeping floors. Henry soon advanced to machine operator and in 1961 opened his own print shop, Trio Press Limited.
Bella worked in the garment industry, sewing collars onto shirts and earned her wages through piece work. She continued working in manufacturing up until the birth of her second child Murray (b. 1961).
Henry Rosenbaum was an active life-long member of the Radom Society and served as editor for their quarterly Yiddish and English journal the Voice of Radom.
Custodial History
Material was in possession of Henry Rosenbaum's daughter Brenda Bornstein.
Scope and Content
Fonds illustrates the family history of Henry Rosenbaum and the life he and his wife Bella Rosenbaum rebuilt in Canada. Photographs document: early life in Poland, displaced persons camp in Italy, immigration to Palestine, military service in the Israel Defense Forces, family life in Israel, immigration and settlement in Canada and many milestone events and celebrations in Toronto, Ontario. Additional photographs of the Radom Society in Toronto. The majority of the photographs were assembled in a scrapbook created by their daughter Brenda Bornstein in celebration of her parents' thirtieth wedding anniversary (1976). In addition, there is a more comprehensive biography written by Henry and Bella's son-in-law Eric Bornstein.
Fonds consists of records relating to Henry Rosenbaum and his affiliation with B’nai Radom. Included are programs and souvenir booklets from the 1962 unveiling of a monument in memory of the Jewish Martyrs and Heroes of Radom and Vicinity (Poland), annual Holocaust remembrance (Yizkor) events published in 1987 and 2010; and a 50th Anniversary of Liberation publication. Books include a Yiddish language bound copy of the Voice of Radom from 1963-1965, an English language bound copy of the Voice of Radom 1983–1989 and Henry Rosenbaum’s personal memoir published in 1995. In addition, there are eight photographs of Henry's great-grandchildren, and a photo of Henry with his daughter Brenda.In addition there is a collection of speeches written by Henry Rosenbaum primarily for family milestone events such as weddings, birthdays, bar mtizvahs, and bat mitzvahs. In addition there is a copy of a presentation made to the Radom Congregation on the occasion of Israel's twenty-fifth year of independence, a Hebrew-language letter of congratulations, and several personal letters written by Murray Rosenbaum (the latter are addressed to his parents while travelling to Israel and Europe). The personal speeches written and delivered by Henry were in honour of the following relatives: Rivi Anklewicz, Marshall Lofchick, Murray Rosenbaum, Elana Aizic, Regina Goldstein, Brenda Rosenbaum, Eric "Ricky" Bornstein, Murray Severin, Robin Severin-Weingort, Rachel Bornstein, Susan Szainwald, Daniel Bornstein, Sholom Rosenbaum, Bella Rosenbaum, Linda Goldstein, and Leon Aizic.
Subjects
Holocaust survivors
Creator
Rosenbaum, Henry, 1925-2015
Places
Poland
Italy
Palestine
Israel
Toronto (Ont.)
Accession Number
2015-10-5
2017-2-13
2019-7-1
Source
Archival Descriptions