Accession Number
2010-5-15
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2010-5-15
Material Format
graphic material
textual record
Physical Description
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 Accession also includes Bernard's unpublished memoir of his war experience (2000) and one letter written by Bernard to his family while he was stationed in Germany (1945).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.
Subjects
Concentration camps
Photographers
World War, 1939-1945
Name Access
Bergen-Belsen (Concentration camp)
Places
Europe
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2019-5-13
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
Address
150 Beverley Street
Source
Landmarks

By 1919 the plight of post-war Eastern European Jewry and the need for a united community voice for Canadian Jewry led to the creation of the Canadian Jewish Congress. Its founding meeting was held on March 16, 1919 in Montreal. Though it briefly maintained a tiny regional office in Toronto, the CJC remained inactive until 1933, when it fully reconvened by opening offices in Winnipeg, Montreal, and Toronto. Egmont L. Frankel was the first President of the new Central Division in Toronto. While the National Office in Montreal focused on the overarching issues of the social and economic rights of European Jewry, assistance for Jewish immigrants, and combating prejudice in Canada, the Toronto office dealt with local violent anti-Jewish demonstrations as well as continuing discrimination both in employment and in access to public recreational facilities. The structure was based on regular national biennial plenary conferences at which policies were delineated and national and regional executives were elected. Between plenary sessions, National and Regional Councils were in charge.
Address
150 Beverley Street
Time Period
1919-2012
Scope Note
By 1919 the plight of post-war Eastern European Jewry and the need for a united community voice for Canadian Jewry led to the creation of the Canadian Jewish Congress. Its founding meeting was held on March 16, 1919 in Montreal. Though it briefly maintained a tiny regional office in Toronto, the CJC remained inactive until 1933, when it fully reconvened by opening offices in Winnipeg, Montreal, and Toronto. Egmont L. Frankel was the first President of the new Central Division in Toronto. While the National Office in Montreal focused on the overarching issues of the social and economic rights of European Jewry, assistance for Jewish immigrants, and combating prejudice in Canada, the Toronto office dealt with local violent anti-Jewish demonstrations as well as continuing discrimination both in employment and in access to public recreational facilities. The structure was based on regular national biennial plenary conferences at which policies were delineated and national and regional executives were elected. Between plenary sessions, National and Regional Councils were in charge.
History
During the 1930s the Central Division Office moved several times and occupied offices in the following locations; Yonge St., the Bond St. Synagogue, Scheuer House, the Zionist Building, and its long-term home at 150-152 Beverley Street where it remained until its July, 1983 move to the Lipa Green Building in North York. Its activities expanded to include taking responsibility for Jewish educational standards but, by 1941, its main efforts shifted to support for Canada’s war effort. Immediately after the end of the war, the focus again shifted to Jewish immigration projects and the maintenance of Jewish identity in small communities.By 1950, the CJC’s use of the title “division” was changed to “region” to accommodate internal operational “divisions” within each region. Also, by then, the Central Region was busy expanding its programs for all Ontario Jewish communities, creating a province-wide council of youth groups, and working with the newly-created Bureau of Jewish Education (later Board of Jewish Education).
Category
Organization
Source
Landmarks
Accession Number
2021-11-21
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2021-11-21
Material Format
textual record
Physical Description
13 cm of textual records
Date
1927-1984, predominant 1927-1947
Scope and Content
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.
Subjects
Families
World War, 1939-1945
Name Access
Posluns (family)
Posluns, Samuel, 1910-1994
Places
Europe
New York (N.Y.).
Source
Archival Accessions