Accession Number
2003-10-4
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2003-10-4
Material Format
moving images
Physical Description
1 videocassette : b&w, si., VHS
Date
1943
Scope and Content
Accession consists of one VHS videocassette copy of an 8mm silent film that was taken by Hy Rossman of campers at Camp Tamarack in 1943. The film includes scenes of the boys engaged in activities at camp as well as "mess hall" gatherings, training sessions and drills
Administrative History
Hy Rossman was the father of one of the campers. The donor, Dr. Martin Wolfish, was a friend of his son and was a camper in 1943 as well.
Descriptive Notes
A clip of the film can be viewed at: //www.youtube.com/embed/eFGNoca4vkw
Subjects
Camps
Children
Name Access
Camp Tamarack
Rossman, Hy
Places
Bracebridge, Ont.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2004-5-87
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2004-5-87
Material Format
moving images
Physical Description
1 film strip : col. ; 43 images
Date
1955
Scope and Content
Accession consists of a U.J.A. film strip narrated by Win Barron, with photography by Graphic Artists, and produced by Bernard Mandel. Images include synagogues and other buildings, children at school, swimmers in a pool, immigrants in Israel, and U.J.A. posters.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
1979-4-4
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
1979-4-4
Material Format
graphic material
moving images
Physical Description
18 photographs : b&w (9 negatives)
1 film reel
Date
1959-1965
Scope and Content
Accession consists of photographs documenting the Workmen's Circle (Arbeiter Ring) Peretz School and Camp Yungvelt. Also included is a film reel of activities at Camp Yungvelt from 1959.
Subjects
Camps
Schools
Name Access
Camp Yungvelt
Matenko, Isaac, 1874-1960
Workmen's Circle (Toronto, Ont.)
Places
Ontario
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
1992-6-4
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
1992-6-4
Material Format
moving images
Physical Description
1 videocassette : col., sd.
Date
14 Jun. 1992
Scope and Content
Accession consists of one videocassette documenting Florence Hutner-Rosichan's memorial held at Holy Blossom Temple on June 14, 1992.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
1999-6-4
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
1999-6-4
Material Format
moving images
Physical Description
1 videocassette (ca. 10 min.) : col., si.
Date
1958
Scope and Content
Accession consists of one videocassette documenting the dedication of Sefer Torah scrolls held by the Shidlover Shul on D'Arcy Street in Toronto. The scrolls were brought to the shul from 3181 Bathurst Street by Jake and Esther Miltz and Rose and Nathan Weisblatt. They were transported to D'Arcy and Spadina Avenue and marched into the shul from Spadina Avenue going east. The celebration was held at the Weisblatt's home. Footage was originally filmed by Dr. Aaron Weisblatt on super 8 mm.
Use Conditions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the Archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Subjects
Torah scrolls
Places
Kensington Market (Toronto, Ont.)
D'Arcy Street (Toronto, Ont.)
Spadina Avenue (Toronto, Ont.)
Bathurst Street (Toronto, Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2005-8-6
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2005-8-6
Material Format
moving images
Physical Description
1 videocassette : VHS
Date
1959
Scope and Content
Accession consists of one VHS cassette of approximately 10 minutes of original family home movies of the Weinstock family vacationing in Pontypool. The video begins with an introduction to the home movies by Nathan Weinstock. The video contains scenes of activities including swimming, dancing, fishing, and playing cards.
Administrative History
Nathan Weinstock (b. 1950) is the son of Abraham (b. 1917) and Chanah (b. 1922) Weinstock who were both born in Poland. He has an older brother, Joseph (b. 1946) and a younger sister, Lily (b. 1954). The Weinstock family vacationed in Pontypool between 1956 and 1962.
Subjects
Outdoor recreation
Communities
Name Access
Weinstock, Nathan
Weinstock, Abraham
Weinstock, Chanah
Places
Pontypool, Ont.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2005-11-8
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2005-11-8
Material Format
moving images
Physical Description
1 film reel ; 8 mm
Date
[197-?]
Scope and Content
Accession is an 8mm home movie reel of Succah at an unknown religious school.
Subjects
Religion
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2006-5-4
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2006-5-4
Material Format
sound recording
moving images
graphic material
Physical Description
5 cu. ft.
Date
1972-[ca. 1985]
Scope and Content
The accession consists primarily of sound and videotape recordings of speakers at Toronto community events. The bulk of the recordings are of speakers at the Jewish Book Fair, including such authors as Morley Torgov, Mordecai Richler, and Chaim Potok. Other recordings are of Canadian Jewish Congress conferences, meetings, and special events. The accession also includes slides of Jewish Book Fair events.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2006-6-3
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2006-6-3
Material Format
graphic material
textual record
moving images
Physical Description
301 photographs : b&w (1 oversized, 2 albums)
16 film reels : 16 mm and 8 mm
7 cm of textual records
Date
[ca. 1900]-1970
Scope and Content
The accession consists of material documenting the Shedlowsky (later Shields) and Iseman families. The records consist of items such as: telegrams, invitations, photographs, and home movies.
Custodial History
The records were donated by Mel Shields, who had them in his apartment. He is planning to donate the business records to the OJA as well.
Administrative History
Melvin Shields was born in 1940 and was raised in Toronto. He was the son of Harry Shields and Esther Shields (née Iseman). Harry came to Canada after the First World War with his parents and attended school in Toronto. His family name was Sheldlowsky, which was changed to Shields before he married Esther in 1937. They had another son, Lorne, who was born in 1943.
During their early years of marriage, the couple lived with Esther's parents, Rose and Harry. During the war, the Iseman's helped bring to Canada two Jewish boys, the Furmans, from England. The boys stayed with friends of the family when they arrived in Canada. The boys' parents wrote to the Isemans and were very appreciative of the sacrifices they made for their children.
The family took many trips together to Niagara Falls, Pontypool, and other camping resorts. The couple also took trips with friends and adult family members to Acapulco and Miami. When they were older, the boys were sent to summer camps such as Camp Tamarack and Camp Rockwood, where Mel was a counsellor.
Harry owned a sportswear business called Shields Sportswear Ltd., which was located at 349 Queen Street West. Esther served on the board of the Mozirer Society for many years.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2006-5-2
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2006-5-2
Material Format
moving images
Physical Description
1 videocassette
1 DVD
Date
[200-]
Scope and Content
Accession consists of one video cassette and a DVD documenting the history of Kirkland Lake. The material was originally aired on TV Ontario
Descriptive Notes
The video cassette has been converted to digital format.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2006-8-16
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2006-8-16
Material Format
moving images
Physical Description
1 DVD
Date
2006
Scope and Content
Accession consists of one DVD containing Toronto media coverage of the UJA emergency rally and campaign in support of Israel. The television coverage is from July and August of 2006 and was aired on CBC, CTV, City TV (CP 24) and Global.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2006-8-17
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2006-8-17
Material Format
moving images
Physical Description
1 DVD
Date
Aug. 2006
Scope and Content
Accession consists of one DVD of the United Jewish Communities Israel Emergency Campaign video from August 2006.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2007-10-4
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2007-10-4
Material Format
textual record
moving images
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records
1 DVD ; 20 min.
Date
2007
Scope and Content
Accession consists of one DVD detailing the history of Ralph and Helen Cohen entitled: 1947: Once Upon a Time. The video was created by Alan, the son of Ralph and Helen, in honour of his parents 60th wedding anniversary. It features still photographs of his parents and family friends with a narrative voice-over. As well, the video features several archival photographs from various institutions, including the OJA. Additionally, there is a publicity brochure for Alan's business producing family commemorative DVDs.
Name Access
Cohen, Helen
Cohen, Ralph
Cohen Alan
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2008-1-4
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2008-1-4
Material Format
moving images
graphic material (electronic)
graphic material
Physical Description
4 film reels (57 min., 32 sec.) : 16 mm
1 DVD
8 photographs (jpgs) : b&w
1 photograph : b&w
Date
[195-]-[196-]
Scope and Content
This accession consists of four 16 mm films and one copy DVD, documenting the Moldaver family in Peterborough. The films were taken during the 1950s and 1960s and include images of a Camp Wahanowin family visit featuring people by the lake, boating, playing badminton and softball and waterskiing, as well as other cottage scenes of kids swimming and jumping off the dock, canoeing, and several families sitting by the lake.
The films also document several family and community events, such as a family vacation to Chicago, fancy parties, Hanukkah and Purim celebrations, family dinners, and bar mitzvahs, including the bar mitzvah of the donor Joel Moldaver. There are also several scenes of family life in Peterborough including people skating outdoors, and group shots of people standing outside of their homes and getting into cars.
In addition, the accession contains electronic scans of eight family photographs, including the donor's grandparents and great-parents, his parents' wedding which was the first Jewish wedding in Peterborough, and three images of his own bar mitzvah. There is also one oversize photograph of the 1942 Plenary session of the Canadian Jewish Congress, where the formation of Israel was addressed (photo credit: Federal Photos, Montreal).
Photographs are as follows:
1. Annie and Philip Black in Peterborough, ca. 1939.
2. Bar mitzvah at Reid Street.
3. Bar mitzvah at Reid Street.
4. Bar mitzvah at Reid Street with father Irving Moldaver, Aaron Black, and Rabbi Babb.
5. David and Faigh Florence possibly on Aylmer Street, ca 1939.
6. Irving Moldaver wedding portrait, 1938.
7. Peterborough wedding, Ernie Fine, Annie Black, Ruth and Irving Moldaver, Clara and Oskar Moldaver, 1938.
8. Ruth Moldaver (nee Black) wedding portrait, 1938.
9. CJC fifth plenary session, Jan. 10-12, 1942, Montreal.
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
Communities
Families
Religion
Name Access
Moldaver, Joel
Moldaver, Ruth
Moldaver, Irving
Places
Peterborough (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2008-1-5
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2008-1-5
Material Format
moving images
Physical Description
95 video cassettes
Date
Sept. 1998-March 2000
Scope and Content
This accession consists of 95 video cassettes of lectures presented by the Wexner Heritage Foundation at their "Toronto sessions". There are 39 lectures in total, dealing with philosophical and religious based topics as well as one on the history of the Canadian Jewish community. The sessions are set up with a guest speaker at the head of a table facilitating the discussion amongst a group of participants.
The guest speakers and facilitators include Rabbi Norman Laufer, Rabbi Reuven Kimelman, Rabbi Jacob Schacter, Dr. Benjamin Gampel, Dr. Michael Stanislawski, Dr. Steven Bayme, Dr. Michael Brown, Rabbi Shoshana Gelfand, Rabbi Tsvi Blanchard, Dr. Larry Hoffman, Erica Brown, Dr. Michal Chernick and Arna Poupko.
The topics of discussion include:
Genesis: cosmos and covenant.
Genesis: Exodus, Abraham and Moses. The nature of leadership and relationship to the covenant.
Books of Deuteronomy, Joshua. Judges, Samuel 1: land and politics.
Prophets and kings or prophets vs. kings.
Judaism and the destruction of the Temple.
The Temple's end and beginnings of modern Judaism.
Judaism in Middle Ages.
Jews in the orbit of Islam.
Sephardic and Ashkenaz Jews: 11th to 15th century.
Crusades and expulsion of Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews: 13th to 16th century.
Jews in Ashkenazi lands.
Roads to modernity: 1550-1789.
Jews in Medieval Spain.
Eastern European Jewry through 1981.
Transitions to modernity
Enlightenment and emancipation and the Jewish response to modernity.
Immigration and acculturation.
Zionism first 50 years.
The rise and decline of civic Judaism and the emergence of Jewish continuity agenda.
Canadian Jewish history.
Who are the hero/ines of Rosh Hashanah?
Priest, prophet and kings: authority and rivalry.
Triumphs and failures in biblical leadership.
Refusing leadership: the complex leader.
Judah, Tamar and the Book of Ruth: autonomy and vision as a foundation for leadership.
Leadership as an outgrowth of faith and kindness.
The risk of a leader in the Diaspora: Joseph and the Book of Esther.
The leader as courtier: the Book of Esther.
Suffering divine justice and personal communal redemption.
The leader as nurturer.
The anatomy of the Siddur.
From Bible to Mishna: the process of Midrash.
Rabbinic "liturature": the Mishna.
The Talmud.
The Mishna and its social context.
Codes and responsa.
The Aggadah: the spiritual world of the Talmudic tale.
Custodial History
These video cassettes were donated to the OJA by the Media Library, however they did not contain the usual coding used by the library. Therefore, their origins are unknown. It is possible that they were once used as a resource by the staff at the Board of Jewish Education.
Administrative History
The Wexner Foundation and the Wexner Heritage Foundation (now part of The Wexner Foundation) were established by Leslie Wexner in 1984. The Wexner Heritage program was designed to provide young American Jewish lay leaders with a two-year intensive Jewish learning program, thus deepening their understanding of Jewish history, values, and texts and enriching their leadership skills. By the end of 2007, over 1500 North American Jewish leaders from 31 cities will have participated in the program.
http://www.wexnerfoundation.org/TheFoundation/HistoryandMission/tabid/61/Default.aspx
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2008-7-5
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2008-7-5
Material Format
moving images
Physical Description
1 DVD (ca. 3 min.)
Date
26 Nov. 2007
Scope and Content
This accession consists of one DVD of Ze'ev Bielski, chair of the Jewish Agency, paying tribute to David Engel on the occassion of his end of term as chair of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto's Board of Directors.
Name Access
Engel, David
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2008-9-5
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2008-9-5
Material Format
moving images
Physical Description
1 DVD (2 hrs. 2 mins.)
Date
[ca. 1957]-[ca. 1958]
Scope and Content
Accession consists of family movies from the late 1950s converted to digital format (DVD). The movies document the Nefsky (?) family of Toronto, their celebrations, vacations at the cottage and in Florida. The DVD runs approximately 2 hours. It was likely originally filmed on 8mm film and there appear to have been 13 reels combined onto this DVD, made over a couple of years ca. 1957-1958.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2008-11-2
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2008-11-2
Material Format
moving images
Physical Description
1 DVD : 20 min.
8 videocassettes : 3/4"
1 videocassette (ca. 20 min.) : col., sd.
Date
1991
Scope and Content
This accession consists of one DVD, copied from an original videocassette entitled "J. B.!" The DVD features an interview with J. B. Salsberg and other individuals sharing their memories of Salsberg. The DVD was produced by Gabov Apor and Company Ltd. and was executive produced by Salsberg's niece, Dr. Sharyn A. Salsberg Ezrin. It was created for a dinner honouring J. B. Salsberg, which took place on 13 November 1991.
Also included are the eight original broadcast U-matic videocassettes containing the raw footage and interviews as well as the finished product.
Custodial History
The DVD was in the possession of Ethel Cooper, Chair of the Yiddish Committee and was donated to the Archives on behalf of Dr. Salsberg Ezrin. The videocassettes were given to the Archives by the donor on 28 November, 2008 and was added on to this original accession.
The videocassette version of the DVD footage was previously donated to OJA by Dr. Salsberg Ezrin and has been added to this accession.
Name Access
Salsberg, J. B.,1902-1998
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2008-10-7
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2008-10-7
Material Format
textual record
graphic material
moving images
Physical Description
28 cm of textual records
78 photographs : 24 x 19 cm or smaller
3 videocassetttes
Date
1962-2003
Scope and Content
Accession consists of records documenting the education and professional life of Rabbi Domb. The photos are mostly of the Rabbi, his family, friends and congregational school students. Also included are files containing many of his speeches and sermons, his marriage register, his personal educational and certification records, correspondence and notes concerning his involvement with the B’nai Shalom North Congregation, and VHS videocassettes of a singing audition and a wedding at which he officiated. The accession also includes records containing many posthumous tributes to his life and work, as well as a DVD, brief obituary and personal history by his nephew, Alan Domb, donor of these records.
Custodial History
Donor was Rabbi's nephew.
Administrative History
Solomon Z. Domb was born in Israel on December 2, 1952. He was the fourth and youngest son of Polish Holocaust survivors Joseph and Golda Domb. The family immigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1960, where Solomon received his education at Yeshiva Day School Chaim Talmud Torah. His education continued at the Ner Israel Yeshiva and the Bais Medrash L’Rabonim in Brooklyn, New York. He also studied cantorial singing under famed cantor David Kusevitsky. After graduation as a rabbi in May1970 Rabbi Domb began his career at the House of Jacob in Calgary, Alberta. He then became Rabbi and Chazzan of Beth Isiah Congregation in Guelph and later at Toronto’s Beth Torah Congregation. In 1982 Rabbi Domb founded the B’nai Shalom North Congregation, B’nai Shalom Hebrew School, and B’nai Shalom Day Nursery. He was also a founder of the Vaughan Neighbourhood Support Centre. Rabbi Domb died on October 5, 2003.
Descriptive Notes
Language Note: Many of the speech and semon notes are in Hebrew or Yiddish.
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2009-1-2
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2009-1-2
Material Format
textual record
moving images
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records
2 videocassettes (each 44 min, 39 sec.)
Date
1969, 1997
Scope and Content
This accession consists of a 1969 letter from Senator A[rthur] W. Roebuck, responding to a thank-you letter sent by Mrs. Sydney Cooper and Mrs. Minden, co-chairs of Crown Gifts division, and Mrs. Allen A. Small, chair of the Women's Division of UJA. The letter refers to the recent visit of a group of women who visited the Parliament buildings in Ottawa and were received by Senator Roebuck. The other items in the accession are a video and guidebook set entitled 'Untying the Bonds... Jewish Divorce: a GET Education Video & Guidebook, Fall 1997."
Custodial History
The records were in the office of Frances Goldstein, associate director for Top Gifts at UJA's Centre for Philanthropy, before being transferred to the OJA. Goldstein was formerly the head of Women's Campaign.
Administrative History
The Canadian Coalition of Jewish Women for the GET was composed of all the major Jewish women's organizations, which joined forces in the late 1980s to have the federal Divorce Act amended. The Jewish Women's Federation was one of these organizations; the others were Jewish Women International of Canada, Emunah Women of Canada, Hadassah-WIZO Organization of Canada, Na’amat Canada, Canadian ORT, Women’s Federation CJA, National Council of Jewish Women of Canada, Status of Women Committee of Canadian Jewish Congress and Women’s League of Conservative Judaism. In 1990, as part of a lobbying group that included B'nai Brith, Canadian Jewish Congress, and religious groups of all faiths, the Coalition succeeded in having a protective clause added to the Divorce Act, ensuring that no spouse should retain barriers to the religious remarriage of their ex-spouse in a divorce in Canada. The Coalition went on after its successful legislative reform campaign to produce an educational video on Jewish divorce and continue with its activism and public awareness building.
Subjects
Women
Get (Jewish law)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2009-6-5
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2009-6-5
Material Format
graphic material
sound recording
moving images
textual record
object
Physical Description
187 photographs : b&w and col. ; 24 x 20 cm or smaller
20 audiocassettes
10 videocassettes
1 folder of textual records
1 object
Date
[193-]-2006
Scope and Content
Accession consists predominantly of records collected by Bess Shockett in her work with UJA Federation's Committee for Yiddish and Friends of Yiddish. The accession also contains some personal family records. The photographs document programmes of the Committee for Yiddish in the late 1980s and 1990s, including an outdoor Yiddish concert, several International Conferences of Yiddish Clubs (1995, 1998, 1999), Sunday morning Yiddish classes, and a 1993 Hanukah concert. There are also three photographs of the New Fraternal Jewish Association and its celebration of J. B. Salsberg's eightieth birthday in 1980. The videocassettes contain recordings of other events including a storytelling workshop, Purim Mystery Night, a farewell for Miriam Waddington and several Sof Vokh (weekend retreat) programmes of 1993.
The twenty cassette tapes feature panel discussions, lectures and interviews, including "Yiddish education," "Yiddish and the Media," "Yiddish and the Younger Generation," "Yiddish and the Performing Arts," and "Yiddish Language and Translation." There are several interviews with Yiddish poet Avrom Sutzkever, as well as two Toronto Yiddish concerts. Other tapes contain radio interviews with [Aaron?] Lansky; "Chava Rosenfarb--Book Fair", 1988; "Plenary reports and presentations"; and an episode of the program The Forward Hour on Peretz Miransky, an influential Polish writer in the inter-war years.
Personal records in the accession consist of family snapshots dating from the 1930s and 1940s. These were taken in Israel and include images of farming, landscapes, travel, a canal, groups of people, city buildings, and processions. These photos all have Yiddish writing on the back. There is one formal portrait, ca. 1890s, of an elderly Jewish man. As well, there is a folder of original and photocopied poetry (in Yiddish) written by a Jack Shockett.
Accession also includes a Yiddish typewriter, in case, that Bess used in the late 1960s/early 1970s when the Committee for Yiddish was under Congress.
Custodial History
Records were entrusted to the estate of Bess Shockett after her death, and given to her Committee for Yiddish colleague Ethel Cooper, who brought them to the archives.
Administrative History
Bess Shockett was born in the Ukraine in 1919. Her father, Solomon Maltin, was the mayor of the town and helped establish a number of Jewish community institutions. He and his wife had two sons along with Bess: Sam and Ben. In 1925, the family moved to Montreal. As an adolescent, Bess became very active in the Jewish community and joined the United Jewish People's Order. She helped organize a union for workers in the knitting industry and later did the same for fur workers. She also travelled to Winnipeg to organize a laundry workers union. She met her husband, Barry Shockett, in Toronto and they married in 1952 and had three children: Michael, Elka and Eric. Bess eventually became very active in the Toronto Jewish community, particularly in regards to supporting and launching several innovative Yiddish programs. She staffed the office of CJC's Committee for Yiddish in its early years, and was Director from 1974 to 1989. She helped found the Friends of Yiddish in 1985 and served as executive vice-president until her death on August 27, 2007.
Descriptive Notes
There is little written material; what there is (captions and poetry) is mostly in Yiddish; some captions are in English.
Subjects
Committees
Yiddish language
Name Access
Committee for Yiddish (Toronto, Ont.)
Places
Toronto (Ont.)
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2009-6-14
Source
Archival Accessions
Accession Number
2009-6-14
Material Format
graphic material
textual record
moving images
Physical Description
4.2 m of graphic, textual and audio/video material
Date
[197-?]-[2008?]
Scope and Content
This accession primarily consists of photographs documenting the events and activities of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, as well as the staff and lay leadership. The events pictured include missions, rallies, fly-ins, telethons, Major Gifts dinners, March of the Living, and Birthright. They also include Campaign divisions like Women’s Division, Young Accountants, and Young Leadership and its program Hands On Toronto ("HOT”). Organizations include Knesseth Israel Synagogue, JCC, the Zaglembier and Ostrovtzer societies, and Bernard Betel Centre. One cubic foot box consists entirely of photographs of Israel @ 50 programs including the “Night of a Lifetime.” There is also a large Israel @ 50 scrapbook of clippings, programs, and feature articles. Two boxes of photographs contain portraits filed by name.
There is a small amount of textual records in the accession, which include binders of newsclippings and brochures kept by the Creative Department, Tomorrow Campaign folios and booklets, and Central Campus vision documents from 2002. As well, there are sixty-eight CDs and DVDs, most of which are promotional videos relating to the Tomorrow Campaign and other UJA campaigns. There are also DVDs of 2008 UJA Big Ideas Forum and one cassette tape of the 2002 annual Lion of Judea luncheon. Finally, there is a DVCam cassette of the 2006 Campaign Closing celebration.
Custodial History
The records were in the custody of the Creative Department of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto. As part of Federation's "purge day" on 5 June 2009, the department gathered together their materials and transferred them to the archives.
Use Conditions
Copyright is not held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.
Name Access
UJA Federation of Greater Toronto
Source
Archival Accessions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Annual Campaign series
Walk with Israel sub-series
1998 Israel 50 Fun Walk sub-sub-series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 67; Series 17-1-24; File 2
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Annual Campaign series
Walk with Israel sub-series
1998 Israel 50 Fun Walk sub-sub-series
Level
File
Fonds
67
Series
17-1-24
File
2
Material Format
textual record
moving images
Date
1998
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records
1 videocassette
Scope and Content
File contains form letters to participants, organizations, synagogue bulletin editors, recruitment presenters and other organizations; minutes of the Recruitment Committee; and a memo to Campaign volunteers from the chairs. There is also a promotional video that was played in schools.
Accession Number
Videocassette from accession 2009-6-14.
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Annual Campaign series
Walk with Israel sub-series
Israel Funwalk 1999 sub-sub-series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 67; Series 17-1-25; File 2
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Annual Campaign series
Walk with Israel sub-series
Israel Funwalk 1999 sub-sub-series
Level
File
Fonds
67
Series
17-1-25
File
2
Material Format
textual record
moving images
Date
1999
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records
1 videocassette
Scope and Content
File contains form letters sent to school principals, youth group contacts, participants and presenters. The material for presenters includes notes and instructions. File also includes school population numbers and an agreement with the Promenade Shopping Centre to set up a table there promoting the Walk. File also includes a promotional video shown in schools.
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Annual Campaign series
Walk with Israel sub-series
Israel Funwalk 2000 sub-sub-series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 67; Series 17-1-26; File 1
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Annual Campaign series
Walk with Israel sub-series
Israel Funwalk 2000 sub-sub-series
Level
File
Fonds
67
Series
17-1-26
File
1
Material Format
textual record
moving images
graphic material
Date
2000
Physical Description
1 folder of textual records
1 photograph
1 videocassette
Scope and Content
File contains a letter to walkers who have returned their collection envelope and thus receive a free t-shirt and a coupon for one or more passes to Ontario Place. Two sample coupons are included. The file also includes a photograph of staff coordinator Naomi Cohen with three representatives from Associated Day School holding a Walk poster.
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Annual Campaign series
Walk with Israel sub-series
Walk with Israel 2004 sub-sub-series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 67; Series 17-1-30; File 2
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Annual Campaign series
Walk with Israel sub-series
Walk with Israel 2004 sub-sub-series
Level
File
Fonds
67
Series
17-1-30
File
2
Material Format
graphic material (electronic)
moving images
Date
2004
Physical Description
334 photographs (jpg)
1 optical disc (vob file) : 2 mins. 40 secs.
Scope and Content
File consists of 4 CDs containing digital photographs (jpgs). One disc (Black's Photography) contains images at the Walk opening of entertainment, children, the registration table, the crowd, dancing, Israel flags, sponsor banners, a clown and people along the route. The other 3 discs contain 308 photographs. These document the opening at Coronation Park, the crowd along the route and people at the RioCan Festival at Ontario Place. They include images of special guest, Police Chief Julian Fantino, the co-chairs of the Walk, a huge hora, opening speeches by the Walk chairs, one of the checkpoints, facepainting, games and putting on tefillin.
At the Festival the images are of the marketplace, Ontario Place rides, a CIJA-PAC group and other vendors at tables. Groups represented include Leo Baeck Day School; Congregation BINA (Community of Jews from India); Canadian Jews & Christians (Together for Israel); the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, Canada; and Jews for Jesus. There are also pictures of anti-Israel protesters at the entrance to the checkpoint. UJA notables in the photos include Ted Sokolsky and Michelle Golfman.
In addition, the file contains a DVD with video footage of the 2004 Walk set to music.
Notes
Black's-processed photographs by Eve [Marks]. This disc has Fujifilm Image Viewer software on it which must be used to view the photos.
Other photographs by Stephen Epstein. Epstein's discs include thumbnails, high-resolution jpgs and html files forming a "web gallery" index to peruse the images. The three CDs each have 1/3 of the images in high-resolution.
Repro Restriction
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Annual Campaign series
Walk with Israel sub-series
Walk with Israel 2007 sub-sub-series
Level
File
ID
Fonds 67; Series 17-1-33; File 1
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Annual Campaign series
Walk with Israel sub-series
Walk with Israel 2007 sub-sub-series
Level
File
Fonds
67
Series
17-1-33
File
1
Material Format
moving images
Date
2007
Physical Description
1 optical disc : 3 mins., 41 secs.
Scope and Content
File consists of a recruitment video on DVD for use in schools. It features Anthony Parker of the Toronto Raptors.
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Annual Campaign series
Walk with Israel sub-series
Walk with Israel 2007 sub-sub-series
Level
Sub-sub-series
ID
Fonds 67; Series 17-1-33
Source
Archival Descriptions
Part Of
United Jewish Welfare Fund fonds
Annual Campaign series
Walk with Israel sub-series
Walk with Israel 2007 sub-sub-series
Level
Sub-sub-series
Fonds
67
Series
17-1-33
Material Format
moving images
object
Date
2007
Physical Description
1 optical disc (3 mins., 41 secs.)
2 t-shirts
Admin History/Bio
The 2007 Walk with Israel was held on Sunday, 27 May 2007. It started with a kick-off party in Coronation Park by the waterfront, which featured inflatables and music. Prominent attendees were Stéphane Dion, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada; John Baird, the federal minister of the environment; and more than twenty other elected officials. The walk was co-chaired by Ruth Eckstein and Helen Silverstein. The largest incentive for those raising money was to be a "chai walker": if one raised $1,800, one had the choice of a $500 prize and was invited onstage during the kick-off party. With a threatening weather forecast, only seven thousand people came out. The fundraising cause was a new daycare centre in northern Israel and providing employment training to Ethiopian women in a community near Tel Aviv.
At the end of the ten-kilometre route, people enjoyed the kosher barbecue, games, rides, and arts and crafts at the RioCan Carnival at Ontario Place.
Scope and Content
Sub-sub-series consists of a recruitment video and two t-shirts from the 2007 Walk with Israel. One t-shirt is white and the other, for volunteers, is red. The t-shirts read "Heart and Sole!"
Source
Archival Descriptions
Name
Mel Lastman
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
1 Jun. 2006
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Mel Lastman
Number
OH 290
Subject
Religion
Families
Interview Date
1 Jun. 2006
Quantity
1
Interviewer
Ellen Scheinberg
Total Running Time
60 min.
Conservation
Copied November 2006
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Melvin Douglas Lastman was born in Toronto on 9 March 1933, the son of Rose and Louis Lastman. Raised in the Kensington Market area, he attended Ryerson Public School and Central High School of Commerce, where he was president of the school council. Lastman left high school to work at an appliance store and, in 1955, opened his own appliance store. By the late 1960s, he owned a chain of forty stores, Bad Boy Appliances, throughout Ontario. Lastman lived in North York and, in 1969, ran successfully for the North York Board of Control. In the 1972 municipal election, he was elected as mayor of North York, a position he held for twenty-five years until North York became part of the newly created City of Toronto on 1 January 1998. With the provincially-mandated creation of the new City of Toronto by the amalgamation of Metropolitan Toronto and the six local municipalities, Lastman decided to run for mayor against the other major contender, former City of Toronto mayor Barbara Hall. He won the 1997 election and was sworn in on 1 January 1998. Lastman was easily re-elected in the 2000 mayoralty election; however, in February 2003, Lastman announced that he would not be seeking re-election in the November municipal election.
In 1953, Mel Lastman married Marilyn Bornstein. They have two married sons and six grandchildren.
Material Format
moving images
Name Access
Anshei Minsk Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
Lastman, Mel
Scheinberg, Ellen
Geographic Access
Toronto
Kensington Market
Original Format
Digital videocassette
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories

In this clip, former Toronto mayor Mel Lastman remembers playing as a child at the Minsk Shul in Kensington Market.

Name
Eleanor Bessen
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
11 Apr. 2006
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Eleanor Bessen
Number
OH 291
Subject
Recollections of the Beach Hebrew Institute
Interview Date
11 Apr. 2006
Quantity
1
Interviewer
Eliana Busheikin and Ellen Scheinberg
Total Running Time
60 min.
Conservation
Copied November 2006
Biography
Eleanor Bessen was born in Toronto in 1924. She was the second youngest of five children born to Maurice ("Morris") and Tillie Wolfe. The Wolfes were founders and active members of the Beach Hebrew Institute, though they usually attended Saturday morning services at the McCaul Street Synagogue in downtown Toronto.
The Wolfes lived in the Beach area and owned the wholesale Ontario Produce Company downtown. Eleanor attended Balmy Beach Public School and walked every day after school to Hebrew classes at the Beach Hebrew Institute. She took dancing lessons and piano while growing up and was very friendly with other children in the Beach area. She also went to Young Judaea and joined Jewish clubs downtown and attended Sunday School at the McCaul Street Synagogue.
The Wolfes moved away from the Beach area around the late 1930s. Eleanor still lives in Toronto today and makes the occasional visit to her old neighbourhood in the Beach.
Material Format
moving images
Original Format
Digital videocassette
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Michele Landsberg
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
Aug. 2006
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Michele Landsberg
Number
OH 294
Subject
Religion
Families
Buildings
Interview Date
Aug. 2006
Quantity
1
Interviewer
Ellen Scheinberg and Aviva Heller
Total Running Time
60 min.
Conservation
Copied November 2006
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
An award-winning columnist, staunch feminist, and tireless activist for social justice and progressive causes at home and abroad, Michele Landsberg was a well-known and prominent Torontonian during the mid-to-late twentieth century. According to a biography posted by the University of Windsor where Landsberg was a distinguished visitor in women's studies in October 2003, her "zest for wanting to change the world has its roots in her childhood: growing up as a Jewish girl in 1950s Toronto, where sexual stereotyping and objectification were rampant and overt antisemitism was acceptable." As a result, Ms. Landsberg tackled a wide-range of related issues, often grounding her columns in events, places, and issues of particular interest to Torontonians.
Born on 12 July 1939, Ms. Landsberg attended Toronto public schools, spent time on a kibbutz in Israel, and graduated from the University of Toronto with honors in English language and literature in 1962. She was dissuaded from pursuing a master's degree by her male professors and instead became a reporter at the Globe and Mail newspaper and launched a remarkable career as a journalist and writer. In addition to freelance and full-time stints with the Globe and Mail (1962–1965; 1985–1988), Chatelaine magazine (1965–1971), and the Toronto Star (1978–1983; 1989–2003), Ms. Landsberg frequently appeared on television and radio and wrote three best-selling books. She garnered awards, including the first National Newspaper Award for column-writing, the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award, and the 2002 Governor-General's Award in Commemoration of the 1929 Persons Case, and received honourary degrees from several Canadian universities. She also served on the boards of many community organizations, such as CARAL (Canadian Abortion Rights League) and Opportunity for Advancement.
After her retirement from the Toronto Star in 2003, Ms. Landsberg planned to pursue other writing projects and to spend more time at home in her garden and with her family: husband Stephen Lewis, three grown children, and two grandchildren. In September 2005, she was acclaimed as the new Chair of the Women's College Hospital Board when the Hospital ended its partnership with Sunnybrook Hospital.
Material Format
moving images
Name Access
Anshei Minsk Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)
Landsberg, Michele
Scheinberg, Ellen
Heller, Aviva
Geographic Access
Toronto
Original Format
Digital videocassette
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories

Canadian author and journalist Michele Landsberg provides recollections of attending the Minsk Synagogue with her grandfather in the 1940s.

Name
Ruth Gorbet
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
13 Jun. 2007
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Ruth Gorbet
Number
OH 295
Subject
Owen Sound
fur business
Theatre
Rabbi Revson
Rabbi Huberman
Interview Date
13 Jun. 2007
Quantity
1 mini DV, 1 archival DVD and 1 reference DVD
Interviewer
Sharon Gubbay Helfer
Notes
Part of Ontario Small Jewish Communities project.
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Ruth Gorbet moved from Toronto to Owen Sound in 1952 after marrying Noman Gorbet. She was with Owen Sound Little Theatre (OSLT) when it was founded in 1961 and has worked tirelessly for the local theatre company ever since. It was that dedication to the arts in Owen Sound that earned Gorbet the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2014 Cultural Awards.
A founding member of OSLT, Ruth was in the first play put on by the organization in 1961, My Three Angels. She has been active with the theatre for more than fifty years as an actor, volunteer, and board member and serving as president many times. Ruth's latest involvement with the organization was earlier this month when she played a part in Calendar Girls. In the fall she joined the other female cast members and shed her clothes to create a calendar with proceeds from its sales going to the Grey Bruce Residential Hospice.
Little theatre isn't Ruth's only involvement in the community. She has also worked bingos, is past president of the Kinette Club, served on the hospital auxiliary, volunteers for the alzheimer's society and works for the hospice.
Material Format
moving images
Original Format
Mini DV
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Mike Rabovsky
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
13 Jun. 2007
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Mike Rabovsky
Number
OH 296
Subject
Owen Sound
Family history
Cadesky family
Beth Ezekiel
furniture business
World War, 1939-1945
Rabbi Kirschenbaum
Bar mitzvah
Mr. Amsterdam
Antisemitism
Sauble Beach
Cemeteries
Interview Date
13 Jun. 2007
Quantity
2 mini DV's, 1 archival DVD and 1 reference DVD
Interviewer
Sharon Gubbay Helfer
Notes
Ontario Small Jewish Communities Project
Availability of other formats: Also available as an M4V Video File
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Mike Rabovsky married Miriam Levinson, and their story is best told through this historical narrative:
Owen Sound's Beth Ezekiel Synagogue, a designated building under Ontario’s Heritage Act, remains the last example of the early small town synagogue that was once so common across Canada. The most compelling window in the synagogue is dedicated to the Rabovsky and Levison's families and tells the story of two immigrant families and the establishment of a Jewish community in Owen Sound.
The jagged shards of glass depict the Levison family's harrowing experience of Kristallnacht (night of broken glass), prelude to the Holocaust. Desperate to escape Germany, the family was just one boat ticket away from freedom. Moments before they were to leave, an elderly couple offered their tickets to the Levisons, effectively sealing their own fate as victims of the Final Solution, while giving the young family a chance to escape the coming storm. Waiting out the war in China, the family eventually made it to Canada where Manfred Levison immediately began to look for work as a Rabbi. At the same time, Isaac Ezekiel Cadesky, a refugee of the Russian pogroms and the man for whom our Synagogue is named, was looking for a Rabbi to serve Owen Sound's bourgeoning Jewish community. Manfred Levison took the job, and in time his daughter Miriam married Isaac's grandson Mike.
Miriam met Myer (Mike) Rabovsky. He was 29 and she was 19. Theirs was a happy marriage, lasting more than fifty years. Miriam and Mike had one daughter, Goldie (m. Bruce Ronald) and two grandchildren.
Material Format
moving images
Original Format
Mini DV
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Larry Cohen
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
7 Jun. 2007
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Larry Cohen
Number
OH 302
Interview Date
7 Jun. 2007
Quantity
2 mini DV's, archival and reference copies
Interviewer
Sharon Gubbay Helfer
Notes
Ontario Small Jewish Communities Project.
Availability of other formats: Also available as an M4V video file
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Larry Cohen lived in Buffalo for many years, where he met and married his wife,, Marlene. He joined the US Army during the Korean War and was stationed in New Jersey. After the army, he began working at his grandfather’s steel business and then in 1959 moved back to Niagara Falls. He held several positions with the synagogue in Niagara Falls including treasurer and president. He has three children—Bobby, Steven, and Michelle—and numerous grandchildren.
Myer Salit, Larry Cohen's grandfather, was born in Brest Litovski, Poland. At the age of twenty-three, he booked passage to America on the SS Norge. On 28 June 1904, the ship struck a reef off the coast of Scotland and sank. Mr. Salit survived, along with approximately 160 other passengers, and made his way to New York and then St. Catharines, Ontario, where his brother-in-law, Harry Rubin, was a scrap metal dealer.
In 1905, Mayer Salit moved to Niagara Falls, Ontario, and set up his own scrap metal business. He was the first Jewish resident of that community. Over time, the business prospered and grew. After the Second World War, his son-in-law, Irvin Feldman, joined the company followed by his grandson, Larry Cohen, in 1955. The company began to diversify, selling new and used steel products to local industry. Myer Salit passed away in 1958 and left the business in the hands of Irvin and Larry. By the 1960s, the company branched out and became a reinforcing steel (rebar) fabricator and changed its name to Salit Steel. During the 1980s, the family sold off the scrap metal division of the company. Mr. Feldman retired, and the responsibility for managing the firm was shared by Larry Cohen and Steven Cohen, Myer's great-grandson. The company has continued to expand and diversify and currently serves the needs of southern Ontario.
Material Format
moving images
Geographic Access
St. Catharines (Ont.)
Niagara Falls (Ont.)
Original Format
Mini DV
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Norine Fenig
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
19 Jul. 2007
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Norine Fenig
Number
OH 303
Interview Date
19 Jul. 2007
Quantity
2 mini DV's, archival and reference copies
Interviewer
Sharon Gubbay Helfer
Notes
Ontario Small Jewish Communities Project.
Physical condition: The last 5 minutes of CD 1 are missing; it may be worthwhile to redigitize the original media
Availability of other formats: Also available as an M4V video file
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Norine Fenig (née Revzen)’s father, Morton, came to St. Catharines from Russia in the early 1900s. Her mother, Caroline, came to Rochester, New York with her family. Her father and uncle went into the scrap metal business, eventually starting Niagara Structural Steel. Norine went to the University of Wisconsin and taught elementary school in Buffalo after graduating. She met her husband Leonard in Rochester, New York and they lived there for a year before moving back to St. Catharines so that Leonard could take over the steel business. Norine and Leonard had two children – Abraham and Celia.
Norine was involved in St. Catharines Young Judaea organization, which was founded in the community in 1931. During that time, they had two groups, one of which was an arts and crafts group led by Norine. She recalls attending meetings with members from Niagara Falls and Hamilton. They organized parties as well as other functions. She states that many of the teens met their spouses this way and “that’s how most of the marriages took place.”
Norine Fenig was a member of her local Hadassah and was also involved in the group bat mitzvah at St. Catharines Congregation B’nai Israel, which occurred in 2003, and the preparation it entailed.
Norine is a keen bridge player, playing duplicate bridge in clubs and competitions in St Catharines, Niagara Falls, Toronto, and Florida. She has reached life master status in the American Contract Bridge League.
Material Format
moving images
Geographic Access
St. Catharines (Ont.)
Original Format
Mini DV
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Oren Shafir and Shari-Lyn Safir
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
18 Sep. 2007
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Oren Shafir and Shari-Lyn Safir
Number
OH 306
Interview Date
18 Sep. 2007
Quantity
2 mini DVs ; 2 reference DVDs; 2 archival DVDs
Interviewer
Sharon Gubbay Helfer
Notes
Opening sequence with Oren's daughter, Shari-Lyn.
Part of Ontario Small Jewish Communities Project
Availability of other formats: Also available as an M4V video file.
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Dr. Oren Hebert Safir (d. May 2013) was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario, but lived in Toronto during the Great Depression. He was married to Dorothy Safir (née Goldman) for sixty years and had three children: Jay Safir (Diane), Lansa Parker (Larry), and Shari-Lyn Safir. They also had five grandchildren.
Affectionately known as the "Big O" to his Thunder Bay friends, Oren led an accomplished life. He was the president of Kiwanis for Western Canada. Always ready with a joke, Oren taught Dale Carnegie and provided chiropractic care for the Fort William Redskins. Oren proudly captured the Canadian amateur heavyweight boxing title in 1946. In 1948, he turned down an offer to go to the Olympic Games to attend chiropractor college. Oren was also an avid cyclist who participated in the 1989 World Masters Games in Denmark and could be seen cycling all over town. In 1987, at the age of sixty, Oren was a member of an eight-man cycling team that undertook a trek to Edmonton to submit Thunder Bay's bid to host the 1994 Commonwealth Games. A facilitator, athlete, enthusiast, and doctor of chiropractic, he demonstrated the attributes of an outstanding athlete for more than half a century. The culmination of these athletic accomplishments was his induction into the Thunder Bay Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.
Oren's daughter, Shari-Lyn Shafir, is a master gardener, president of the National Canadian Rose Society. and president of the Greater Toronto Rose Society. She was a featured guest speaker at Bolton and District Horticultural Society 2009 meeting. She grows roses in her Toronto garden and at her Thunder Bay cottage. She danced with the Winnipeg ballet for several years as a teenager.
Material Format
moving images
Geographic Access
Thunder Bay (Ont.)
Original Format
Mini DV
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Sam Shaffer
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
18 Sep. 2007
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Sam Shaffer
Number
OH 307
Interview Date
18 Sep. 2007
Quantity
2 mini DVs, 2 reference DVDs, 2 archival DVDs
Interviewer
Sharon Gubbay Helfer
Notes
Part of Ontario Small Jewish Communities Project.
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Sam Shaffer's grandfather, Abraham “Albert” Shaffer (1862–1935), first came to New Jersey from Austria with his wife, Rose (1868–1936), and their five children. The family then moved to Fort William in 1910, and Albert started the Western Scrap Iron and Metal Company as a horse-and-cart operation. Abraham's brother, Shmuel “Samuel” Shaffer, worked as a dentist in Fort William in the 1920s. Abraham later moved to Toronto while his son Joseph (1888–1951), stayed in Fort William to run the company. Albert's third son, Meyer, became a dentist like his uncle.
Joseph married Rebecca Bauchner (b. 1891) in March 1913, and they had three sons: Bernard (d. 2004), a lawyer and former president of the Ontario branch of the Canadian Bar Association; Cecil Shaffer (d. 1997), a dentist; and Samuel (b. 1925). Sam took over the family business from his father, expanding it into a large-scale demolition-and-recycling company in the 1950s and 1960s. He also established Coastal Steel Construction in 1968. At the time of the interview, he was working as a scrap metal broker under the name SJS Metal Traders Inc.
Sam Shaffer was a past president of B’nai Brith, as was his father, Joseph, before him. Both men were also active in the Masons. Sam Schaeffer married Nancy in 1957 (d. 2013), and they had two children, Martin and Jean, and two grandchildren. Sam passed away on 8 August 2011.
Material Format
moving images
Original Format
Mini DV
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Syd Halter
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
19 Sep. 2007
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Syd Halter
Number
OH 309
Subject
Thunder Bay
synagogue
Rabbi Katz
Rabbi Polanski
Rabbi Siegal
Young Judea
Schaffer family
Interview Date
19 Sep. 2007
Quantity
2 mini DVs ; 2 reference DVDs ; 2 archival copy DVDs
Interviewer
Sharon Gubbay Helfer
Notes
Part of Ontario Small Jewish Communities Project
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
G. Sydney "Syd" Halter (1925–2012) was born and raised in Thunder Bay, Ontario, the child of Max and Freda Halter. His father was from England, and his mother was from Russia. Both came to Canada in the early 1900s. Syd attended the University of Manitoba, where he graduated in 1946 with his bachelor of science-engineering. After obtaining his FEIC, P. Eng. Syd joined C. D. Howe Company Limited as a design engineer. In 1976, he became the president and general manager, senior vice-president of Howe International Ltd. (the overseas arm covering over fifty countries overseas) and director of the Howe Group of Companies.
Syd's main fields of expertise involved dock-and-harbor installations and bulk material handling, on which he lectured and wrote numerous published papers. He designed and supervised the construction of step-down electrical substations for a variety of industrial and institutional clients. Syd was involved in the design, additions, electrical power works, and automation at various facilities in Canada and overseas. He had project responsibility for major grain terminal and harbour works across Canada and in Acajutla, El Salvador. He was honoured twice by the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario with the Sons of Martha Medal for outstanding service and also with the Citizenship Award; he received the Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada in 1987 in recognition of his excellence in engineering and for services to his profession and to society.
Both before and after his retirement in 1989, Syd was involved in a large number of volunteer activities, including: chairman of the Board of Governors for fifteen years and a member of the Executive Committee of Lakehead University; president of the Board of Governors of McKellar General Hospital for nine years; director Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the Communications Committee; director Ontario Chamber of Commerce; member Related Land and Water Management Committee of Lakehead Regional Conservation Authority; programme chairman and international director of Grain Elevator and Processing Society; past secretary-treasurer, past chairman and past branch councillor of Lakehead Branch Engineering Institute of Canada; president of Consulting Engineers of Ontario for six years and a member of the Association of Professional Engineers of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, BC, and the State of Wisconsin; member of numerous committees of APEO, including chairman of the fees Committee; chairman since inception of CEO/POC Committee regarding new Engineers and Architects Act; member of the Rotary Club; president Fraternal Service Club - B'Nai Brith Lodge 696; vice-president and director of Shaarey Shomayim.
He was married to Dorothea Halter (née Cross) of Thunder Bay for sixty-one years. They had three daughters and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Material Format
moving images
Geographic Access
Thunder Bay (Ont.)
Original Format
Mini DV
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Eleanor Jourard
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
18 Sep. 2007
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Eleanor Jourard
Number
OH 310
Subject
Belleville
keeping kosher
Hadassah
synagogue
Jewish education
Antisemitism
Interview Date
18 Sep. 2007
Quantity
2 mini DVs; 2 reference copy DVDs; 2 archival DVDs
Interviewer
Sharon Gubbay Helfer
Notes
Part of Ontario Small Jewish Communities Project.
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Eleanor Jourard's parents and grandparents came to Montreal from Russia and Poland. Eleanor attended McGill University but left after her third year. She met her husband, veteran broadcaster Lee Jourard (1929–2014), when he was a camp counsellor at Lake Temagami, north of North Bay. Eleanor and Lee were married in 1951 and moved to Belleville shortly after. A radio job at Quinte Broadcasting’s CJBQ station drew Lee to the Quinte region.
Eleanor went back to university to get her teaching degree and worked as a high school teacher from 1970 to 1990. She and her husband were affiliated with the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville and were original Belleville Theatre Guild members who helped create an outstanding community theatre. They had four children—Lewis (d. 2013), Mike, Andrew, and Tigger—and three grandchildren.
Material Format
moving images
Original Format
Mini DV
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Norm Albert
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
18 Sep. 2007
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Norm Albert
Number
OH 311
Subject
Belleville
scrap business
clothing retail
Bar mitzvah
Israel trip
Immigration
Interview Date
18 Sep. 2007
Quantity
2 mini DVs; 2 archival DVDs; 2 reference DVDs
Interviewer
Sharon Gubbay Helfer
Total Running Time
1 hr. 29 mins.
Notes
Part of Ontario Small Jewish Communities Project.
Availability of other formats: Also available as an M4V video file.
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Norm Albert (1928–2010), the son of Jacob and Lily Albert, was born in Toronto and raised with his brother, Stan, in Trenton and Belleville, Ontario. After attending Belleville Collegiate Institute, Norman joined his father in the Ladies' Retail Business, at the age of nineteen, by opening the Fashion Shoppe in Trenton. Norm's wife, Carole, hailed from Queens, New York. They were married in New York in 1956.
Norman opened another ladies' clothing store in Trenton, the Normandy Shop. A third store, Artistic Ladies Wear, was opened with his brother in Belleville. While toiling in the business of being a retail merchant, Norman and his father joined ranks with a childhood friend, Sidney, to form S & A Investments, a mortgage, loan, and real estate development company. He also ran Kingston Automatic Vending for more than twenty years with his brother-in-law. Norm was on the executive for the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville for seventeen or eighteen years.
Norman enjoyed his retirement years with wife Carole in Florida and at the lake house in Brighton, Ontario. They had three children—Mark, David and Michele—and six grandchildren.
Material Format
moving images
Original Format
Mini DV
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Rheta Rosen
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
19 Sep. 2007
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Rheta Rosen
Number
OH 317
Subject
Immigration and settlement
Education
Antisemitism
Clubs
Business
Recreation
Interview Date
19 Sep. 2007
Quantity
2 mini DVs
2 reference DVDs
2 archival DVDs
Interviewer
Sharon Gubbay Helfer
Total Running Time
1:31 minutes
Notes
Part of Ontario Small Jewish Communities Project
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Rheta Rosen (née Rosen) was the daughter of Nathan Rivelis, the owner of Rivelis, a large clothing store in North Bay from 1926 until 1986. The business grew from a small, family-run store into a large department store employing between twenty-five and thirty people. The store was famous for their annual sale held yearly on 16 November. Rheta became a full-time professor in family studies at Ryerson University. She was coordinator of the Learning and Teaching Office and coordinator of the Interpersonal Skills Teaching Centre, Simulation Program. Rheta's area of interest and research lay in the area of intergenerational relationships in the older family. She was a family mediator focusing on issues in the older family, adult children, and their ageing parents. Rheta Rosen died on 22 August 2016.
Material Format
moving images
Name Access
Rosen, Rheta
Geographic Access
North Bay (Ont.)
Toronto (Ont.)
Original Format
Mini DV
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Dorothy Moses
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
19 Sep. 2007
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Dorothy Moses
Number
OH 318
Subject
Sudbury
Clubs
keeping kosher
Interview Date
19 Sep. 2007
Quantity
1 mini DV; 1 reference DVD; 1 archival copy DVD
Interviewer
Sharon Gubbay Helfer
Total Running Time
1 hr
Notes
Part of Ontario Small Jewish Communities Project.
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Dorothy Moses was born and educated in Toronto. She moved to Sudbury, Ontario, in 1946 after marrying bookstore proprietor Wolfe Moses, who predeceased her in 1973. In Sudbury, she became an active member of the Shaarei Hashomayim synagogue and a longtime Haddasah volunteer. Dorothy and Wolfe were highly respected within the community. They had a son, Arthur, and a daughter, Miriam.
In 1983, she returned to live in Toronto, where she continued her volunteer activities. She died in March 2014 at the age of ninety-six.
Material Format
moving images
Original Format
Mini DV
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Mort Abramsky
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
17 Oct. 2007
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Mort Abramsky
Number
OH 322
Subject
Families
Rotary Club
retail business
Synagogues
B'nai Brith
Interview Date
17 Oct. 2007
Quantity
2 mini-DVs, 2 archival DVDs, 2 reference DVDs
Interviewer
Sharon Gubbay Helfer
Total Running Time
1 hr 45 mins
Notes
Part of Ontario Small Jewish Communities Project.
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Mort Abramsky was born in Montreal but spent his life in Kingston. He inherited a family business empire started more than a century ago by his grandfather, Polish immigrant Joseph Abramsky, and his parents, Harry and Ethel.
Joseph Abramsky turned a door-to-door trade in clothes, sheets and towels into a business empire that at one time counted ten department stores spread across eastern Ontario. It was handed down through successive generations of family who gradually diversified into real estate and property management, as the margins in downtown general merchandise retailing shrank and then disappeared entirely. The flagship of that empire was Abramsky's general store, which closed in 1996, a victim of the poor economy of the time and increased competition from other retailers in the sector.
Abramsky also owned Mort Enterprises, which managed and developed properties and was responsible for initially bringing chains, including McDonald's Restaurant and Blockbuster Video, to downtown Kingston. He was a philanthropist and tireless booster of Kingston, active with local organizations including the Beth Israel Synagogue, the B'nai Brith and Jewish Council, the YMCA, the Rotary Club, St. John Ambulance, Kingston General Hospital, and the Masonic Order. The family's Abramsky Charitable Foundation has also helped hundreds of local organizations and families in causes large and small, ranging from Queen's campus construction to assisting local families who had been burned out of their homes.
Abramsky was married to Shirley, his wife of fifty-three years. The couple had three children, Jay, Karen and Leonard, and nine grandchildren. Abrahamsky died in November 2009, aged eighty-two.
Material Format
moving images
Geographic Access
Kingston (Ont.)
Montréal (Québec)
Original Format
Mini DV
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Merle Koven
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
17 Oct. 2007
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Merle Koven
Number
OH 324
Subject
Antisemitism
Education
Synagogues
Interview Date
17 Oct. 2007
Quantity
2 mini DVs, 2 archival DVDs, 2 reference DVDs
Interviewer
Sharon Gubbay Helfer
Total Running Time
2 hrs
Notes
Part of Ontario Small Jewish Communities Project.
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Merle Koven grew up in Kingston, Ontario and attended Kingston Collegiate. After high school, Merle enrolled in teachers college in Toronto. He later taught school in Kingston. Merle married Philip Koven, a well-known local businessman, philanthropist and community volunteer, who died in 2008. He was owner of Rosen Heating and Cooling, which merged with another old, established city business to form Rosen, Triheat and Anglin, now run by their two sons.
During their forty-five years of marriage, the Kovens raised three children, Adam, Kenneth, and Rebecca. Both Phil and Merle Koven were prominent in the community. In 1982, Merle Koven broke new ground when she became president of Beth Israel in Kingston, possibly the first woman president of an Orthodox synagogue in North America. She was vice chair of Queens 1990s, although she did not have a degree.
The Merle and Philip Koven Bursary in Art History at Queen's University was initially established by Philip Koven in honour of his wife, Merle Koven, both passionate supporters of the arts in Kingston. This fund provides financial support for upper-year students in art history. After Philip Koven passed away in 2008, the fund received many gifts in his memory.
Material Format
moving images
Name Access
Queen's University
Hadassah WIZO Organization of Canada
Bader, Alfred
Geographic Access
Kingston
Original Format
Mini DV
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Mania Kay
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
27 Oct. 2007
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Mania Kay
Number
OH 328
Subject
Kitchener-Waterloo
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
immigration
Synagogues
Kitchener Holocaust Committee
keeping kosher
Concentration camps
Interview Date
27 Oct. 2007
Quantity
1 mini DV; 1 archival DVD; 1 reference DVD
Interviewer
Sharon Gubbay Helfer
Total Running Time
2 hours
Notes
Part of Ontario Small Jewish Communities Project. Copy of notes has been saved here: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 328 Kay
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Living in Oswiecim, Poland, Mania Kay was nineteen years old when the Nazis marched in and captured her and her family. Although her family perished, Mania survived the Holocaust and spent most of her life speaking out against racism and her experiences in Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Mania's mission was to not allow those who perished to be forgotten. Mania was one of the founding members of the Waterloo Region Holocaust Education Committee.
Mania came to Canada in 1948 with her husband, Moishe Yaakov, himself a Holocaust survivor. They lived in Kitchener, Ontario, where they opened a tailor shop. Mania and Moishe raised two daughters, Shirley and Molly. Mania died in November 2012 at the age of ninety.
Material Format
moving images
Geographic Access
Poland
Kitchener (Ont.)
Waterloo (Ont.)
Original Format
Mini DV
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Laura Bowman (née Petersiel)
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
31 Oct. 2007
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Laura Bowman (née Petersiel)
Number
OH 330
Subject
Antisemitism
Communities
Families
Interview Date
31 Oct. 2007
Quantity
1 mini DV; 1 archival DVD; 1 reference DVD
Interviewer
Sharon Gubbay Helfer
Total Running Time
60 mins Microphone disconnected for final 10 minutes; volume is reduced but still audible.
Notes
Part of Ontario Small Jewish Communities Project. No restrictions.
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Laura Bowman (née Petersiel) grew up in Peterborough when antisemitism was latent in the community. She experienced it personally when she went to work as a young teacher in the early 1950s for the Catholic School Board in Campbellford. Laura married Sydney Bowman and they had three children, Carol, David and Gayle, and six grandchildren. She passed away in February 2010.
Material Format
moving images
Geographic Access
Peterborough (Ont.)
Original Format
Mini DV
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Paul Yanover
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
31 Oct. 2007
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Paul Yanover
Number
OH 331
Subject
Belleville
Family history
Jewish education
Rabbi Baab
bar mitzvah
Interview Date
31 Oct. 2007
Quantity
1 mini DV; 1 archival DVD; 1 reference DVD:
Interviewer
Sharon Gubbay Helfer
Total Running Time
45 mins
Notes
Part of Ontario Small Jewish Communities Project.
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Paul Yanover's grandfather Yanover came over from Russia in the early 1900s and was a rum runner. His grandparents kept a hen house, where a shohet came to slaughter chickens. Paul's parents were Mr. and Mrs Ben. Yanover of Belleville, and each one had a clothing store. His father's was Esquire for men, and his mother's store was for children.
Paul grew up in Bellville, but limited opportunities led him, at the age of nineteen, to leave town to seek education and employment in Toronto.
In December 1962, Paul married Barbara Edelist, an elementary school teacher and later real estate agent. Paul is a chartered accountant and a real estate broker in Toronto. They have three daughters and six grandchildren.
A chance meeting for Paul led to the planning of a major fiftieth anniversary event for the building of the Victoria Road synagogue of the Sons of Jacob Congregation in Belleville in June 2005. He and Brenda Goldstein (née Black) were the Toronto reunion chairs.
Material Format
moving images
Original Format
Mini DV
Copy Format
DVD
Digital file
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Irving Milchberg
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
26 Jul. 2007
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Irving Milchberg
Number
OH 333
Subject
Immigrants--Canada
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
Holocaust survivors
Refugees--Canada
Interview Date
26 Jul. 2007
Quantity
1 mini DV ; 1 archival DVD ; 1 reference DVD
Interviewer
Sharon Gubbay Helfer
Total Running Time
1 hr
Notes
Part of Ontario Small Jewish Communities Project.
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Irving Milchberg, the Holocaust survivor known from Joseph Ziemian's book "The Cigarette Sellers of Three Crosses Square," used to sell cigarettes to Nazis in Warsaw as an oprhan during the Second World War.
Milchberg, the leader of a group of orphaned Jewish children hiding their identities, used to gather at Three Crosses Square, the centre of the German occupation of Warsaw, to sell cigarettes. The group went wandering around under the very noses of policemen, gendarmes, Gestapo men, and ordinary spies.
Before joining the cigarette sellers, Milchberg twice escaped from the Nazis. The first time he scaled a fence and fled the Umschlagplatz, where Jews were put aboard trains to the Treblinka death camp. The second time, he managed to break the bars of the train taking him to Treblinka and scramble out. His father, mother, and three sisters were all murdered by the Nazis.
In 1945, Milchberg made his way to Czechoslovakia, then Austria, then to a camp for displaced people in occupied Germany, where he learned watchmaking, which became his lifelong occupation. In 1947, he moved to Canada, ending up in Niagara Falls, where he opened his own jewellery and watch business. In 1953, he met his wife, Renee, who had survived the war. They had two children and three grandchildren. Milchberg died in January 2014 at the age of eighty-six.
Material Format
moving images
Geographic Access
Niagara Falls, Ont.
Original Format
Mini DV
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Eve Gordon
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
29 Jan. 2008
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Eve Gordon
Number
OH 354
Subject
Kitchener
immigration
scrap business
Jewish education
Antisemitism
Hadassah
Weiss, Lillian
synagogue
Tarraday family
Budds
Rabbi Feivel Rosensweig
Brown, Bessie
Rabbi Levy
Interview Date
29 Jan. 2008
Quantity
1 mini DV; 1 archival DVD; 1 reference DVD
Interviewer
Sharon Gubbay Helfer
Total Running Time
61 mins
Notes
Part of Ontario Small Jewish Communities Project.
Use Restrictions
Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.
Biography
Eve Gordon (née Rosen) was born in 1923 in Russia. She came to Canada in 1927 with her sister, three-week-old brother, parents, and paternal grandparents. They settled in Kitchener, Ontario. Her father, Israel, began working for his brother in the scrap metal business before being able to build a large industrial waste business that provided for three families. As a youth, Eve joined Young Judaea and attended Commercial College, where she was a top student.
Material Format
moving images
Original Format
Mini DV
Copy Format
DVD
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Rita Tate
Material Format
moving images
Interview Date
8 Jun. 2010
Source
Oral Histories
Name
Rita Tate
Number
OH 368
Subject
World War, 1939-1945
Poland
Polish underground
People's Army
Concentration camps
Antisemitism
Jewish ghettos
Interview Date
8 Jun. 2010
Quantity
1 referece DVD (WAV file)
1 archival DVD (WAV file)
Interviewer
Shayla Howell
Total Running Time
45:40 seconds
Notes
This interview is part of the Memory Project event held at Lipa Green on 13 May 2010 in partnership with the Historica Dominion Institute.
http://www.thememoryproject.com/search?query=rita+tate
Biography
Rita was born in Vienna, Austria on 10 January 1932. Rita served in the Polish underground with the People's Army as a courier in the Armia Ludowa. Rita and her mother became involved in the Polish resistance and following the capture of her mother by the German Gestapo, Rita was placed in a Catholic orphanage located near the Warsaw Ghetto. Rita maintained a non-Jewish identity throughout the war. Rita’s mother who was murdered as a Polish political prisoner in Aushwitz, received a posthumous medal for being a war hero.
Material Format
moving images
Geographic Access
Poland
Original Format
DVD
Transcript
2:05: Rita was born in Vienna, Austria on 10 January 1932. Her father was Austrian, and her mother was Polish, 3:10: Rita served with Army Ludova, the People’s Army of Poland, underground resistance. Rita explains there were 2 factions: the Land Army (which was antisemitic) and the much smaller Army Ludova (a left-wing faction supported by Communists in Russia and not antisemitic). 4:37: Rita explains how her mother and she became involved in the resistance movement. Rita explains that they had excellent counterfeit documents, her mother had a job, and they had a place to live. 6:55: Rita describes how she and her mother escaped from Lvov, where they had been living in squalor with her mother’s extended family. 8:32: Rita recounts an incident involving hiding in the home of a Polish woman. She and her mother miraculously escaped capture by German soldiers and trained police dogs. 13:50: Rita and her mother escape to Tarnow, Poland, where they have a friend. Rita explains how the friend, a young man, was able to acquire Polish documents for them, rent an apartment for them, and find a job for her mother at the German Club. 15:44: Rita recounts an incident involving police coming to their building. She explains how her mother had prepared her for this event and how she was familiar with Catholic prayer and practice. 19:50: Rita explains how her mother introduced the idea of getting involved in the underground resistance. She and her mother went to Warsaw to join the Army Ludova. 22:21: Rita describes her job as a courier with the resistance at the age of ten years from October 1942 to March 1943. Rita would deliver messages that were written on small pieces of paper that were braided into her hair. 24:09: Rita explains how her mother was taken by the Germans in March 1943 and how she evaded capture. She was taken into the home of a woman who was involved in the other branch of the Polish resistance. Rita’s mother had been arrested and sent to a German Gestapo prison in Warsaw, Pawiak. 31:46: Rita was placed in an antisemitic Catholic orphanage, located next to the ghetto. 32:41: Rita ran away from the orphanage. 33:41: Rita’s mother was murdered in Auschwitz as a Polish political prisoner. Her mother did not give any information. 35:52: Rita recalls how the resistance fighters celebrated the victory of the Red Army defending Stalingrad. 39:39: Rita maintained a non-Jewish identity throughout the war. After the war, she found a maternal aunt. Together, they moved to Silesia. When they attempted to secure official documents, they were advised by the secret police to never disclose that they were Jewish. 43:00: Rita explains that after the war, there were several pogroms carried out by Poles against surviving Jews (e.g., Kielce). 44:50: Rita’s mother received a posthumous medal for being a war hero.
Source
Oral Histories