Name

Percy Skuy

Number

OH 416

Subject

Canada--Emigration and immigration

Jews--South Africa

South Africa--Emigration and immigration

Interview Date

12 May 2015

Interviewer

Naomi Raichyk

Total Running Time

1 hr. 19 min.

Use Restrictions

NONE

Biography

The child of Latvian immigrants to South Africa, Percy grew up in the small town of Vryheid, South Africa with his parents and two siblings. Years later, when asked what the population of Vryheid was, Percy’s mother replied, “Forty Jewish families.” Those families formed a tight-knit community that was able to support not only a synagogue and a rabbi, but a Talmud Torah school and a butcher’s shop with a kosher section.

At seventeen years old, Percy began an apprenticeship to become a pharmacist. He qualified in 1954 and worked for a year before leaving South Africa to travel the world. He never planned on visiting Canada, but found himself in Toronto for a stopover and ended up liking the city so much he decided to stay. In 1959, Percy became the first South African pharmacist registered in Ontario.

Percy met his first wife, Frances Goodman, in 1960 on a blind date and married her that same year. Together, they had two children: Beth (born in 1961) and David (born in 1963). In 1961, Percy began his thirty-four-year career with Johnson and Johnson Corporation, taking on a number of roles in the company during that time. In 1977, Frances passed away. Two years later, he married his second wife, Elsa Ruth Snider.

In addition to his professional accomplishments, Percy is the founder of the only museum devoted exclusively to the history of contraception. The museum is located at the Dittrick Medical History Centre in Cleveland, Ohio.

Material Format

moving images

Language

English

Name Access

Skuy, Percy, 1932-

Geographic Access

Canada

Europe

Israel

South Africa

United States

Original Format

Digital file

Copy Format

Digital file

Transcript

00:30 Percy was born in 1932 in Vryheid in northern Natal, South Africa.

00:41 Percy's parents emigrated from Latvia to South Africa in 1929.

00:53 Percy discusses his parents and their early lives in South Africa and the Jewish community in Vryheid.

04:10 Percy discusses his family's practice of Judaism while growing up.

05:02 Percy's father ran a small business. Later he worked with his brother-in-law to run a mill. At age fifty-nine, his father was killed in an automobile accident.

06:00 Percy discusses his mother. Percy has two siblings: an older brother, Max, and a younger sister, Rita.

07:19 Percy shares some of his childhood memories.

09:29 Percy was involved in the Habonim youth movement.

11:27 Percy reminisces about the establishment of the State of Israel.

13:23 Percy discusses his impressions of apartheid. He discusses his relationships with Black men and women.

15:15 Percy discusses his involvement with an anti-apartheid group.

17:19 Percy shares a story that illustrates his opposition to apartheid. His parents were not politically active.

19:06 Percy discusses how he became interested in pharmacy and the training for pharmacists.

21:21 Percy describes his two years of travel following graduation from pharmacy.

26:58 Percy relates how, en route to a pre-arranged job in the Arctic, he serendipitously secured a job with Glaxo as a medical sales representative on a stop-over in Toronto.

29:49 Percy describes his sales route.

30:46 Percy explains how he became the first South African registered pharmacist in Ontario.

32:31 Percy describes some of his early social/business pursuits in Canada.

34:12 Percy married his wife, Francis, originally from Sudbury. She graduated from the University of Toronto in nursing.

34:26 Following travel to Europe, Israel and South Africa, Percy and Francis decided to return to live in Canada.

35:35 Percy discusses the importance of maintaining family connection despite distance.

36:41 Percy describes the slow trickle of relatives who emigrated from South Africa. He notes that he has no close relatives remaining in South Africa and comments on the disappearance of the Jewish community in Vryheid.

38:39 Percy discusses some of the challenges he faced integrating socially into the Jewish community.

40:36 Percy explains how he became involved with working for the company Ortho.

45:15 Percy explains the factors that guided his integration into Canada.

47:08 Percy discusses his involvement in the Jewish community in Toronto.

48:30 Percy contrasts his own upbringing with how he raised his own children in Toronto.

52:00 Percy discusses his grandchildren.

52:26 Percy is the founder of a museum of the history of contraception. He explains how he developed an interest in the history of contraception and how he collected artifacts.

58:18 Percy describes his work history, his involvement in professional committee work, and his pursuits following his retirement in 1995.

1:00:11 Percy explains how he found a permanent location for the museum at the Dittrick Museum at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

1:02:50 Percy married Elsa in 1979. He discusses their range of hobbies.

1:03:38 Percy discusses the three documentaries he created. The topics included the formation of the Jewish pharmacy fraternity, the history of Jewish pharmacists in Canada, and the extracurricular involvement of Jewish pharmacists in Canada.

1:06:47 Percy addresses some of the issues faced by South African Jewish pharmacists who integrated to Canada.

1:09:20 Percy lists the languages he speaks.

1:10:00 Percy reminisces about his mother. He recalls his mother's relationship with their family servant.

1:13:14 Percy describes his training in pharmacy in South Africa.

1:15:27 Percy shares stories about their family's Black servants.

1:17:40 Percy reminisces about the opportunities that came his way since his arrival in Canada.

Source

Oral Histories

Becoming Canadian

The History of Contraception

40 Jewish Families

Not Long Before the Police Arrived

Name

Anthony Lipschitz

Number

OH 430

Subject

Canada--Emigration and immigration

Jews--South Africa

South Africa--Emigration and immigration

Interview Date

10 May 2016

Interviewer

Melissa Caza

Total Running Time

1 hr. 4 min.

Biography

Like many South African boys, Anthony Lipschitz’s life revolved around sports. He grew up in Victory Park, a Jewish neighbourhood in Johannesburg whose claim to fame was that it had a Jewish day school. Though not especially devout, the neighbourhood had a strong traditional Jewish identity, and Anthony fondly remembers walking across the street with his sister to attend shul on holidays.

As a child, Anthony played sports with a diverse group of friends that included Jews, Italians, Greeks, and Lebanese. It was through sports, and especially soccer, that Anthony came to view athletic pursuits as “the ultimate equalizer,” because they brought people together from different backgrounds. This was especially true as he advanced in his career as a soccer player and began playing in mixed-race teams.

As an adult, Anthony lived and studied in several countries including Israel and the United States. He studied media arts at Long Island University on a full soccer scholarship and co-founded a software business called Advanceware Solutions with a childhood friend, which they sold in 2006. Since then, Anthony has held leadership roles at numerous companies including Brightspark Ventures; iStopOver, a peer-to-peer vacation rentals marketplace that he co-founded; and StubHub, an eBay, Inc. company. Today, he is a partner at FirePower Capital, where he runs their private equity practice.

In 2000, Anthony met his future wife, Lisa, whom he married in March 2003. In 2004,the couple moved to Toronto, which is where Lisa grew up. Anthony has two sons, both of whom attend Bialik Hebrew Day School.

Material Format

moving images

Language

English

Name Access

Lipschitz, 1973-

Geographic Access

Israel

Johannesburg (South Africa)

Toronto (Ont.)

United States

Original Format

Digital file

Copy Format

Digital file

Transcript

00:33 Anthony's grandparents came to South Africa from Vilnius, Lithuania in the late 1800s to escape pogroms.

01:02 Anthony was born in Johannesburg on 17 October 1973.

01:15 Anthony's parents were born in Johannesburg. His father was a lawyer. Anthony's mother was a legal secretary. They divorced when Anthony was five. Anthony has a brother in Johannesburg and a sister in Sydney, Australia.

02:28 Anthony discusses Victory Park, his neighbourhood in Johannesburg.

03:22 Anthony discusses the make-up his childhood friends.

03:55 Anthony shares memories from his childhood in Johannesburg.

05:34 Anthony discusses his involvement in soccer.

08:03 Anthony describes the make-up of his soccer teams. He discusses the impact of playing on a mixed-race sports team on his personal growth.

10:28 Anthony explains why, with political changes in South Africa, the make-up of his team became more mixed-race.

11:20 Anthony discusses the role of Judaism in his youth while growing up in Johannesburg. Anthony attended a Jewish day school.

12:50 Anthony describes his bar mitzvah.

14:28 Anthony discusses the impact of apartheid in his life. He describes the challenge of filtering out propaganda while growing up in a liberal home.

16:45 Anthony describes his education. He attended Jewish nursery and Jewish day school.

17:43 Anthony attended Betar summer camp for seven years.

18:55 Anthony explains some of the factors that contributed to his decision to leave South Africa.

20:30 Anthony briefly attended Boston University in South Africa.

21:05 Anthony left South Africa at age nineteen for Israel with the intention of soccer.

22:55 Anthony describes his mother's reaction to his decision to leave South Africa.

23:00 Anthony describes his five month stay in Israel and the factors that influenced his decision to move to the United States.

25:47 Anthony discusses his travels to London and the United States.

26:45 Anthony received a scholarship to play soccer at a university in the United States.

27:15 Anthony discusses his first impressions of the United States.

29:30 Anthony attended Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York to study media arts. He discusses his university stay.

33:50 Anthony discusses his first job after graduation.

37:27 Anthony explains how he partnered with a childhood friend to start their own web design business in 1998. He discusses the growth and metamorphosis of the business. They sold the company in 2006.

40:30 Anthony describes how he met his wife, Lisa, in July 2000. They married in March 2003.

42:33 Anthony explains their decision to move to Toronto in January 2004.

43:55 Anthony shares his impressions of Toronto.

44:50 Anthony explains why they chose to live in the Annex.

45:40 Anthony has two sons: Zachary and Matthew.

46:28 Anthony discusses their decision to send their children to Bialik Hebrew Day School.

47:53 Anthony describes his sons' involvement in sports.

48:50 Anthony discusses his own involvement in sports.

49:40 Anthony discusses his business pursuits in Toronto.

54:50 Anthony shares points of pride from his career.

55:26 Anthony describes his Jewish life in Toronto.

57:10 Anthony explains why his family chose to become members of the Temmy Latner Centre in Forest Hill.

58:40 Anthony describes South African traditions that he has passed on to his children.

1:01:00 Anthony discusses his ongoing connection with South Africa. He notes that his mother, brother, father, and grandmother continues to live in South Africa.

1:01:58 Anthony discusses his impressions of current day South Africa.

1:03:00 Anthony muses about what it means to be Canadian.

Source

Oral Histories

Sport as an Equalizer

Jewish Day School

Raising Jewish Children

Food and South African Identity