Accession consists of one letter to Nathan "Sonny" Isaacs from Rabbi Jacob Eisen. The letter is dated 19 June 1945. In it, Jacob congratulates Nathan on getting engaged and expresses his regret he could not have been in Toronto when Nathan was welcomed home. He also mentions that Nathan's best friend, Percy, was sad to learn that Nathan had departed Europe just as he arrived.
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.
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
Related groups of records in different fonds external to the unit being
described: A photograph of Rabbi Jacob Eisen in uniform can be found
in the Military photographs series of the William Stern fonds. A photograph of Rabbi Eisen alongside other Jewish chaplains can be found in the Harry Moscoe fonds.
Accession consists of material documenting the Posluns family. Included are letters to Sam Posluns written in 1927, when Sam was in New York; letters to Sam Poslun written in 1947, when he was in Europe with the Tailor Project; miscellaneous newspaper articles; and a 1984 Negev Dinner book. Of note is a letter addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Posluns from Abby Fuhrman, whose son, David Fuhrman, went to live with the Posluns during the Second World War.
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.
Recopied March 2009 as the original copy done was inaudible.
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Max Enkin was a founder and a leading member of the Jewish Vocational Services of Toronto. In 1947, as associate administrator and representative for the men's clothing sector in Ontario, Max Enkin became involved in the Tailor Project, which was designed to identify and select skilled tailors from the displaced persons camps of Europe and help to settle them in Canada. Max Enkin was awarded the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his services to Wartime Prices and Trade Council.
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Al Hershkovitz was a fur union representative who helped organize the project that brought furriers from the displaced persons camps of Europe to Canada in the late 1940s. As a union representative, Al was granted temporary military rank in order to enter the displaced persons camps in Europe. He became part of the selection committee responsible for determining which displaced persons could come to Canada.
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Claire and Al Roebuck were involved in the Tailor Project to bring skilled trade workers from the displaced persons camps of Europe to Canada after the Second World War. Claire worked for the Canadian Overseas Garment Worker's Commission with Thomas Aplin.
1 reference DVD (1 WAV file) ; 1 archival DVD (1 WAV file)
Interviewer
Shayla Howell
Total Running Time
43:20
Notes
Israel was interviewed as part of the Memory Project which was undertaken in partnership with the Historica Dominion Institute
Biography
Israel grew up in Palestine and enlisted in the British Army with the Jewish Brigade in 1945. He was stationed in various cities near Italy and throughout Europe and Egypt. Although he did not see any fighting, he was involved in the transport of prisoners of war and guarded army vehicles. He was released from the army in 1946.
The child of Latvian immigrants to South Africa, Percy grew up in the small town of Vryheid, South Africa with his parents and two siblings. Years later, when asked what the population of Vryheid was, Percy’s mother replied, “Forty Jewish families.” Those families formed a tight-knit community that was able to support not only a synagogue and a rabbi, but a Talmud Torah school and a butcher’s shop with a kosher section.
At seventeen years old, Percy began an apprenticeship to become a pharmacist. He qualified in 1954 and worked for a year before leaving South Africa to travel the world. He never planned on visiting Canada, but found himself in Toronto for a stopover and ended up liking the city so much he decided to stay. In 1959, Percy became the first South African pharmacist registered in Ontario.
Percy met his first wife, Frances Goodman, in 1960 on a blind date and married her that same year. Together, they had two children: Beth (born in 1961) and David (born in 1963). In 1961, Percy began his thirty-four-year career with Johnson and Johnson Corporation, taking on a number of roles in the company during that time. In 1977, Frances passed away. Two years later, he married his second wife, Elsa Ruth Snider.
In addition to his professional accomplishments, Percy is the founder of the only museum devoted exclusively to the history of contraception. The museum is located at the Dittrick Medical History Centre in Cleveland, Ohio.
Material Format
moving images
Language
English
Name Access
Skuy, Percy, 1932-
Geographic Access
Canada
Europe
Israel
South Africa
United States
Original Format
Digital file
Copy Format
Digital file
Transcript
00:30 Percy was born in 1932 in Vryheid in northern Natal, South Africa.
00:41 Percy's parents emigrated from Latvia to South Africa in 1929.
00:53 Percy discusses his parents and their early lives in South Africa and the Jewish community in Vryheid.
04:10 Percy discusses his family's practice of Judaism while growing up.
05:02 Percy's father ran a small business. Later he worked with his brother-in-law to run a mill. At age fifty-nine, his father was killed in an automobile accident.
06:00 Percy discusses his mother. Percy has two siblings: an older brother, Max, and a younger sister, Rita.
07:19 Percy shares some of his childhood memories.
09:29 Percy was involved in the Habonim youth movement.
11:27 Percy reminisces about the establishment of the State of Israel.
13:23 Percy discusses his impressions of apartheid. He discusses his relationships with Black men and women.
15:15 Percy discusses his involvement with an anti-apartheid group.
17:19 Percy shares a story that illustrates his opposition to apartheid. His parents were not politically active.
19:06 Percy discusses how he became interested in pharmacy and the training for pharmacists.
21:21 Percy describes his two years of travel following graduation from pharmacy.
26:58 Percy relates how, en route to a pre-arranged job in the Arctic, he serendipitously secured a job with Glaxo as a medical sales representative on a stop-over in Toronto.
29:49 Percy describes his sales route.
30:46 Percy explains how he became the first South African registered pharmacist in Ontario.
32:31 Percy describes some of his early social/business pursuits in Canada.
34:12 Percy married his wife, Francis, originally from Sudbury. She graduated from the University of Toronto in nursing.
34:26 Following travel to Europe, Israel and South Africa, Percy and Francis decided to return to live in Canada.
35:35 Percy discusses the importance of maintaining family connection despite distance.
36:41 Percy describes the slow trickle of relatives who emigrated from South Africa. He notes that he has no close relatives remaining in South Africa and comments on the disappearance of the Jewish community in Vryheid.
38:39 Percy discusses some of the challenges he faced integrating socially into the Jewish community.
40:36 Percy explains how he became involved with working for the company Ortho.
45:15 Percy explains the factors that guided his integration into Canada.
47:08 Percy discusses his involvement in the Jewish community in Toronto.
48:30 Percy contrasts his own upbringing with how he raised his own children in Toronto.
52:00 Percy discusses his grandchildren.
52:26 Percy is the founder of a museum of the history of contraception. He explains how he developed an interest in the history of contraception and how he collected artifacts.
58:18 Percy describes his work history, his involvement in professional committee work, and his pursuits following his retirement in 1995.
1:00:11 Percy explains how he found a permanent location for the museum at the Dittrick Museum at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
1:02:50 Percy married Elsa in 1979. He discusses their range of hobbies.
1:03:38 Percy discusses the three documentaries he created. The topics included the formation of the Jewish pharmacy fraternity, the history of Jewish pharmacists in Canada, and the extracurricular involvement of Jewish pharmacists in Canada.
1:06:47 Percy addresses some of the issues faced by South African Jewish pharmacists who integrated to Canada.
1:09:20 Percy lists the languages he speaks.
1:10:00 Percy reminisces about his mother. He recalls his mother's relationship with their family servant.
1:13:14 Percy describes his training in pharmacy in South Africa.
1:15:27 Percy shares stories about their family's Black servants.
1:17:40 Percy reminisces about the opportunities that came his way since his arrival in Canada.
34 photographs : b&w, some sepia toned ; 17 x 23 cm or smaller
1 cm of textual records
Date
1944-2000
Scope and Content
Accession consists of photographs and textual records that document Bernard's activities in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. Included are images of Bernard and his photography school classmates; shots taken just after the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp was liberated, including shots of captured SS guards and of the Sunday picnics organized for the children; and images taken by Bernard while he was on leave. Accession also includes Bernard's unpublished memoir of his war experience (2000) and one letter written by Bernard to his family while he was stationed in Germany (1945).
Administrative History
Bernard Louis Yale was born in Toronto on 3 May 1922 to Morris Yalofsky and Ann Yalofsky (née Krasnanski). Although Morris and Ann were both born in the Ukraine, they resided in Romania prior to their immigration to Canada in 1922 Morris worked in Toronto as an upholsterer until his untimely death at the age of thirty-five.
Bernard attended Central Commerce high school and upon graduating registered for a chartered accounting course. He worked as an accounting student for the chartered accountant Jules Newman.
During the Second World War, Bernard served in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a photographer. He arrived in England in 1944 and was posted shortly thereafter to 443 Squadron, 144 Wing (a Spitfire Wing) in the town of Ford. While stationed there, he was responsible for servicing cinegun cameras that captured the damage caused each time the Spitfires fired ammunition at a target.
From Ford, Bernard moved with his squadron to various other towns including Sainte-Croix-sur-Mer (during the invasion of Normandy), Chartres, Louvain, and other towns in Belgium and Holland. In 1945, his squadron began moving into Germany and encountered slave labourers who had just been liberated. Soon after, Bernard was posted to serve in the occupation forces with 84 Group Disarmament Staff. His unit was responsible for disarming and dismantling the German air force. As part of this unit, Bernard processed photographs of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp guards, the burning of the wooden quarters used for Bergen-Belsen’s inmates, and other structures and remains found there. A squadron leader in Bernard’s unit, Ted Aplin, organized Sunday picnics for the children of Bergen Belsen during the summer of 1945. Bernard captured many photographs of these outings.
After the war, Bernard returned to Toronto and resumed work as a chartered accountant. He married Esther Wineberg in 1950 and together they had three children: Robert Yale (b. 1954), Sharon Yale (b. 1957), and Martin Yale (b. 1960). Bernard passed away on 16 September 2001.
Use Conditions
Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.
Descriptive Notes
Availability of other formats: Digitized material.
Associated material: See Ted Aplin fonds at Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections at York University, Toronto.
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.
Camp Moshava was founded in 1962 in the Kawartha Lakes Region on Lake Buckhorn. Affiliated with the Zionist youth movement B’nei Akiva, Moshava is one of several camps they operate in North America.
Address
1485 Murphy Rd.
Time Period
1962-present
Scope Note
Camp Moshava was founded in 1962 in the Kawartha Lakes Region on Lake Buckhorn. Affiliated with the Zionist youth movement B’nei Akiva, Moshava is one of several camps they operate in North America.
History
Historically, the primary aim of the movement was to promote avodah, specifically agricultural work in the field and aliyah, migration to Israel. Today, Camp Moshava provides an informal environment for campers to encounter Judaism through programming and observances that promote Torah education, prayer and Zionist ideals.
40 photographs : b&w and col. (40 negatives) ; 14 x 7 cm or smaller
Scope and Content
This series consists of negatives created by Sylvia Schwartz during a trip to Europe in 1959. Series contains three files that include images of Paul Robeson in his apartment in Stratford-Upon-Avon, United Kingdom, the World Festival of Youth and Students in Vienna, Austria and a taping of the Ed Sullivan Show in Moscow, USSR. Series has been arranged into files for each event. It is organized chronologically by month.
This item is a copy photograph and corresponding negative of a funeral ceremony taking place in Europe. The photograph depicts a man carrying the body of a deceased woman on a stretcher, while a young child and another woman looks on.
Subjects
Funeral service
Repro Restriction
Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.
Item is a photographic portrait of Gatella Scheuer at twenty, taken in Europe in the late nineteenth century. The portrait is of her head and torso and she is wearing a velvet jacket and her hair is pinned up.
Notes
Albumen print mounted on card.
Subjects
Portraits
Repro Restriction
Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.