- Accession Number
- 1981-4-5
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 1981-4-5
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 2 folders of textual records
- Date
- 1928-1929
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of David Waserman's Polish passport, Canadian immigration identification card stamped at Halifax upon his arrival on the Megantic, two copies of his birth certificate, a Polish police clearance document, and an army service book. There is also a Polish passport for Syma Nachsztern and her immigration identification card stamped upon arrival on the SS United States.
- MG_RG
- MG1
- Subjects
- Immigrants--Canada
- Name Access
- Waserman, David
- Places
- Canada
- Poland
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2007-7-3
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2007-7-3
- Material Format
- graphic material (electronic)
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : col. (jpg)
- 1 painting : col. (jpg)
- Date
- [194-?]
- Scope and Content
- This accession consists of one digital photograph of a painting depicting the Dodick family while in Poland, and one scanned copy of an original photograph. Identified in the painting are, left to right: Harry, Dora (mother), Sam (baby), Cecil, Fay, Abraham, Murray.
- Custodial History
- The original records are in the possession of the donor. The OJA was granted permission to scan the records in July 2007, as part of the Ontario Small Jewish Communities initiative. These copies were then donated to the Archives on 2007-07-19.
- 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.
- Subjects
- Communities
- Families
- Name Access
- Dodick, Vicki
- Dodick, Cecil
- Places
- Thunder Bay, Ont.
- Poland
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- 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
- 2014-1-17
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2014-1-17
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Date
- 1930-1965
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of textual records documenting the immigration and settlement of Max Smith (Szmidt, Szmit, Szmita) and Pearl (nee Apelbaum?) Smith and their family. Included are Polish identification papers and correspondence with Canadian immigration officials. Also included is correspondence relating to Alexander Najmanowicz.
- Custodial History
- The records were found by UJA Federation employee Leanne Campbell while she was cleaning out her office for a move. She believes the records belonged to someone who had her office before her. The original owner/source of the records is unknown.
- Use Conditions
- Closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing the records.
- Descriptive Notes
- Language note: Polish and English.
- Subjects
- Immigrants--Canada
- Name Access
- Smith, Max
- Smith, Pearl
- Places
- Toronto, Ont.
- Poland
- 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
- 2017-10-2
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2017-10-2
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 6 cm of textual records
- Date
- 1968
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of material documenting the lives of Eva and Jack Horwitz. Included are: correspondence and vital records, including birth, citizenship, and marriage certificates as well as passports.
- Custodial History
- Eva Horwitz took possession of the records that make up the accession following the death of her husband, Jack Horwitz, in 1980. Grace (Gloria) Waldman (née Horwitz) took possession of the records following the death of her mother, Eva Horwitz, in 1983. Marian Horwitz took possession of the records following the death of her sister, Grace Waldman, in 2017. Marian gifted the records to Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre on 4 October 2017.
- Administrative History
- Eva Horwitz (née Lipshitz, 1897-1983) was born in Mlawa, Poland on 20 June 1897. She married Jack Horwitz in Toronto on 30 October 1924. Thereafter, she raised three children: Gloria, Marvin, and Marian. In addition to her duties as a homemaker, Eva was an active member of the Workmen's Circle with her husband. She passed away on 17 February 1983. Jack Horwitz (1900-1980) was born in Polaniec, Poland on 13 December 1900. In 1920, he set sail from Antwerp and arrived in Canada. Four years later, on 30 October 1924, he married Eva Lipshitz. On 23 April 1927, he was naturalized as a British subject with his occupation listed as tailor. He passed away on 26 February 1980.
- Use Conditions
- Restricted. See administrative notes.
- Descriptive Notes
- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH NOTE: Dates of birth for both Eva and Jack Horwitz are uncertain. The dates listed in the Biographical Sketch are taken from Eva and Jack's Canadian passports. Different spellings for both the given names and the family names of Eva and Jack can be found in the records. "Eva Horwitz" and "Jack Horwitz" are the preferred spellings, notwithstanding the fact that their names are spelled otherwise on official documents.
- LANGUAGE NOTE: A small number of records are in non-English languages including: French, Polish, and Yiddish.
- Subjects
- Birth certificates
- Immigrants--Canada
- Marriage records
- Name Access
- Horwitz, Eva, 1897-1983
- Horwitz, Jack, 1900-1980
- Horwitz family
- Places
- Canada
- Poland
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2017-10-9
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2017-10-9
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Physical Description
- 37 photographs : b&w, some sepia toned ; 9 x 14 cm and 14 x 9 cm
- Date
- 1914-1929
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of 37 photographs documenting the extended family of Eva Horwitz (née Lipshitz). Included also is one photograph of Rabbi Yitzhak Yehuda Trunk (1878-1939), who was rabbi in Ciechanow from 1907-1912. (Ciechanow is approximately thirty kilometres from the town of Mlawa, where Eva was born.)
- Custodial History
- Marian Horwitz, daughter of Eva Horwitz, came into possession of the photographs subsequent to the death of her mother in 1983. Marian gifted the records to Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre on 30 October 2017.
- Administrative History
- Eva Horwitz (née Lipshitz, 1897-1983) was born in Mlawa, Poland on 20 June 1897. She married Jack Horwitz in Toronto on 30 October 1924. Thereafter, she raised three children: Gloria, Marvin, and Marian. In addition to her duties as a homemaker, Eva was an active member of the Workmen's Circle with her husband. She passed away on 17 February 1983.
- Photo Caption (037): Rabbi Yitzhak Yehude Trunk, [192-?]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2017-10-9.
- All other photos are unidentified.
- Use Conditions
- Restricted. See administrative notes.
- Descriptive Notes
- LANGUAGE NOTE: Captions on verso in Polish and Yiddish.
- Subjects
- Families
- Rabbis
- Name Access
- Horwitz, Eva, 1897-1983
- Horwitz family
- Trunk, Rabbi Yitzhak Yehuda, 1878-1939
- Places
- Poland
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2017-11-5
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2017-11-5
- Material Format
- graphic material
- Physical Description
- 11 photographs : b&w, some sepia toned ; 13 x 18 cm or smaller
- Date
- [192-?] - [193-?]
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of 9 photographs documenting the Horwitz family including a number of individuals presumed to be relatives living in Europe.
- Photo Caption (002): Jacob "Jack" Horwitz (left) and six other men, November 1920. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2017-11-5.
- Photo Caption (004): Eva Horwitz (centre) and two other women, Mlawa, Poland, [192-?]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2017-11-5.
- Photo Caption (007): Jack Horwitz posing with book, [192-?]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2017-11-5.
- Photo Caption (009): Marian Horwitz (first row standing, right) with other students, Clinton Street Public School, Toronto, Ont. [193-]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2017-11-5.
- All other photos unidentified.
- Custodial History
- Marian Horwitz, daughter of Eva Horwitz, came into possession of the photographs subsequent to the death of her mother in 1983. Marian gifted the records to Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre on 16 November 2017.
- Administrative History
- Eva Horwitz (née Lipshitz, 1897-1983) was born in Mlawa, Poland on 20 June 1897. She married Jack Horwitz in Toronto on 30 October 1924. Thereafter, she raised three children: Gloria, Marvin, and Marian. In addition to her duties as a homemaker, Eva was an active member of the Workmen's Circle with her husband. She passed away on 17 February 1983.
- Jack Horwitz (1900-1980) was born in Polaniec, Poland on 13 December 1900. In 1920, he set sail from Antwerp and arrived in Canada. Four years later, on 30 October 1924, he married Eva Lipshitz. On 23 April 1927, he was naturalized as a British subject with his occupation listed as tailor. He passed away on 26 February 1980.
- Marian Horwitz is the daughter of Eva and Jack Horwitz. The youngest of three children, she grew up with her two siblings in Toronto and attended Clinton Street Public School. Later, she moved to New York where she attended Fordham College at Lincoln Center and held a number of jobs. Eventually, she returned to Toronto where she currently resides.
- Use Conditions
- Restricted. See administrative notes.
- Subjects
- Families
- Name Access
- Clinton Street Public School (Toronto, Ont.)
- Horwitz, Eva, 1897-1983
- Horwitz family
- Horwitz, Jack, 1900-1980
- Horwitz, Marian
- Places
- Poland
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2018-1-5
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2018-1-5
- Material Format
- textual record
- object
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- 3 objects
- Date
- [190-?]-1967
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of materials documenting the Grosman family, in particular Max Grosman. Included are Max's certificate of naturalization, various Polish-language documents including Max's Polish passport, an old age security application, and an insurance book. The accession also includes a pin commemorating the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union's fortieth anniversary and two rings that belonged to Max.
- Custodial History
- Max Grosman's son, Wilfred Grosman, came into possession of the records constituting Accession 2018-1-5 following the death of his father. He donated the records to the Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre on 17 January 2018.
- Administrative History
- Max Grosman was born 25 March 1884 in Novoradomsk, Poland. He became a naturalized British subject in 1914. Max's wife, Minnie "Majja" Grosman (née Bocian), came to Canada in 1913. Together, they had four sons: Jack, Morris, Samuel, and Wilfred. Max made his living as a tailor. He passed away on 17 October 1960 at the age of seventy-seven.
- Descriptive Notes
- LANGUAGE: Accession contains records in both English and Polish.
- Subjects
- Families
- Immigrants--Canada
- Name Access
- Bocian, Majja
- Bocian, Minnie
- Grosman, Majja
- Grosman, Minnie
- Grosman, Max
- Grosman, Wilfred
- International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
- Places
- Canada
- Poland
- 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
- 2019-10-2
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2019-10-2
- Material Format
- textual record
- textual record (electronic)
- Physical Description
- 10 cm of textual records
- 1 photograph (tiff) : b&w
- Date
- [194-] - 2019
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of handwritten Yiddish poetry by Benzion Micfliker. Benzion (Ben) began writing poetry at the age of sixty-five after the death of his second wife Esther Micfliker (née Blutschitz). The poems, discovered by Benzion's daughter Rita, deal with personal themes of love and loss, reflections on Nazi imprisonment, liberation, relocations, Theodor Herzl, Canada, astronauts, Jewish holidays including Passover, Hanukkah, Purim, summer, nature and more. Seventeen of the Yiddish language poems have been translated into English. In addition, there is a photograph of Benzion and Esther (1940s), a detailed biography of Benzion Mickflker written by his daughter Rita, and newspaper clippings of Benzion's published poetry.
- Administrative History
- Benzion Micfliker (1910-1989) was born on 29 May 1910 in Chelm, Poland. He immigrated to Canada with his wife Esther and daughter Rita in 1951. Both Benzion and his wife had endured and survived the horrors of the Holocaust. They met after the war and lived in Barletta Italy in a displaced persons (DP) camp, where Rita was born. They settled in Israel for a short time and soon reunited with Benzion's sister Ita and her husband Mendel Silverman in Montreal, where Ben worked as a tailor and foreman and Esther as a seamstress. Benzion passed away at the age of 79 on 16 Jul. 1989.
- Use Conditions
- Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.
- Descriptive Notes
- Language: Yiddish
- Related material: 2019-10-8; 2019-12-2
- Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
- Refugee camps
- Places
- Montréal (Québec)
- 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
- Accession Number
- 2022-3-11
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2022-3-11
- Material Format
- graphic material
- textual record
- object
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- ca. 200 photographs (15 negatives): b&w ; 25 x 20 cm or smaller
- 1 small metal pendant
- Date
- [ca. 1900]-[ca. 1943]
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of photographs, textual records, and an artifact relating to or collected by Mooney Stitt. Textual records include receipts, correspondence, immigration documents, a trademark certificate issued by the United States Patent Office, material related to Mooney’s municipal election in Sioux Lookout, and Mooney’s British Columbia free miner’s certificate. Photographs make up the majority of this accession, featuring Mooney’s family and personal life. Also included is a small metal pendant with Russian inscriptions.
- Custodial History
- Records were in the possession of Peter Marcovitz’s mother, Lillian Averson, until her death in 1965. Since then, the records have been stored possibly in the family house until being found and gifted to the Ontario Jewish Archives in 2021 by Peter and his wife, Joyce Borenstein.
- Administrative History
- Mooney Stitt (1904-1943), also known as Munya Studnitz, was born in 1904 in Poland to Simcha Studnitz and Miriam Woyler. He might also be referred to as Chaim Studnic or Hiame Studnitz. Mooney had four siblings: David, Dina (Dinah/Diana), Dora, and Miron. In 1923, Mooney and Dina Studnitz immigrated to Canada from Poland under the sponsorship of their uncle, Nathan Stitt, who resided in the City of Fort William (now Thunder Bay) and had a clothing store named Stitt & Sons. Mooney and Dina lived in the City of Lemberg (now Lviv) before moving to Canada. By taking the ship Laconia, Mooney landed in Halifax in 1923; then he made his way to Thunder Bay and started working on a farm of David J. Piper in the Township of Paipoonge. Later, he moved to Sioux Lookout, where he presented himself in a municipal election. Mooney relocated to Montreal in the mid-1930s and founded a company called Canadian Art Studios, which manufactured silk scarves. In 1939, he married Lillian Averson (1916-1965). It is possible that Lillian also helped him operate the business. On March 13, 1943, Mooney passed away of heart ailments in Montreal. Upon his death, one of Lillian’s brothers-in-law joined the company, and a children’s wear division was launched shortly afterwards. The company ceased manufacturing scarves in the early 1950s and grew into a successful children’s wear manufacturer under the name Tam O’Shanter (spelling uncertain). Lillian was bought out by her brother-in-law in the late 1950s. The company finally ceased operating in the late 1980s. Mooney and Lillian did not have children together. In 1945, Lillian married her second husband, Joel Marcovitz. Peter Marcovitz was born in 1947 to Lillian and Joel.
- 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: photographs and documents have been scanned and are available in PDF, TIF, and JPG formats.
- LANGUAGE NOTE: A small number of records are in Russian and Polish.
- RELATED MATERIAL NOTE: See accession 2008-7-13 and OH 308 for additional information on the Stitt family and the Stitt & Sons clothing store.
- Subjects
- Families
- Name Access
- Stitt, Mooney, 1904-1943
- Places
- Fort William (Ont.)
- Sioux Lookout (Ont.)
- Thunder Bay (Ont.)
- Montréal (Québec)
- Poland
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2022-5-20
- Source
- Archival Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2022-5-20
- Material Format
- textual record
- Physical Description
- 1 folder of textual records
- Date
- 1943-1945
- Scope and Content
- Accession consists of a birth certificate issued in November 1943 under the name of Roman-Jan Domanski, which was used by Marian Domanski to survive the Holocaust. Accession also includes an identity card with Marian's photograph and the same falsified name, issued in Radzyn on 25 Jan. 1944 (the notes section of the identity card is separated, with an illegible Polish stamp on the back, dated 23 Nov. 1945).
- Custodial History
- Records were donated by Marian Domanski's daughter Beata Domanska.
- Administrative History
- Marian Domanski (1928-2012) was born Moshe Finkielman on 20 June 1928 in Otwock, Poland, south of Warsaw. His father, Abraham Finkielman, died in 1939 as a soldier in the Polish army, and his mother, Brucha Rotenberg Finkielman, passed away in late 1941 from typhus in the Otwock Ghetto. In 1941, Marian began to regularly sneak out of the ghetto to search for food until his mother's death. In April 1942, he escaped the ghetto and posed as a Polish Catholic youth. He worked as a farm labourer in Eastern Poland for some time, until he was told that in order to get a permanent position he would have to register, which would require his birth certificate. In October 1942, in the town of Komarowka, he was caught and deported to the Treblinka extermination camp. He managed to jump off the transport, run away, and hide, eventually finding work as a farm labourer once again. In 1943, he managed to obtain a falsified birth certificate using information about a fellow herdsman, Roman-Jan Domanski, without his knowledge. He was also able to obtain identity papers, working at farms as a Polish Catholic boy until the end of the war. After the war, he traveled to the recovered territories in Western Poland, where he found work and resumed his education by attending evening school and specializing in aerial photography. He opened his own photography business in Wroclaw and was awarded the degree of Master Photographer in 1963, the same year he married his wife, Cesia. In 1968, Marian and his wife and daughter Beata left Poland for Denmark to escape the anti-Jewish campaign that was underway by the government, and in 1970, they emigrated to Canada. He attended a program in Graphic Arts at George Brown College and, after graduating, worked in several printing establishments for many years until retirement. He kept the name Marian Domanski for the remainder of his life. Marian Domanski passed away in 2012.
- Subjects
- Holocaust survivors
- Refugees
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
- Name Access
- Domanski, Marian, 1928-2012
- Places
- Poland
- Toronto (Ont.)
- Source
- Archival Accessions