Julius P. Katz fonds

Physical Description: 5.5 m of textual records; 56 photographs : b&w, col. and sepia ; 40 x 15 cm or smaller; 10 objects

Admin History/Bio: Julius Pincus Katz (1884-1964) was a Toronto businessman who held important positions in many Jewish community organizations, and was a co-founder and president of Mizrachi-Hapoel Hamizrachi of Toronto, the religious Zionist organization. Katz was born in Rakow, Poland, on 12 Dec. 1884, the son of Abraham Mordecai and Tzivia Katz. In 1904, he married Anna Lea Sterenbach, and they moved to Toronto in 1907. Julius and Anna had four children: Rachel, Bernard, Morris, and Nathan.; Katz became a tobacconist in 1926, and was president of Reliable Tobacco Company, Toronto, which supplied tobacco products to small stores in the city. In the late 1920s, he served as president of Talmud Torah Eitz Chaim, an orthodox Jewish school, and was a member of the executive committees of the Zionist Council of Toronto, the Jewish Old Folks Home, and the United Jewish Welfare Fund in the 1930s and 1940s. He also served as a director of the Canadian Jewish Congress. Throughout his life, Katz was heavily involved in fundraising for Zionist organizations and Jewish communities in Israel, for seminaries, and for other religious and educational institutions. He also served as president of his synagogue, Beth Jacob Congregation. Mr. Katz died in Toronto on 23 Apr. 1964.

Scope and Content: The fonds documents Katz's work with Mizrachi-Hapoel Hamizrachi, the Toronto Zionist Council, the United Jewish Welfare Fund, and other Jewish organizations in Toronto, as well as his fundraising efforts for various theological seminaries and the Jewish National Fund. The records include correspondence and memoranda, meeting minutes, subject files, financial records, newspaper clippings and scrapbooks. The fonds also includes some family records and correspondence, and some business records from the Reliable Tobacco Company. The photographs in the fonds include family pictures and photographs of conferences and public events attended by Julius Katz, including events at which he received awards in recognition of his volunteer work. The objects in the fonds include award plaques received by Katz, and badges from conventions attended by Katz.