Name

Isaac Segal

Number

OH 25

Subject

Antisemitism

Charities

Communities

Interview Date

1972

Quantity

1

Interviewer

Morris Silbert

AccessionNumber

1978-2-2

Total Running Time

Side 1: 46 minutes 15 seconds

Side 2: 45 minutes 50 seconds

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

Isaac "Ike" Segel, the son of Russian immigrants, was born and lived in Toronto’s Ward district until 1900 when the family moved to Orillia, Ontario. Isaac recalls his experiences as one of three Jewish boys attending the local Orillia high school and working in his father’s general store. In order to provide a proper Jewish life for Isaac, the family returned to Toronto. In 1917 Isaac enlisted in the army and after his father’s death in 1918, Isaac made his home in Hamilton, Ontario. He was a business executive, active on several executive committees of Jewish and Zionist organizations in Hamilton.

Issac maried Esther Segal (née Kenen) who was influential in the National Council of Jewish Women, Hamilton Branch, and their successful attempt to repeal the law that refused the right of women to serve on jury duty.

Material Format

sound recording

Name Access

Beube, Lillian

Segal, Esther

Segal, Isaac

Silbert, Morris

Geographic Access

Hamilton (Ont.)

Orillia (Ont.)

St. John's Ward (Toronto, Ont.)

Original Format

Audio cassette

Copy Format

Audio cassette

Digital file

Transcript

G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 25 - Segal\OH25_001_Log.docx

G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 25 - Segal\OH25_002_Log.docx

Source

Oral Histories

Name

Fanny Gertzbein

Number

OH 33

Subject

Charities

Immigrants--Canada

Interview Date

2 Oct. 1984

Quantity

1

Interviewer

Morris Silbert

Total Running Time

OH 033: 27:34 minutes

Conservation

Copied August 2003.

Notes

Language: Fanny often speaks Yiddish with Morris Silbert providing a translation.

Related group of records external to the unit being described: accession 2019-7/2 includes comments by Gella Rothstein on this oral history.

Use Restrictions

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

Biography

Fanny Gurtzbein (née Goldhar) immigrated from Poland to Toronto in 1903. Fanny lived with her parents and siblings in Toronto's Ward district. Although raised in poverty, Barney, Fanny's brother, went on to become a successful furrier; Fanny's mother, Tzyerl Goldhar, became the organizer of the Mothers and Babes Summer Rest Home.

Material Format

sound recording

Language

Yiddish

English

Name Access

Goldhar, Myer

Goldhar, Tzeryl

Goldhar, Barney

Gurtzbein, Fanny

Geographic Access

St. John's Ward (Toronto, Ont.)

Original Format

Audio cassette

Copy Format

Audio cassette

Digital file

Transcript

G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 33 - Gertzbein\OH33_001_Log.docx

Source

Oral Histories

Name

Montague Raisman

Number

OH 64

Subject

Nonprofit organizations

Human rights

Antisemitism

World War, 1939-1945

Zionism

Interview Date

11 Jul. 1982

Quantity

1

Interviewer

Jack Lipinsky

Total Running Time

39:42 minutes

Conservation

Copied August 2003

Notes

Low sound volume

Use Restrictions

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

Biography

Montague Raisman came to Canada from England in 1926. He was actively involved in B'nai Brith Toronto Lodge and held positions of office. He served as the commanding officer for the B'nai Brith Air Cadet Squadron in Toronto during the Second World War. He was instrumental in the formation of the Joint Public Relations Committee, a united Jewish voice in response to pro-Nazi activity.

Material Format

sound recording

Language

English

Name Access

Raisman, Montague

B'nai Brith

Lipinsky, Jack

Canadian Jewish Congress

Geographic Access

Toronto

Calgary (Alta.)

Montréal (Québec)

Original Format

Audio cassette

Copy Format

Audio cassette

Digital file

Transcript

G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 64 - Raisman\OH64_Log.pdf

Source

Oral Histories

In this clip, Montague describes the formation of the B'nai Brith Air Cadet Squadron during the Second World War. He discusses the recruitment and training of the officers and cadets. He explains how this squadron was instrumental in changing recruitment qualifications to allow entry of new immigrants and Black cadets.

In this clip, Montague Raisman discusses the events leading up to an association between B

Name

Toba Fluxgold

Number

OH 8

Subject

Bakeries

Immigrants--Canada

Interview Date

1975

Quantity

1 cassette (1 copy) 2 WAV files

Interviewer

Sheldon Steinberg

Total Running Time

1:02 min.

Conservation

Copied August 2003

Digitized December 2014

Use Restrictions

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

Conditional access. Researchers must receive permission from the interviewee or their heir prior to accessing the interview. Please contact the OJA for more information.

Biography

Toba Fluxgold was born in Warsaw, Poland and immigrated to Toronto with her father, older brother, and sister. Toba's father ventured into the bakery business and, in the early 1920s, opened his own kosher bakery in Toronto. Following her father's death in 1929, Toba’s brother Morris expanded and modernized the bakery and later sold it to Carmel Bakery. After her marriage in 1925, Toba moved to Arthur, Ontario, and returned to Toronto after the birth of her first child.

Material Format

sound recording

Language

English

Yiddish

Geographic Access

Arthur (Ont.)

Elizabeth Street (Toronto, Ont.)

St. John's Ward (Toronto, Ont.)

Warsaw (Poland)

Original Format

Audio cassette

Copy Format

Audio cassette

Digital file

Transcript

Transcript exists for this oral history.

Source

Oral Histories

Name

Jennie Goldstein and Mr. and Mrs. Boris Coopersmith

Number

OH 147

OH 148

Subject

Theater, Yiddish

Interview Date

26 Jan. 1975

Quantity

2

Interviewer

Stephen Spiesman

Total Running Time

OH147A: 44. minutes

OH148B: 45. 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

Jennie Goldstein emigrated from Russia to Toronto in 1914. While living and working in the Ward, Jennie married Harry Goldstein, who was noted as both a "dresser" and an actor in Toronto's Lyric and Standard Theatres. After Harry's passing, Jennie became a supplier of costumes for the Yiddish theatre. In 1920, to help support the family, Jennie opened a deli stand alongside the original Shopsy's deli located in the area of Kensington Market. Jennie and Harry's daughter Bess married Boris Coppersmith whose parents, Yossel and Nessie, owned a variety store at Spadina Avenue and Baldwin Street.

Material Format

sound recording

Name Access

Coopersmith, Bess

Coopersmith, Boris

Goldstein, Jennie

Harris, Harry

Lyric Theatre

Pasternak, Chanina

Speisman, Stephen

Standard Theatre (Toronto, Ont.)

Geographic Access

St. John's Ward (Toronto, Ont.)

Kensington Market (Toronto, Ont.)

Original Format

Audio cassette

Copy Format

Audio cassette

Digital file

Source

Oral Histories

In this clip, Jennie Goldstein describes the early years of Toronto's Yiddish theatres such as the Tivoli and the Standard and cantors such as Harry Harris and Chanina Pasternak.

In this clip, Jennie Goldstein describes the performances and cantors of the Lyric Theatre circa 1914.

Name

Mary Soskin

Number

OH 1

Subject

Neighborhoods

Schools

Synagogues

Interview Date

15 Nov. 1974

Interviewer

Sophie Milgram

Total Running Time

001: 30.41 minutes 002: 20.58 minutes

Conservation

Copied August 2003

Use Restrictions

Conditional access. Researchers must receive permission from the interviewee or their heir prior to accessing the interview. Please contact the OJA for more information.

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

Biography

Mary Soskin (née Levine), the eldest child of Moses Levine and Sarah Levine (née Cass), was born in 1896 in Midland, Ontario. Her father, Moses Joseph Levine (1864–1919), immigrated to Toronto from Minsk in 1887. Moses first worked as a peddler and later became a grocer. Mary’s mother, Sara Levine (b. 1876), emigrated from Russia to Toronto around 1892 and worked as a seamstress. Mary had six siblings: Fanny (1898–1923), Anne Thuna (1899–1964), Abraham (“Abe”) (b. 1901–1984), Harry (b. 1903), Rita (1905–1975), and Dorothy Bliss (1909–1992).

Mary’s parents, Moses Levine and Sarah Cass, met in Toronto. Following their marriage in 1895, they moved to Midland, Ontario, where they opened a store. After several years in Midland, they returned to Toronto. The family lived in several locations in Toronto including Chestnut Street, Centre Avenue, Spadina Avenue, near Dundas, and 224 Beverley Street, near College. The Levine family belonged to the Goel Tzedec Synagogue, which was located in a former church on University Avenue at Elm Street.

Mary attended both the McCaul Street School and Phoebe Street School, one of the oldest schools in Toronto. She completed her studies at the Shaw School of Business. Mary first worked as a bookkeeper for several years before joining her father in his wholesale grocery business, located at 25 Jarvis Street. Tragically, Moses died in 1919 at the age of fifty-four after accidentally falling down an elevator shaft. The family closed the business shortly thereafter and continued to live on Beverley Street.

Mary Levine married Saul Soskin (d. 1953) around 1920. They lived in Toronto and later moved to Los Angeles. They had three children: Estelle (1922–2010), Morton (“Bud”) (d. 2001), and Fred (1929–2000). In 1945, during a family visit to Toronto, Estelle met Irving Liss, the son of Morris Liss, Mary’s long-time friend. Estelle and Irving were married at the Beth Am Synagogue in Los Angeles in 1946 and settled in Toronto.

Mary Soskin returned to Toronto in 1964 and passed away in 1990.

Material Format

sound recording

Language

English

Name Access

Goel Tzedec Synagogue (Toronto, Ont.)

Levine, Moses

Levine, Sarah

Soskin, Mary

Geographic Access

Los Angeles (Calif.)

Midland (Ont.)

St. John's Ward (Toronto, Ont.)

Original Format

Audio cassette

Copy Format

Audio cassette

Digital file

Transcript

G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 1 - Soskin\OH1_001_Log.docx

G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 1 - Soskin\OH1_002_Log.docx

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

Dr. Vivian Rakoff

Number

OH 440

Subject

Canada--Emigration and immigration

Jews--South Africa

South Africa--Emigration and immigration

Interview Date

24 Nov. 2016

Interviewer

Naomi Raichyk

Total Running Time

OH 440 part 1: 31 min.

OH 440 part 2: 3 min.

OH 440 part 3: 2 min.

OH 440 part 4: 21 min.

Biography

Vivian Morris Rakoff was born on 28 April 1928 in Cape Town but was quickly whisked off to Port Nolloth, a small town on the northwest coast of South Africa, where he spent his earliest years. And while Port Nolloth was home to less than a dozen Jewish families, his mother would still braid challah every Friday night.

The family moved to Cape Town when Vivian was six. At age eleven, he had a bruising encounter with apartheid that left a strong impression on him. Having innocently boarded a bus set aside for Black South Africans, he was thrown off by the conductor who told him, “You can’t come here!” Afterwards, he told his aunt he was not going to live in South Africa.

After completing a degree at the University of Cape Town, Vivian set sail for England, where he was planning to study English at Oxford. Instead, he followed friends down to Marseilles where he met Yiddish-speaking Holocaust survivors waiting to set sail for Israel. The encounter was a pivotal one and led Vivian to journey to Israel, where he lived on kibbutz for a year.

After losing his passport, Vivian returned to South Africa, where he completed a master’s degree in psychology. He then travelled to England, this time staying for more than eight years. He studied medicine at University College London and enjoyed the city’s theatres and museums. After completing his degree, he decided it was time to see his parents so he returned once more to South Africa.

While in South Africa, Vivian met a friend who suggested he enroll in McGill University’s psychiatry program. Vivian thus set sail yet again, this time with wife and ten-month-old baby. After an eighteen-day journey, the family arrived in Montreal, where Vivian did his residency. Residency complete, he accepted a job offer in Toronto, where he stayed for the rest of his career, serving as chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and as the namesake for the Rakoff Centre for Positron Emission Tomography. In 2015, the Government of Canada appointed him a member of the Order of Canada in recognition of his contributions to psychiatry as well as for his role in founding the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Vivian died on 1 October 2020. He was survived by his wife Gina Shochat-Rakoff, son Simon, daughter Ruth, and grandchildren Micah, Amit, Sasaf, and Zoe.

Material Format

moving images

Language

English

Name Access

Rakoff, Vivian Morris, 1928-2020

Geographic Access

Cape Town (South Africa)

Montréal (Québec)

Port Nolloth (South Africa)

Toronto (Ont.)

Original Format

Digital file

Copy Format

Digital file

Transcript

Part 1:

00:29 Vivian discusses the immigration of his father's family to South Africa. His grandfather left Lithuania around the turn of the twentieth century. His grandmother and her children joined him in South Africa. Vivian lists the members of the family.

04:24 Vivian discusses the immigration of his mother's family. His mother, who was born in Chicago, came to South Africa in 1914.

05:00 Vivian's family settled in Port Nolloth. Vivian discusses the economy of the region. He discusses his father's businesses and marriage to his mother, Bertha. Vivian is one of four children.

06:48 Vivian was born on 28 April 1928 and lived in Port Nolloth for his first six years.

07:35 Vivian shares memories of growing up Jewish in Port Nolloth. He recounts anecdotes concerning his father's Zionist leanings.

09:40 Vivian describes his family's Jewish observance and shares memories from his youth.

12:30 Vivian discusses the impact of Zionism in his personal life. He describes his involvement with HaShomer HaTzair and travelling to Israel.

13:13 Vivian describes synagogues in Cape Town. He discusses his Jewish education after his family moved to Cape Town when he was six.

14:26 Vivian discusses the Jewish lives of his grandparents in Lithuania. He discusses the influence of the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) and the rise of Zionism.

17:17 Vivian discusses the impact of South African politics on his life. He recalls a poem he wrote for his Zionist youth magazine. He recalls how an incident from his childhood that highlights the oppressive nature of the apartheid regime. The incident influenced his decision to leave South Africa.

21:04 Vivian describes the circumstances that triggered his decision to go to Palestine in 1947. His plan to study in England was interrupted when he decided to join a group of displaced persons in Marseilles who were travelling to Palestine. He remained there for a year.

24:26 Vivian describes his educational studies in South Africa and England.

25:27 Vivian expounds on living in London for eight years.

28:15 Vivian discusses his decision to come to Canada to study Psychiatry at McGill University.

29:18 Vivian describes his journey by steamship to Canada with his wife and ten-month-old baby.

30:13 Vivian discusses his impressions of South Africa when he returned from England.

Part 2:

00:13 Vivian discusses early memories of living in Montreal and how reality differed from expectations. He worked as a psychiatry resident at the Jewish General Hospital, but his wife, also a doctor, was unable to work. He describes a feeling of disappointment when they were not invited for High Holidays.

Part 3:

00:00 Vivian explains that he had decided to leave Montreal in 1967. He discusses Expo 67 and their many visitors.

Part 4:

00:00 Vivian discusses how his first job offer in Toronto at St. Michael's Hospital in 1967 was retracted due to antisemitism. He was then offered a position as director of postgraduate education in the psychiatry department.

01:00 Vivian describes some of the early challenges faced by his family when they arrived in Canada such as financial challenges and antisemitism.

02:28 Vivian and family move to a home on Ridgewood Road where they remain for twenty-three years.

03:00 Vivian contrasts his early experiences in Toronto with those in Montreal.

04:07 Vivian's children attended Bialik Hebrew Day School.

04:16 Vivian describes his family's Jewish observance.

04:52 Vivian explains that his primary connection to the South African Jewish community in Toronto is through relatives.

05:25 Vivian continues to discuss his Jewish observance.

06:25 Vivian discusses some of his family members who came to Toronto.

08:00 Vivian discusses his research concerning the challenges faced by children of Holocaust survivors. He continues to discuss his professional and literary writing.

09:5 Vivian outlines his professional positions: director of postgraduate education, chief of psychiatry at St. Michael's Hospital, chief of psychiatry and professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

10:25 Vivian highlights a personal achievement concerning bringing a positron emission scanner to the Clark Institute (CAMH).

11:50 Vivian discusses his interest in art.

13:17 Vivian discusses some of the challenges encountered by new immigrants.

14:30 Vivian addresses his own decision to immigrate to Canada.

15:41 Vivian addresses his Canadian identity.

15:58 Vivian describes a trip with his grandchildren to Port Nolloth.

17:36 Vivian shares some of his lasting memories of Cape Town.

19:08 Vivian discusses the common destinations for South African Jewish immigration.

20:12 Vivian discusses his experience as an immigrant of Canada.

Source

Oral Histories

Braiding challah with my mother

Montreal was Hostile

On Survivors

Receiving the Order of Canada