Accession Number

2017-9-3

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Date

1944

Scope and Content

Accession consists of wartime correspondence between Yolanda Garvin (née Goldberger) and her sisters Maria Zilahy and Etel. In 1944, Yolanda was living in Romania, Maria and her husband Steven Zilahy were living in Hungary, and Etel and her husband were living in Yugoslavia. Yolanda's postcard addressed to Maria and Steven Zilahy was written in German and returned in June/July of 1944 with a note that the recipients had moved to Jewish Camp RTS. Etel's postcard to Yolanda is written in Hungarian. Etel's postcard is revealing of the sadness and anxiety experienced while awaiting one's fate as others were being taken away.

Custodial History

The postcards were originally created and owned by the donor's mother and aunt. Lea kept the letters after her mom passed away.

Use Conditions

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

Descriptive Notes

Language Note: German and Hungarian

Subjects

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)

Postcards

Sisters

Places

Hungary

Romania

Yugoslavia

Source

Archival Accessions

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Accession Number

2019-6-2

Material Format

graphic material

Physical Description

1 photograph : b&w ; 19 x 24 cm on mat 29 x 35 cm

Date

1952

Scope and Content

Item consists of one photograph of a Passover seder held at the Hamilton Mountain Sanatorium, hosted for Jewish inmates by members of the Hamilton Jewish community. Seated beginning fifth from left are: Ralph Milrod, Sylvia Milrod, Howard Chandler, and Elsa Chandler.

Administrative History

Howard and Elsa Chandler, both Holocaust survivors, immigrated to Toronto through England and Sweden in 1947 and 1948 respectively. They met and married in Toronto. Elsa was recuperating from tuberculosis in Hamilton Mountain Sanatorium when this photograph was taken, shortly after the couple were married.

Use Conditions

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

Subjects

Holocaust survivors

Name Access

Chandler, Howard, 1928-

Chandler, Elsa, 1932-

Places

Hamilton (Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

Accession Number

2023-3-10

Material Format

textual record

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

Date

1967-1978

Scope and Content

Accession consists of a pilot's log book belonging to Gerda Frieberg, documenting flights taken between 1967 and 1978. Also included is an accompanying form from the Department of Transport regarding the issuance of Gerda's licence and log book. On the inside cover, there is a newsclipping of a poem entitled High Flight taped to the inside front cover of the book. Notations made by Gerda include: her first solo flight on 24 Oct. 1967; completion of her government approved course in flying following her flight test on 15 Feb. 1968; and her last flight on 25 April 1978, logging a grand total of 978 hours and 45 minutes in the air.

Entries include dates, aircraft type and registration, names of first pilots and second pilots or passengers, routes flown and instrument notations. Airtime totals are tallied at the bottom of each page. Of note are flights taken as part of derbies as well as flights in Israel in 1973. Aircraft included both Cherokee and Cessna single-engine aircraft.

Administrative History

Gerda Frieberg (1925-2023) was a Holocaust survivor and educator born in 1925 in Bielschowitz, Poland to the sole Jewish family in the largely German speaking village. Her father was taken in October 1939. In 1940, Gerda, her mother Elfrieda and sister Hana were deported to the Jaworzno Ghetto. In 1942, Gerda was sent to the Oberaltstadt concentration camp where her sister was already interned. Their mother joined them in 1943. Gerda worked in the machine shop of a spinning mill until she was liberated on May 9, 1945. For four years after liberation Frieberg, her sister and mother were in displaced persons camps in Landserg, near Munich. There, she became a proficient seamstress and met her husband, Louis Frieberg. After moving to Canada in 1953, Gerda devoted herself to Holocaust education and various human rights causes. She began speaking of the Holocaust in 1962, first in local schools, then across Canada. Frieberg served as chair of the Ontario region of the Canadian Jewish Congress in the early 1990s and led fundraising efforts for the Toronto Holocaust Centre. Gerda Frieberg had three children, Josey, Jack, and Sandra, eleven grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren. Gerda passed away on January 3rd, 2023, at the age of 97 in her home in Toronto.

Use Conditions

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

Subjects

Holocaust survivors

Air pilots

Name Access

Frieberg, Gerda, 1925-2023

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

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Accession Number

2018-7-6

Material Format

graphic material

textual record

Physical Description

62 photographs : b&w and col. ; 10 x 15 cm or smaller

4 cm of textual records

Date

1920-2018

Scope and Content

Accession contains material documenting Gabriella Szanto and her family. Included are family photographs, vital records, correspondence, and a 2018 Baycrest calendar that features a portrait and short biography of Gabriella.

Custodial History

Shirley Worth served as the executor of Gabriella Szanto's estate. Following Gabriella's death, Shirley donated the records that make up the accession to the Ontario Jewish Archives.

Administrative History

Gabriella "Gabi" Szanto (née Lazlo) was born in Budapest, Hungary on 26 January 1916. Gabriella's parents, Arnold and Ilonka Lazlo (née Diamenstein), were women's clothing manufacturers who employed twenty-five people. Their skills complemented each other: Arnold had studied design in Berlin for two years while Ilonka was a dressmaker. On 18 May 1919, Arnold and Ilonka had their second child, George.

During the Second World War, Gabi and her mother moved to the outskirts of Budapest where they passed as Catholics, rarely leaving their house. Miklos Szanto—the man Gabriella married after the war—was sent to the Mauthausen concentration camp. Gabriella's brother, George, was sent to a camp in Siberia and did not survive. It is not known where or how Gabriella's father survived the war.

After the war, Gabriella, her mother and father, and her husband Miklos reunited in Budapest. The four lived in the family apartment near the city opera house.

During the period of Communist rule, Gabriella and Miklos bribed their way out of Hungary and travelled to Vienna. From Vienna, they travelled to Australia, where they lived for five or six years, working as a short order cook and a seamstress respectively.

At some point, Gabriella and Miklos made the decision to immigrate to Canada. Their first stop—most likely in the 1950s—was Montreal. There, Gabriella worked for a high-end retailer before moving with her husband to Toronto one year later. In Toronto, Miklos worked again as a short order cook at the Noshery Restaurant on Eglinton, holding this job until he retried. Gabriella, meanwhile, worked as a seamstress until she was in her mid-80s.

In their retirement, Gabriella and Miklos spent two months each winter in Florida. Gabriella died in 2018.

Use Conditions

Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing some of the records.

Descriptive Notes

LANGUAGE NOTE: English, Hungarian, German.

Subjects

Families

Holocaust survivors

Immigrants--Canada

Name Access

Szanto, Gabriella, 1916-2018

Places

Australia

Austria

Canada

Hungary

Source

Archival Accessions

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Accession Number

2018-7-22

Material Format

graphic material

Physical Description

47 photographs : b&w and col. ; 19 x 14 cm or smaller

Date

1949-2007

Scope and Content

Accession consists of forty-seven photographs documenting Lilian Rosenthal's family.

Identified in the photographs are: Emy Berman (née Rosenthal), Ella Fleischmann (née Schwarcz), Esther Fleischmann, Jack Fleischmann, Ivan Fleischmann, Joanne Howe (née Fleischmann), Livia Bitton Jackson, Leah Kedar, Allan Leibler, Mary Leibler (née Schwarcz) Bram Morrison, Ruth Raphael, Amir Rosenthal, Annette Rosenthal, Arthur Rosenthal, Eddie Rosenthal, Herschel Rosenthal, Jack Rosenthal, Keren Rosenthal, Leslie Rosenthal, Lilian Rosenthal, Miriam Rosenthal (née Schwarcz), Murray Rosenthal, Nili Rosenthal, Ron Rosenthal, Shira Rosenthal, Valerie Rosenthal, William Rosenthal, Carmelle Rutman, Serena Rutman, Tami Rutman (née Rosenthal), Yasmin Rutman, Alexander Schwarcz, Manci Schwarcz, Susan Schwarcz, Miriam Sharon (née Stern), Mr. Shoychet, Mrs. Shoychet, Rochelle Treister (née Fleischmann), and Ugo Vero.

Administrative History

Lilian Rosenthal is the daughter of Holocaust survivors Miriam Rosenthal (née Schwarcz) and Rabbi William Rosenthal. She grew up in Sudbury, Ontario with her siblings, Leslie and Murray.

Lilian's parents were born in eastern Europe and came to Canada in 1947. They lived in Timmins for a year before moving to Sudbury, where William ("Bela") served as a rabbi, cantor, and teacher for sixteen years.

In 1965, the family moved to Toronto and Miriam and William opened a Judaica store at the corner Bathurst Street and Caribou Road. Together, Lilian's parents ran the store for more than forty years until retiring in 2007. William died on 11 April 2008; Miriam died on 10 February 2018.

Use Conditions

Copyright may not be held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Descriptive Notes

Availabilityusc of other formats: Digital access copies (jpg) have been created.

Finding aids: A short description including dates and identification is available for each photograph.

Associated material: The USC Shoah Foundation produced an oral history with Miriam Rosenthal, which has been digitized.

Subjects

Families

Family-owned business enterprises

Holocaust survivors

Name Access

Rosenthal (family)

Rosenthal, Lilian

Rosenthal, Miriam, 1922-2018

Rosenthal, William, 1911-2008

Places

Bathurst Street (Toronto, Ont.)

Caribou Road (Toronto, Ont.)

Sudbury (Ont.)

Timmins (Ont.)

Toronto Islands (Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

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Part Of

Jewish Immigrant Aid Services of Toronto fonds

Photographs series

Level

File

Fonds

9

Series

12

File

40

Material Format

graphic material

Date

1972

Physical Description

4 photographs : b&w ; 21 x 26 cm

Scope and Content

File consists of four photographs taken at the annual general meeting. Included are images of speakers at the podium and a candle-lighting in remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust. Identified individuals include: Charlie Kent, Wolfe Goodman, Carolyn Adams, Morris Adams, Tobie Taback, John A. Geller, and Dr. Henry Fenigstein.

Name Access

Fenigstein, Henry, 1913-1993

Subjects

Holocaust victims

Repro Restriction

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

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Henry Rosenbaum fonds

Photograph series

Level

Item

Fonds

121

Series

1

Item

12

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[ca. 196-]

Physical Description

1 photograph : b & w ; 25 cm x 20 cm

Scope and Content

Item is a black and white photograph of individuals attending a Yizkor service under the auspices of the Radomer Mutual Benefit Society for those murdered in the Holocaust. Seated left to right, Henry Rosenbaum, [unknown], [unknown]. Standing [unknown] (Toronto, ON), ca.1960.

Subjects

Holocaust memorials

Repro Restriction

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

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Henry Rosenbaum fonds

Photograph series

Level

Item

Fonds

121

Series

1

Item

14

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[ca. 194-]

Physical Description

1 photograph : b & w ; 4 cm x 5 cm

Scope and Content

Item is a black-and-white portrait of Elimelech Daniel Rotbard, father of Bella Rosenbaum, who was murdered in 1942 (Shoah), Poland, ca. 194-.

Subjects

Holocaust victims

Portraits

Repro Restriction

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

Places

Poland

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Henry Rosenbaum fonds

Photograph series

Level

Item

Fonds

121

Series

1

Item

19

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[1938]

Physical Description

1 photograph : b&w ; 10 cm x 15 cm

Scope and Content

Item is a black & white portrait of Eva Rosenbaum, sister to Henry Rosenbaum, (Radom, Poland), ca. 1938. Eva Rosenbaum was murdered in Treblinka, 1942. Natalie Bornstein Rapkin, granddaughter of Bella and Henry Rosenbaum, is named in her memory.

Name Access

Treblinka (Concentration camp)

Subjects

Holocaust victims

Portraits

Repro Restriction

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

Places

Poland

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Henry Rosenbaum fonds

Photograph series

Level

Item

Fonds

121

Series

1

Item

21

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[193-]

Physical Description

1 photograph : b&w ; 21 cm x 25 cm

Scope and Content

Item is a black-and-white portrait of Moshe Rosenbaum, father of Henry Rosenbaum, (Radom, Poland), ca.1930, murdered in Treblinka in 1942. Murray Rosenbaum, son of Henry Rosenbaum is named in his memory.

Name Access

Treblinka (Concentration camp)

Subjects

Holocaust victims

Portraits

Repro Restriction

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

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Henry Rosenbaum fonds

Photograph series

Level

Item

Fonds

121

Series

1

Item

22

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[193-]

Physical Description

1 photograph :b&wl ; 21 cm x 25 cm

Scope and Content

Item is a black & white portrait of portrait of Rachel Rosenbaum, mother of Henry Rosenbaum, (Radom, Poland), ca. 1930., murdered in Treblinka in 1942. Granddaughter of Henry Rosenbaum, Rachel Rosenbaum is named in her memory.

Name Access

Treblinka (Concentration camp)

Subjects

Holocaust victims

Portraits

Repro Restriction

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

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Source

Archival Descriptions

Part Of

Henry Rosenbaum fonds

Photograph series

Level

Item

Fonds

121

Series

1

Item

23

Material Format

graphic material

Date

[193-]

Physical Description

1 photograph : b&w ; 21 cm x 25 cm

Scope and Content

Item is a black & white portrait of Bracha Rotbard, mother of Bella Rosenbaum, (Radom, Poland), ca. 1930., murdered in Treblinka in 1942. Brenda Rosenbaum Bornstein, daughter of Bella and Henry Rosenbaum is named in her memory.

Name Access

Treblinka (Concentration camp)

Subjects

Holocaust victims

Portraits

Repro Restriction

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

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Source

Archival Descriptions

Accession Number

2012-3-8

Material Format

multiple media

Physical Description

58 photographs (tif) and other material

Date

1945, 1965-2003

Scope and Content

Accession consists of records documenting the establishment and activities of Toronto's Holocaust Memorial and Education Centre as well as the personal life and professional activities of Gerda Frieberg. Holocaust Education Centre records include audiovisual material, sound recordings, meeting minutes, financial records, booklets and brochures, photographs, and flyers. Of note is a video of the opening and dedication of the Holocaust Museum in 1985 and the sheet music and sound recordings of the musical score Gerda commissioned for the centre by Srul Glick.

Records in the Gerda Frieberg fonds document her involvement with the Holocaust Education Centre, the Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Canada, B'nai Brith Women, the Federation of Jewish Women's organizations, and her other activities. Included are photographs, newspaper clippings, meeting minutes, and correspondence. Also included is a sound recording from a Federation of Jewish Women's Organizations event and a DVD copy of the film "Mend the World," a CBC documentary that features Gerda and other Toronto Holocaust survivors. The electronic images were scanned from Gerda's personal scrapbooks.

Custodial History

Records were in the possession of Gerda Frieberg until she donated them to the OJA in 2012.

Use Conditions

Copyright may not be held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission prior to use.

Descriptive Notes

Includes 4 audio cassette tapes, 4 VHS tapes, 3 DVDs, 3 cm of textual records, and 8 photographs.

Subjects

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)

Name Access

Frieberg, Gerda

Source

Archival Accessions

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Accession Number

2018-3-6

Material Format

graphic material

textual record

Physical Description

87 photographs : col. ; 15 x 10 cm

1 folder of textual records

Date

2010-2018

Scope and Content

Accession consists of various photos and commemorative books documenting the Tommorow Campaign's L'Chaim celebrations, Holocaust Education Week (2011), the openining of the Joseph & Wolf JCC (2012) and the memorial service program and condolence book created for Barry and Honey Sherman. Included are two photo albums of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto's Tommorow Campaign L'Chaim celebrations honouring Sarah and Chaim Neuberger in 2010 and the Gottdenker Family in 2011. Also included are photos of the 31st Annual Holocaust Education Week on Accountability: 50 years since the Eichmann Trial including the opening night program held on 1 Nov. 2011 at Holy Blossom Temple with historian Deborah E. Lipstadt; a panel discussion on the behavior of German business leaders with Professors Peter Francis Hayes, Doris Bergen and Michael R. Marrus held at the University of Toronto's Munk School for Global Affairs on 3 Nov. 2011; and the closing program and Kristallnacht commemoration with Tami Raveh Hausner, at Beth Tzedec Synagogue, 9 Nov. 2011.

Also included is a commemorative program book in celebration of the grand opening of the Joseph & Wolf Lebovic Jewish Community Campus Phase II on October 14, 2012 and a program from the memorial service for Barry and Honey Sherman (12 Dec. 2017) along with a book of condolences and photos in loving memory of Honey and Barry Sherman.

Custodial History

Photo albums and grand opening commemorative program book were donated by Dara Solomon, Executive Director of the Holocaust Centre and the Ontario Jewish Archives.

Condolence book in memory of Honey and Barry Sherman was donated by Natalie Walden.

Memorial service program transferred by Dara Solomon, Executive Director, Ontario Jewish Archives

Use Conditions

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

Subjects

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)

Name Access

Sokolsky, Ted

Wolfe, Elizabeth

Sherman, Barry

Sherman, Honey

Goldfarb, Mira

Hayes, Peter F. (Peter Francis), 1947-

Bergen, Doris L.

Marrus, Michael R., 1941-

Lipstadt, Deborah E.

Hausner, Tami Raveh

Places

Toronto (Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

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Accession Number

2017-2-23

Material Format

textual record

graphic material

Physical Description

1 folder of textual records

5 photographs

Date

[ca. 2000]-2016

Scope and Content

Accession consists of textual and graphic material documenting Lou Hoffer's involvement with the Transnistria Survivors' Association and the Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre. Included are photographs of Lou with student groups at OISE and Havergal college, an image of Lou lighting a candle with a bar mitzvah student as part of the Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre's Bar/Bat Mitzvah Project of Remembrance. Accession also includes a flyer, newspaperclippings and thank you cards.

Administrative History

Lou (Leizer) Hoffer is a Holocaust survivor who is a past president of the Transnistria Holocaust Survivors' Association and was a speaker with the Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre in Toronto.

Lou was born in 1927 in Vijnitz, Northern Bucovina, Romania to David and Chaya Sure Drassinover Hoffer. During the Second World War, Lou and his family was deported (along with all the Jewish people in his town) to the death camps of Transnistria (a territory in Ukraine). He was liberated in 1944.

After the war, Lou, his parents and his younger brother, Joe, wandered through various displaced persons camps in Europe. They eventually immigrated to Canada in March 1948 on the ship Nea Helas. He married Madga (nee Pressburger) in 1959. Together they had three sons and one daughter.

Use Conditions

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

Subjects

Societies

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)

Name Access

Hoffer, Lou

Transnistria Survivors' Association (Toronto, Ont.)

Source

Archival Accessions

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Accession Number

2019-10-2

Material Format

textual record

textual record (electronic)

Physical Description

10 cm of textual records

1 photograph (tiff) : b&w

Date

[194-] - 2019

Scope and Content

Accession consists of handwritten Yiddish poetry by Benzion Micfliker. Benzion (Ben) began writing poetry at the age of sixty-five after the death of his second wife Esther Micfliker (née Blutschitz). The poems, discovered by Benzion's daughter Rita, deal with personal themes of love and loss, reflections on Nazi imprisonment, liberation, relocations, Theodor Herzl, Canada, astronauts, Jewish holidays including Passover, Hanukkah, Purim, summer, nature and more. Seventeen of the Yiddish language poems have been translated into English. In addition, there is a photograph of Benzion and Esther (1940s), a detailed biography of Benzion Mickflker written by his daughter Rita, and newspaper clippings of Benzion's published poetry.

Administrative History

Benzion Micfliker (1910-1989) was born on 29 May 1910 in Chelm, Poland. He immigrated to Canada with his wife Esther and daughter Rita in 1951. Both Benzion and his wife had endured and survived the horrors of the Holocaust. They met after the war and lived in Barletta Italy in a displaced persons (DP) camp, where Rita was born. They settled in Israel for a short time and soon reunited with Benzion's sister Ita and her husband Mendel Silverman in Montreal, where Ben worked as a tailor and foreman and Esther as a seamstress. Benzion passed away at the age of 79 on 16 Jul. 1989.

Use Conditions

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

Descriptive Notes

Language: Yiddish

Related material: 2019-10-8; 2019-12-2

Subjects

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)

Refugee camps

Places

Montréal (Québec)

Poland

Source

Archival Accessions

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