Morris Saxe - Feb. 1949 | Ontario Jewish Archives

Biography: Morris Saxe, a farmer of Georgetown established the Federated Jewish Farmers of Ontario. In 1927, while president of the Federated Jewish Farmers of Ontario, he also established the Canadian Jewish Farm School on his Main Street South farm in Georgetown as a training school for Polish war orphans brought to Canada after the First World War. Saxe, along with Eli Greenblatt of Detroit, was responsible for bringing the orphans over from Mezritch, Poland. Greenblatt raised the funds for their transportation, and Saxe arranged for their entry permits.; The children were allowed to enter the country, provided that they lived and worked on the farm. Their duties involved milking cows, looking after chickens, and harvesting corn and other crops. The Saxe family also owned a creamery business, first in Acton, and then on Guelph Street in Georgetown. The Jewish Farm School was the second attempt by Saxe to assist Jewish immigrants with agricultural training. The first was established a year prior in 1926 to help European immigrants gain knowledge of Canadian farm life. However, it succumbed to several problems, mostly related to Jewish interests in the community using the school as a way of gaining entry for immigrants who would otherwise not be eligible—a plan which Saxe disapproved of and which created dissention within the community. When Greenblatt became involved the following year, the focus shifted to helping Jewish war orphans.

Morris Saxe - Feb. 1949