- Part Of
- Bella Diamant fonds
- Level
- Fonds
- Fonds
- 117
- Material Format
- textual record
- graphic material (electronic)
- Date
- 1926-1947
- Physical Description
- 3 cm of textual records
- 11 photographs : b&w and sepia (tiff)
- Admin History/Bio
- Bella Diamant (m. Hershenhorn) was the daughter of Moishe and Sarah Diamant. She was born in Ostrowiec (Ostrovietz), Poland and had five siblings: Esther, Chaim Myer, David, Baruch, and Ruth.
Bella met her future husband, Samuel Hershenhorn, in Poland. He was the son of Mendel and Miriam Hershenhorn from Drildz. The family arrived in Toronto sometime during the early 1920s; Mendel arriving first followed by Miriam and Samuel. The marriage between Bella and Samuel was arranged by their families and so Bella was sent to Toronto to be with him in 1927. They married on 13 Nov. 1927. Together they had three children: Ruth (Rishie), Esti and Lee. Samuel worked for a slipper and spat manufacturer and then started his own company: The Canadian Spat and Slipper Company. He was a member of the Drildzer Sick Benefit Society. Bella was a housewife.
Many of Bella's relatives perished during the Holocaust, including both her parents, her brother David who died with his wife and daughter on a forced march, and her sister Ruth who was murdered by the Nazis alongside her young daughter. Chaim Myer was sent to live with Bella and Samuel in Toronto prior to the onset of the war and therefore survived. Baruch and Esther both survived the Holocaust and eventually moved to New York City.
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of letters written to Bella Diamant Hershenhorn from relatives in Poland and Frankfurt. The pre-war letters are from Bella's father Moishe in Poland as well as Bella's siblings and cousins, usually added as additional notes and postscripts onto Moishe's letters. The post-war letters are from Bella's sister Esther and brother Baruch in Frankfurt, who both survived the Holocaust. The letters are written in Yiddish and Polish and have accompanying English translations. Also included are several scanned copies of photographs depicting Bella on the SS Estonia, en route to Canada (ca. 1927), and with various relatives in Poland prior to immigration.
- Notes
- REPRODUCTION RESTRICTION NOTE: Donor must be notified prior to publication of letters.
- Name Access
- Hershenhorn, Bella, ca. 1906-1999
- Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
- Letters
- Arrangement
- The letters have been arranged chronologically.
- Places
- Ostrowiec (Sokolów Podlaski, Poland)
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Frankfurt am Main (Germany)
- Accession Number
- 2016-12-44
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Accession Number
- 2022-2-2
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2022-2-2
- Material Format
- textual record
- graphic material
- Physical Description
- 8 photographs : b&w ; 9 x 14 cm or smaller
- 1 folder of textual records
- Date
- [ca. 1913]-1923
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of 8 photographs and three letters addressed to Fannie Adelman from Berul Sugarman, as well as one recital program. The photographs depict:
- A young child, dressed in white, standing on a large chair and holding and violin and bow, likely Abie Sugarman
- An unknown child in a dark sweater with two buttons on the shoulder, standing in front of a small
table holding a violin at his side.
- A head-and-shoulders shot of a young man, likely Abie Sugarman, perhaps about age 8
or 9. A note in pencil on the back of this photo reads "A MERRY XMAS GREET your father and
mother and sister"
- A portrait of Abie Sugarman, perhaps about age 10 or 11, holding his violin as if to play, standing
beside a seated gentleman who might be his instructor Broadus Farmer
- A full-length portrait of Abie Sugarman holding his violin as if to play, about age 13
- A portrait of Abie Sugarman standing with his violin tucked under his right arm and his bow
hanging from his right hand, about age 13. There is a ring visible on his right hand
- A small head-and-shoulders photo of Abie Sugarman, perhaps in his late teens or early twenties
- A portrait of Fannie Adelman, taken in 1923 when she was 13 or 14, about two years after these
letters were written to her.
- The other items are: the programme of a recital given at The Hambourg Conservatory Recital Hall on Tuesday
June 21, 1921; a partial letter from Abie Sugarman to Fannie Adelman, dated June 29, 1921; a two-page letter
from Abie Sugarman to Fannie Adelman, undated; a four-page letter from Abie Sugarman to Fannie Adelman,
undated; a stamped empty envelope. It is believed by the donor that at least one of these letters was in this
envelope, and delivered by hand despite the stamp. All three letters were send from 240 Dundas St. West, where the Sugarman family was living at the time.
- Administrative History
- Berul Sugarman (Abram Berul Sugarman) was born to Jacob (Jake) and Annie (Starkman) Sugarman on
28 May 1908, in Toronto, where he lived for most but not all of his life. The Sugarman family appears to
have lived briefly in Welland; the Welland directory for 1919 includes a listing for "Jake Sugarman,
restaurant, west side of Main Street, house same." This would have been when Abie (he began calling
himself "Berul" later in life; he went by "Abie" in his younger years) met Fannie Adelman, older daughter
of Joseph Adelman and Baila (Moschiach, anglicised to Miller). Fannie was born in Montreal in 1909 and
moved to Welland with her parents and younger sister Minnie sometime after 1915.
- Use Conditions
- Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.
- Subjects
- Musicians
- Letters
- Portraits
- Name Access
- Sugarman, Abram Berul, 1908-1982
- Places
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions