Sub-series consists of correspondence and employee personnel files. Files include forms capturing the employee name, date of contact with employee and remarks about the individual's situation both financial and personal. Financial remarks relate to weekly earnings, payroll deductions and requests for assistance in the form of loans. Personal remarks relate to family situations regarding the health and welfare of spouses, children, and relatives. Correspondence includes letters from the Canadian Overseas Garment Commission to employees regarding updated contact information, financial assistance, notification to appear in person, and matters related to government services such as Family Allowance, immigration and issuance of employee certificates of merit.
Files are arranged alphabetically by employee last name and religion and are grouped by Jewish and non-Jewish immigrants.
Access Restriction
Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA director prior to accessing some of the records.
Physical Condition
Records are extremely fragile, careful handling of documents should be observed
Sub-sub-series consists of the client cards kept by the Jewish Vocational Services from the late 1940s and 1950s. Many of the individuals documented in these cards were refugees who were assisted by the JVS in securing a job.
The cards contain information such as the client name, date of birth, date of contact with JVS, type of work, weight, height, education, name of parents, hair colour, UI number, languages spoken, years in Canada, dependents, type of work they were searching for and education. Each one documents the work placements the individual was given and dates along with the occasional comments about those experiences. The cards are arranged in alphabetical order by surname.
Access Restriction
Closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director (and whomever else) prior to accessing the records.
In general terms, the majority of Jewish immigrants arrived from Eastern Europe during the inter-war years settling primarily in the Kensington Market area working mainly as laborers in the garment industry or as peddlers. Immigrants sought the aid of the Folks Farein for financial assistance by helping to reduce fees for hospital stays, physicians, pharmaceuticals, dentists, vision care, medical appliances, home care, rent, food relief and specifically Passover relief, and legal fees. The Folks Farein would also provide interpretation services when necessary, such as at Toronto hospitals and when dealing with legal services or city officials, as the majority of their clients spoke only Yiddish. The Folks Farein worked in conjunction with a number of medical and mental health institutions such as the Toronto Hospital, the Ontario Hospital Whitby, Mt. Sinai, the Sick Children's Hospital and the Hospital for Incurables. Case workers would often make site visits to client homes in order to assess and/or remedy their living situation.
Scope and Content
Series consists of case files of individuals or families seeking financial, medical and legal aid. The files include intake forms, remarks, medical reports, legal documents, correspondence with hospitals, physicians, charitable organizations, social service agencies, and the department of immigration. In most cases, multiple people are mentioned in the file, such as spouses and children, or close relatives.
Intake forms are divided into two sections: one that captures general biographical information about the client at first contact, such as the client name, age, current address, telephone number, occupation, employer, birthplace, citizenship, length of time in Canada and Toronto, names and number of children, and name of spouse and relatives; and one section that captures ongoing general remarks about the individual's situation as recorded by the case worker.
Medical reports include the nature of the client's illness and record of ongoing care, health care provider correspondence, administration of fees for service, prescriptions, date and cause of death.
Correspondence includes letters to and from social service agencies, government departments, medical institutions, legal services and religious institutions. Also included are client letters of thanks to the Folks Farein. Most client letters are written in Yiddish.
Legal documents include original passports, birth certificates, marriage certificates, military records, landing papers, naturalization certificates, and medical certificates. Documents have often been translated from language of origin into English by case workers.
There are several different blocks of clients evident in the records: those who arrived during the inter-war years; post-Second World War refugees including those from DP camps brought over through the tailor's project, and those who were sponsored by relatives and businesses; those who came after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956; and in the later years, first-born Canadians in need of assistance and those having lived in Canada for a considerable time applying for old age security and mother's allowance.
Researchers should consult the Folks Farein case file database for information on individual files.
Notes
ACCESS RESTRICTION NOTE: Case files are closed until 120 years after date of creation or 50 years after death. In some cases the death of the individual is noted in the file, but in many of these instances there are other family members mentioned and so this information will require redaction.
The series was formerly known as MG2 O1N
Access Restriction
Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA director prior to accessing some of the records.
Arrangement
Case numbers are based upon the date a case was first opened. The title of each file contains the client name, address and case number. This arrangement has been maintained.
This series consists of the case files created by JIAS for immigrants or potential immigrants, individuals or families, who wished to enter Canada directly or to pass through Canada in order to settle in the United States.
The files include correspondence with Canadian immigrant agencies and governmental departments, correspondence with other worldwide immigrant agencies, case reports and related biographical information. Some files also contain photographs.
Notes
This series was formerly known as MG2 I1a K1
The photographs contained in this series are interspersed with the textual records. They are generally passport photographs or similar headshots used for identification purposes.
Access Restriction
Records in off-site storage; advance notice required to view.
Closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA director prior to accessing the records.
Arrangement
The title of each file is either the name of the prospective immigrant or the name of their sponsor in Canada. JIAS had originally arranged these files chronologically based upon the date a case was first opened by the office, such as the date of their first interview with a prospective immigrant, or the date they first corresponded with an international agency.
A suffix following the file number (eg. A, B) indicates a separate file opened for the individual, rather than the same file divided into two folders. For example, an individual may have immigrated to Canada and then sponsored a family member, in which case JIAS would have created two separate files.
The national office in Montreal often had first contact with the prospective immigrants to Canada, and/or the international agencies representing them. They would have kept their own case file and forwarded any documents to the appropriate regional offices. Thus, many of the case files have two numbers: one for the Toronto office and one for the Montreal office. The Archives has retained both numbers if they exist, with Montreal numbers appearing in parenthesis.
This sub-series documents the relationship of the UJRA (CJC) with the refugees admitted to Canada. Often the UJRA office was a starting point for newly-arrived refugees, who would be referred to Jewish Employment Service/Jewish Vocational Services for help finding a job, to hospitals, dentists and other health care providers for medical care, to Toronto Hebrew Free Loan, and sometimes to Jewish Immigrant Aid Services for accommodations and loans. The office in Toronto worked in cooperation with local refugee committees in centres like Hamilton, London and Oshawa, which would sometimes assist with or take over cases. In most cases the form of assistance given by the UJRA was financial, with decisions taken by the UJRA Farm & Establishment Committee. They granted loans for the purchase of farms, to either individuals or in many cases, a partnership of two refugees wishing to buy jointly. Refugee farmers settled across southern Ontario, from towns in the Chatham/London area, to ones in eastern Ontario towards Kingston/Cornwall, and the southern Niagara region. The largest numbers were concentrated near Hamilton and Oshawa. The UJRA helped immigrants survey and appraise properties and offered advice and guidance on farming to those with no experience. UJRA loans were granted also for the furnishing of homes, equipping of farms with machinery and livestock, medical services, visas for family members, and short-term "maintenance" costs while new immigrants got on their feet. For "urban" refugees, UJRA arranged lodgings, helped with transportation and baggage, ensured a family had food, tickets to High Holiday services, and school for the children. In some cases UJRA was called upon as arbitrator between disputing farming partners or family members.
Sub-series contains case files from clients of UJRA dating from 1938 to 1960. Until 1950, refugees were categorized as either "farmer" or "urban" settlers, and these designations remain written on the earlier files, while later ones are not categorized other than by name of the immigrant. Files include an identification form, either a "summary of contact" sheet with notes added over time, or a standard Loan Committee application form. Records also include correspondence.
The files are arranged in alphabetical order by refugee surname.
Notes
This sub-series is composed of former RG 292, RG 293 and RG 296, three separated sets of case files. Unspecified, farmer, and urban case files were combined into this series, and case files from RG 296 were pulled from amongst the administrative files.
Access Restriction
Closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA director prior to accessing the records.
Related Material
Related files regarding loans may be found in the minutes of the Loan Committee in sub-series 6 of this series (4-6).
This file appears to consist of miscellaneous correspondence. Included are correspondence and telegrams relating to Katz's personal, professional life, as well as Zionistic and religious matters.
Sub-sub-series consists of case files of individual refusniks and includes detailed documentation about several very well known Russian Jews, such as Anatoly Scharansky, Dr. Benjamin Levich, Ida Nudel, and Esther Markish. Files vary in their content from very cursory information to files that include articles, correspondence and/or photographs in addition to information about the status of individual emigration applications and the living conditions of Jews in the Soviet Union.
Related Material
Records documenting refusnik groups may be found at Fonds 17, Sub-sub-series 3-6-2.
Publications about refusniks may be found at Fonds 17, Sub-sub-series 3-6-3
Arrangement
Sub-sub-series records are organized alphabetically by surname.
This series consists of case files created by JIAS for those immigrants who required ongoing assistance after their arrival in Toronto. The files consist of correspondence with other Jewish social service organizations, case reports detailing financial loans, job prospects, employment and housing reports and other situational information.
Notes
This series was formerly known as MG2 I1a J1
Access Restriction
Records in off-site storage; advance notice required to view.
Closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA director prior to accessing the records.
Arrangement
The title of each file is either the name of the prospective immigrant or the name of their sponsor in Canada. JIAS had originally arranged these files chronologically based upon the date a case was first opened by the office, such as the date of their first interview with a prospective immigrant, or the date they first corresponded with an international agency.
A suffix following the file number (eg. A, B) indicates a separate file opened for the individual, rather than the same file divided into two folders. For example, an individual may have immigrated to Canada and then sponsored a family member, in which case JIAS would have created two separate files. Some appear with the prefix A, meaning assistance, and others with S.S., meaning social service.
Sub-series contains communication case files on immigrants and their sponsors, maintained by the Immigration and Location Service of UJRA. The files date from 1941 to 1951, but most were created in the years right after the war. The records document the interaction between social services agencies and sponsors in the process of locating missing relatives and facilitating the immigration to Canada of known relatives. Records include incoming and outgoing letters, memoranda and telegrams exchanged between the UJRA, sponsoring individuals in Ontario, and Jewish aid organizations such as: the American Joint Distribution Committee in its various European centres; the United Service for New Americans in the United States; the World Jewish Congress; and others. They reflect the administrative process of being a sponsor. Sponsors agreed to keep and support their relatives upon their arrival, but some letters reflect their reluctance, or inability, to provide any aid beyond that. For a short time in 1947, Displaced Persons were admitted regardless of their relationship to their sponsor, but beginning in September 1947, permits were limited to first-degree relatives only. Having employment lined up in Canada was only sufficient where special projects existed: for farmers, miners, lumbermen and D.P.s in camps in Germany and Austria.
Some thicker files document transactions over a period of time; some contain forms such as the letter of authorization granted by the American Joint Distribution Committee; and some letters outline the case history of immigrants, telling their story. The majority of files, however, have just one or two letters dealing with the common administrative activities of the UJRA: dealing with the entrance of relatives, in terms of asking an individual to be a sponsor, passing along messages from the Joint Distribution Committee overseas, or being a go-between to locate sponsors and give them information and instructions. Many letters pertain to the requirement that sponsors pay the travel expenses of their immigrating relatives, or pay for administrative fees for the application process. UJRA in Canada also helped the United Service for New Americans in New York City to locate refugees or those who moved to Canada after their arrival.
The files in this sub-subseries are arranged as they were by UJRA, in alphabetical order by sponsor surname.
Notes
This sub-series is composed of former RG 294, which was separated into case files and administrative files.
Access Restriction
Closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA director prior to accessing the records.
This file consists of personalized letters pertaining to the 1937 and 1938 Mizrachi campaigns and the Hashomer Hadati Camp. Included are letters of appeal for funds for Mizrachi Organization and for Hashomer Hadati Camp, follow-up thank-you notes and invitations to Mizrachi events and meetings.
File consists of textual records documenting the JFWB's cooperation with the Welfare Council of Toronto regarding the problem of providing relief to transients and non-residents. Included are reports, notes for the Sub-Committe on Rowell Commission brief, examples of non-resident cases handled by various Toronto social work agencies, and notices for the Welfare Council of Toronto meetings.
Access Restriction
Closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director and the head of Jewish Family and Child prior to accessing the records.
This sub-series contains the operating files created and accumulated by the office of the executive director of the YM-YWHA during the years 1937-1978. The files contain correspondence, meeting minutes and agendas, program material, photographs, reports, financial records and other related records. They are arranged by subject in alphabetical and chronological order. The photographs and architectural drawings are located in the subject files with the related textual material.
Notes
Includes 142 photographs, 11 architectural drawings, 2 artifacts, and 2 posters.
This file consists of financial statements including receipts and disbursements for the years 1936-1939. Included is a formal statement of receipts and disbursements of the Mizrachi Campaign of 1937 (with comments) compiled by D. Newman and a copy of the Ontario mailing list from Canadian Jewish Congress.
This file appears to consist of miscellaneous correspondence. Included are correspondence and telegrams relating to Katz's personal, professional life, as well as Zionistic and religious matters.
The series consists of alphabetically-organized subject files, which reflect Katz's involvement with various organizations and philanthropic efforts. Included is written correspondence, financial records, membership lists, publications and meeting minutes. Many of the correspondence files are organized by the name of the correspondent, many of whom are Rabbis or community leaders throughout Canada and the United States.
Sub-series consists of files organized by subject matter, containing correspondence, lists, forms, immigrant documents and a small amount of meeting minutes. The records highlight the different kinds of cases JIAS handled: deportations, admission of rabbis, of nurses, of skilled workers, of blind Displaced Persons; and the various activities it undertook, for example, financial assistance, employment assistance, and integration. A number of files classified by country of origin reveal the successive waves and sources of immigrants as time passed, including the United Kingdom, Poland, Shanghai, Eastern Europe, Cuba, Russia and Morocco. "Canadian Immigration" files contain correspondence about individual applicants, and immigration policy.
The sub-series is arranged in its original alphabetical-chronological order.
Access Restriction
Records in off-site storage; advance notice required to view.
Partially closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA director prior to accessing some of the records.
Arrangement
This sub-series was created by the archivist from records originally part of series MG2 I1a K2 "Immigration Files - Administration, Projects." In the JIAS office, files were maintained in a central registry system of random numerical classification (these original numbers remain on the files).
The series consists of alphabetical subject files, titled primarily by names of persons, organizations, and events but also by topic. The file contents include both records relating to programs, events, and activities of the Holocaust Centre, as well as topical materials about the subjects of the files (e.g., newspaper clippings or articles on a given topic).