Name

Fred Schaeffer

Number

OH 24

Subject

Communities

Immigrants--Canada

Rabbis

Synagogues

Interview Date

11 Jul. 1980

Quantity

1

Interviewer

Stephen Speisman

Total Running Time

Side 1: 31 minutes

Side 2: 9 minutes

Conservation

Copied August 2003

Use Restrictions

Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography

Fred Schaeffer's wife, Beverley, grew up in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. Beverley's grandfather, Hyman Kaplan, emigrated from Vilna, Lithuania in 1907, and after a few years in New York, moved to Toronto. Shortly afterwards, he became the first Jew to settle in Kirkland Lake in 1914.

In the 1920s, the Jewish community in Kirkland Lake built a permanent synagogue and acquired an aron kodesh of eastern European design, its lamps, railings, pews and reader’s desk, from the disbanded Ukrainishe Shul in Montreal. In the 1970s, the Kirkland Lake Synagogue disbanded and Fred and Beverly Schaeffer acquired the aron kodesh, all of its furnishings, the ner tamid, and the parochet. They generously donated these Jewish artifacts to Beth Tikvah Synagogue, Toronto, in 1988, in memory of Isadore Kaplan, father of Beverly Schaeffer and Erich Schaeffer, father of Fred Schaeffer.

Fred married Beverley in Toronto. Like many children from Kirkland Lake, Beverley had moved to the city to attend university. Fred and Beverley are keen collectors of Canadian art. He is a retired civil engineer and a former chair of the Canadian Art Historical Committee at the AGO.

Material Format

sound recording

Name Access

Atkins (family)

Bucavetsky (family)

Cochrane (Ont.)

Etkins (family)

Mallins (family)

Purkiss (family)

Schaeffer, Fred

Geographic Access

Ansonville (Ont.)

Engelhart (Ont.)

Kirkland Lake (Ont.)

Krugerdorf (Ont.)

Ontario, Northern

Timmins (Ont.)

Original Format

Audio cassette

Copy Format

Audio cassette

Digital file

Transcript

G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 24 - Schaeffer\OH24_001_Log.docx

G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 24 - Schaeffer\OH24_002_Log.docx

Source

Oral Histories

In this clip, Fred Schaeffer and Stephen Speisman discuss some of the earliest synagogues established in Northern Ontario.

In this clip, Fred Schaeffer relates colourful anecdotes about the first Jewish settler in the Swastika-Kirkland area, Roza Brown.

Name

Isidore Kaplan

Number

OH 9

OH 10

Subject

Business

Communities

Interview Date

3 Jun. 1975

Quantity

2

Interviewer

Sophie Milgram

Total Running Time

009A: 29 minutes 009B: 41 minutes 010A: 30 minutes

Conservation

Copied August 2003

Notes

Reduced sound quality at times.

Use Restrictions

Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography

Isidore Kaplan was born in Vilna in 1910. His father was the first Jew to settle in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. Isidore's father, a successful businessman, opened a general store in 1915 and a movie theatre in 1923. The Jewish community of Kirkland Lake grew to 135 families and was able to support a synagogue, kosher butcher, and after-school cheder at its peak.

Material Format

sound recording

Name Access

Kaplan, Isidore

Milgram, Sophie

Geographic Access

Cobalt (Ont.)

Englehart (Ont.)

Kirkland Lake (Ont.)

Krugerdorf (Ont.)

Swastika (Ont.)

Vilnius (Lithuania)

Original Format

Audio cassette

Copy Format

Audio cassette

Digital file

Transcript

G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 9, OH 10 - Kaplan\OH9_001_Log.doc

G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 9, OH 10 - Kaplan\OH9_002_Log.doc

G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 9, OH 10 - Kaplan\OH10_001_Log.doc

Source

Oral Histories

Isidore Kaplan's father was the first Jewish resident of Kirkland Lake, Ontario. In this clip, Isidore relates his father's journey in 1912 from Toronto to Kirkland Lake in northern Ontario via Engelhart and Swastika.

In this clip, Isidore Kaplan describes the decline of Kirkland Lake, Ontario

Name

Carl Dubin

Number

OH 370

Subject

Canada--Armed Forces

World War, 1939-1945

Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)

Interview Date

9 Jun. 2010

Quantity

1 reference DVD (WAV file)

1 archival DVD (WAV file)

Interviewer

Shayla Howell

Total Running Time

37:08 seconds

Notes

This interview is part of The Memory Project event held at Lipa Green on May 13, 2010 in partnership with the Historica Dominion Institute.

http://www.thememoryproject.com/stories/1052:carl-dubin/

Biography

Carl Dubin born in 1922. He enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces in 1941. Posted to the 404 Coastal Command Squadron in Wick, Scotland, Carl’s squadron was assigned to protect the North Atlantic. As navigator of various aircrafts, Carl participated in the D-Day invasion and was discharged in February 1945.

Material Format

moving images

Geographic Access

Scotland

North Bay (Ont.)

Kirkland Lake (Ont.)

Original Format

DVD

Transcript

00:25: Carl Dubin was born in 1922 in Stolin, Belarus. He came to Canada at age two. 00:47: Carl offers his reasons for enlisting in the air force. 1:38: Carl explains that his father, who was fluent in German, would listen on short wave radio to Hitler giving speeches. This served as a strong motivator for Carl to enlist. 2:16: Carl lived in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. He describes the process of enlisting. He travelled to a recruitment depot in North Bay in 1940 but was sent home because there were too many recruits. He was called back in 1941 and was sent to the Manning Depot in Brandon, Manitoba. 3:50: Carl explains that the Canadian government was not ready for an influx of recruits (e.g., Carl did not have a complete uniform). 4:28: Carl was sent to a navigation school in Rivers, Manitoba. 4:40: Carl explains that he could not be a pilot due to poor eyesight. At the beginning of the war, entrance to pilots was very strict but grew more lax as the war progressed. 5:21:Carl was sent to Burford, Ontario to # 5 Service Flying Training School. Carl was posted overseas. He sailed out of Halifax on the ship, Louis Pasteur to Bournemouth, England. He was posted to #404 Coastal Command Squadron in Wick, Scotland. He was then posted in the Shetland Islands. 6:52:Carl’s squadron served to protect the north Atlantic. He describes the squadron’s responsibilities and the area they covered. He explains the significance of the area. 9:55: Carl was a navigator. He lists the types of aircraft: Bristol Blenheims, Bristol Beaufighters, and Mosquitoes. Carl describes the positioning of the pilot and navigator. 12:06: Carl reflects of some of his good memories from his time overseas. 13:05: Carl describes ally losses from friendly fire due to lack of identification on Allied planes. In preparation for D-Day on June 6, “invasion stripes” were painted on the aircraft as identification. 14:42: Carl explains that the task of his squadron was to protect the invasion fleet that was sailing from England to Normandy. 15:05: Carl recalls an incident involving three Allied squadrons successfully attaching German destroyers. 17:07: Carl continues to describe the invasion and recalls with awe the enormity of the invasion fleet. 19:10: Carl recounts an incident where one of the engines from his aircraft was hit by a German anti-aircraft flyer. 19:42: Carl highlights the D-Day invasion as one his most memorable operations. He notes that the Luftwaffe had lost their strength by this time. 21:36: Carl recalls antisemitism in the Canadian Air Force. He cites the example of Syd Shulemson to illustrate antisemitism. Syd, despite being one of the most highly decorated air force men, was never promoted beyond flight lieutenant because he was Jewish. 23:06: Rabbi Eisendrath from Holy Blossom served as a padre of the RCAF. There were few Jews where Carl was based. There was no celebration of Jewish holidays or practices. 24:48: Carl was discharged and sent home in February 1945. No longer had need to patrol the shipping in the Atlantic. 25:23: Carl recalls V-E Day in Kirkland Lake and the impact of the war on Kirkland Lake. 27:05: Carl’s father was a veteran of the Russian-Japanese War in 1905 and the First World War. He was captured and served as an interpreter in the prisoner camp. Carl recalls that one of the prisoners was Ernest McMillan, who later became the conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. 29:38: Carl speaks of the impact of the war on his life. 30:24: Carl offers his impressions about the Allied response to the Holocaust. 32:42: Carl describes the accuracy of the canons on the fighter air craft. 33:47: Carl calls attention to Syd Shulemson as being the most highly-decorated Jewish pilot and an inventor. 34:39: Carl’s wife refers to “the boys from Major Street”: several Jewish men who lived on Major Street who died in the Second World War. 35:50: Carl reminisces about meeting and dating an admiral’s daughter.

Source

Oral Histories