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Montague Raisman [textual record] – [192?]-[1967?].

Accession Number: 1977-12-2

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 1977-12-2

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 90 cm of textual records

Date: [192?]-[1967?]

Scope and Content: Accession consists of the personal records of Mr. Montague Raisman. The records document the activities of B'nai Brith, including: the Commission on Citizenship and Civic Affairs, the Commission on Community & Veterans Services, the Adult Education Committee, Air Cadets, Toronto Lodge, Upper Canada Lodge, Eastern Canadian Council, Anti-Defamation League and other public relations activity in support of Israel during the 1967 war. Other records relate to Canadian Jewish Congress's Joint Public Relations Committee and Second World War work; Jewish Branch No. 256 of the Royal Canadian Legion; Hillcrest Home and School Association, Toronto; Bureau of Jewish Education, Toronto; educational activities at Goel Tzedec (later Beth Tzedec Congregation); the Canadian Centennial in 1967. Accession also contains records that reflect the creator's personal activity in: Manchester Jewish Literary & Social Society (1920s); Royal Canadian Air Force; Canadian Council of Christians and Jews; Zionism; Beth Tzedec Congregation; Boy Scouts; Jewish education; and the insurance industry. The records include speeches given by the creator, and newspaper clippings from British and Canadian periodicals reflecting an interest in Palestine and world Jewish affairs.

Name Access: Raisman, Montague, 1897-1984

Source: Archival Accessions

Ben Kayfetz - 4 Mar. 1984

Name: Ben Kayfetz

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 4 Mar. 1984

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Ben Kayfetz

Number: OH 210

Subject: Antisemitism; Human rights; Law; Nonprofit organizations

Interview Date: 4 Mar. 1984

Quantity: 1

Interviewer: Phyllis Platnick

Total Running Time: 46 minutes

Conservation: Copied August 2003

Notes: Christie Pits riot at approximately minute 16:00

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

Biography: Benjamin "Ben" Gershon Kayfetz was born on 24 December 1916 in Toronto. He married Eva Silver and had two children. Ben graduated from the University of Toronto in 1939, with a bachelor of arts in modern languages. He worked as a high school teacher in Huntsville, Ontario and Niagara Falls, Ontario between 1941 and 1943. In 1943, he joined the war effort, working for the Department of National Defense in postal censorship and was responsible for reviewing prisoner of war mail. After the war, Kayfetz traveled to British-occupied Germany, where he worked as a censor of telecommunications with the Control Commission until 1947. Upon returning to Toronto, he was hired as the national director of community relations by the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) and as the executive (national) director of the Joint Community Relations Committee (JCRC), a CJC-B'nai B'rith cooperative organization. He also served as the central region executive director of the CJC between 1973 and 1978. He worked to develop anti-discrimination laws and for the protection of minority and religious rights. Kayfetz was also actively involved in promoting the welfare of Jewish communities worldwide. He was awarded the Samuel Bronfman Medal by the Canadian Jewish Congress in 1985 and the Order of Canada in 1986. In addition to his professional activities, Kayfetz wrote articles for various Jewish publications under both his own name and the pseudonym Gershon B. Newman. He also gave a weekly radio address on CHIN radio addressing various contemporary Jewish issues and was actively involved in the Toronto Jewish Historical Society (serving as its president), the Canadian Jewish Historical Society, and the Yiddish Luncheon Circle. He died in 2002.

Material Format: sound recording

Name Access: Balmy Beach Swastika Club; Canadian Jewish Congress; UJA Federation of Greater Toronto

Geographic Access: Toronto; Kew Beach; Christie Pits

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\AC 210, Ben Kayfetz\AC 210 notes.pdf

Source: Oral Histories

In this clip, Ben Kayfetz describes the skirmish between antisemitic and Jewish youths at Kew Beach in July 1933.

In this clip, Ben Kayfetz discusses the laws that restricted “Jews or other objectionable races” from purchasing, owning, or renting properties in Toronto and summer resort areas. He describes the steps taken to change the law.

Rabbi Dr. David Monson - 1 Dec. 1982

Name: Rabbi Dr. David Monson

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 1 Dec. 1982

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Rabbi Dr. David Monson

Number: OH 70

Subject: World War, 1939-1945; Religion

Interview Date: 1 Dec. 1982

Quantity: 1

Interviewer: (not stated, likely Jack Lipinsky)

Total Running Time: OH70_001: 27 minutes OH70_002: 11 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: Rabbi David Monson came to Toronto from Ottawa in June 1939 to serve as the rabbi of the Shaarei Shomayim Synagogue. He served on the board of the Brusnswick Talmud Torah. He was a member of B'nai Zion and B'nai Brith and was the long-serving rabbi of Beth Shalom.

Material Format: sound recording

Language: English

Name Access: Monson, David; Canadian Jewish Congress. Ontario Region; Shaarei Shomayim Congregation (Toronto, Ont.); Lipinsky, Jack

Geographic Access: Toronto

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 70 - Monson\OH70_001_Log.pdf; G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 70 - Monson\OH70_002_Log.pdf

Source: Oral Histories

In this clip, Rabbi Monson discusses his early positive working relationships with rabbis within the Toronto Jewish community and explains how sectionalization became a post-war phenomenon.

In this clip, Rabbi Monson discusses the role and responsibilities of the Canadian Jewish Congress in Toronto from 1939 to 1948.

Bernard Wolf restrictive covenant court case [textual record] – 1949-1985.

Accession Number: 2011-6-5

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2011-6-5

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 1 scrapbook : 28 x 41 cm

Date: 1949-1985

Scope and Content: Accession consists of one scrapbook documenting the Supreme Court of Canada case between Bernard Wolf, Annie Noble and property owners at the Beach O' Pines resort regarding antisemitic restrictive property covenants. The scrapbook includes news clippings, correspondence, CJC Public Relations Information bulletins, one photograph of Wolf, factums of court proceedings and a resolution of London's B'nai Brith Lodge #1012. Also included are event programmes and invitations that do not appear related to the court case.

Use Conditions: None

Subjects: Antisemitism; Human rights

Name Access: Wolf, Bernard

Source: Archival Accessions

Max Moskoske - 29 Jul. 2010

Name: Max Moskoske

Material Format: moving images

Interview Date: 29 Jul. 2010

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Max Moskoske

Number: OH 401

Subject: Canada--Armed Forces; World War, 1939-1945

Interview Date: 29 Jul. 2010

Quantity: 1 reference DVD (WAV file); 1 archival DVD (WAV file)

Interviewer: Sam Gojonovich

Total Running Time: 14:33

Notes: Max was interviewed as part of the Memory Project event held at Lipa Green on 13 May 2010 in partnership with the Historica Dominion Institute.

Biography: Max served in the Royal Canadian Army from 1941 to 1945 as an engineer. He was involved in building roads and bridges in England, Holland, and the border of Germany.

Material Format: moving images

Geographic Access: England; Germany; Netherlands

Original Format: DVD

Source: Oral Histories

Mordechai Soer - 30 Jul. 2010

Name: Mordechai Soer

Material Format: moving images

Interview Date: 30 Jul. 2010

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Mordechai Soer

Number: OH 402

Subject: Great Britain--Armed Forces; World War, 1939-1945

Interview Date: 30 Jul. 2010

Quantity: 1 reference DVD (WAV file) ; 1 archival DVD (WAV file)

Interviewer: Sam Gojonovich

Total Running Time: 17:02

Notes: Mordechai was interviewed as part of the Memory Project event held at Lipa Green on 13 May 2010 in partnership with the Historica Dominion Institute.

Biography: Mordechai enlisted in the British Army in Palestine and served from 1939 to 1945. He was stationed in Italy, Egypt, and Syria performing general transport.

Material Format: moving images

Geographic Access: Egypt; Italy; Palestine; Syria

Original Format: DVD

Source: Oral Histories

Genya Intrator - 26 Nov. 1990

Name: Genya Intrator

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 26 Nov. 1990

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Genya Intrator

Number: OH 223; OH 224

Subject: Antisemitism; Women; Human rights

Interview Date: 26 Nov. 1990

Quantity: 2

Interviewer: Mindy A. Skapinker

AccessionNumber: 1993-9-1

Total Running Time: OH 223A: 46 minutes OH 223B: 46 minutes OH 224A: 16 minutes

Conservation: Copied August 2003

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

Biography: Genya Intrator was born in Moscow and moved as a child to Palestine in the 1930s. She was a member of the Israeli underground and served in the Israeli army during the War of Independence. She played a central leadership role in the Soviet Jewry movement in Canada. She founded Women for Soviet Jewry and served as chair of the National Soviet Jewry Committee. She helped with the creation of the Group of 35, a Soviet-Jewry activist group in Toronto. Genya had regular contact by phone with Soviet activists and relayed their information back to Israeli consuls. She was an advisor to B'nai Brith on Soviet Jewry. She started an inter-religious Task Force for Soviet Jewry in Canada.

Material Format: sound recording

Name Access: Intrator, Genya; Skapinker, Mindy A.; Canadian Jewish Congress

Geographic Access: Toronto

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette

Source: Oral Histories

In this clip, Genya Intrator discusses the formation of the Group of 35, a Soviet-Jewry activist group.

In this clip, Genya Intrator describes how information about Soviet Jews was passed on to the Israeli consulate in New York, who tracked all the data. She explains how she was appointed as a "secret agent" who would report information from her many phone calls to the Soviet Union.

Correspondence regarding antisemitism, discrimination, and human rights [textual record] – 1937-1972.

Part Of: John J. Glass fonds; Documents series

Level: File

ID: Fonds 109; Series 2; File 27

Source: Archival Descriptions

Part Of: John J. Glass fonds; Documents series

Level: File

Fonds: 109

Series: 2

File: 27

Material Format: textual record

Date: 1937-1972

Physical Description: 1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content: File consists of correspondence relating to John Glass' battle against discrimination based on race and religion in Ontario and society in general. Included are commentaries on his newspaper article proposing amendments to the Ontario Libel and Slander Act, his correspondence with the Canadian Jewish Congress, and the prime minister (premier) of Ontario regarding offensive "Gentiles Only" signs on highways, at country resorts, and in parks. In addition there is a report on the operation of Nazi-affiliated groups in the province and a telegram expressing support from a "Negro Youth Group," as well as an impassioned speech delivered by Glass in the Ontario legislature, in which he pleads for human rights and the end of intlolerance and bigotry.

Name Access: Canadian Jewish Congress; Ontario Libel and Slander Act; Ontario. Premier

Subjects: Antisemitism; Discrimination; Human rights

Physical Condition: Several of the letters are in fagile condition and are enclosed in plastic.

Places: Ontario

Source: Archival Descriptions

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Anne Tulchinsky, Brantford, Ontario [graphic material] – 1941-1943.

Accession Number: 1992-8-3

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 1992-8-3

Material Format: graphic material

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

Date: 1941-1943

Scope and Content: This accession consists of a photograph of Anne Tulchinsky in her uniform for the Brantford Red Cross Nursing Auxiliary.

Subjects: World War, 1939-1945

Name Access: Tulchinsky, Anne

Source: Archival Accessions

Sam Dime [graphic material] – 1909-[ca. 1980].

Accession Number: 1998-12-4

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 1998-12-4

Material Format: graphic material

Physical Description: 56 photographs : b&w and col. (27 negatives) ; 20 x 25 cm or smaller; 1 postcard

Date: 1909-[ca. 1980]

Scope and Content: Accession consists of a collection of copy and original photographs documenting the life of the Dime family and their relatives in locations including Belleville, Oshawa, Toronto, the Muskoka Sanitorium, and Goose Bay, Labrador.; Photo Captions:; 001: Sam and Dorothy Dime, Dime’s Drug Store, 568 Jarvis Street, Toronto, [1957?].; 002: Street view of Dime’s Pharmacy, 568 Jarvis Street, Toronto, 1960.; 003: Sgt. Sam Dime, Pharmacy, Goose Bay Labrador, 1944.; 004: Ada Dime, with Ben [Safe] and Sam Dime, secondhand furniture, 56 King St. West, Oshawa, ON, 1921.; 005: Sam Dime with dog [4F], Goose Bay, Labrador, 1944.; 006: Sam Dime, 56 King St. W., Oshawa, ON, ca. 1920-21.; 007: Rabbi Isaac Stein with grandchildren Izzie (left) and Donna, Toronto, 1930.; 008: Portrait of Ada Dime (née Aronson) with her brother Sammy Aronson, 273 Yonge Street, Toronto, ca. 1915.; 009: Portrait of David and Sammy Tobe, Belleville, ON, [1909]. Photograph by R. McCormick Belleville.; 010: Morris Bernard of Belleville, Overseas, First World War, ca. 1918.; 011: David Dime, (age 25), 1914. The Dutch Studio Vander Feen, 318 Yonge St. Toronto, ON, [192-?].; 012: Unidentified group of children, [19--?].; 013: Portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Tobe with their children David and Sammy, Belleville, ON, [1920]. Photograph by R. McCormick Belleville.; 014: Portrait of David and Ada Dime with daughter Anne, Belleville, ON, ca. 1915.; 015: Mickey and Riva Marcus, Belleville, ON, ca. 1917-18.; 016: Ada Dime, 30 Simcoe Street, Oshawa, ON, 1930.; 017: Tobie Green (m. Dime), her brother Hershel Goldman and Goldie Fryman, St. Patrick Street Between Elm & Dundas, [Toronto], ON, 1924.; 018: Cheder class, Oshawa Hebrew Congregation, Beth Zion,45 Albert Street in Oshawa, Ontario, 1922. Back row (L to R): Simma Engel, Rabbi Primack's son, Rabbi Primack's daughter, Annie Dime, Annie Hennick, Sara Rainish. Front row (L to R): Clara Engel (m. Rubin), Maxie Rainish, Irving Oilgissor, Becky Rainish, Sam Dime, [Primack child?], Rabbi Primack.; 019: David Dime (back row, right), Muskoka Sands, July ca. 1922; 020: Oshawa Belleville group, Belleville, Ontario, ca. 1930. Back row: Mr. Diamond, Goldie Engel, Abe Swartz, [unidentified], Faige Swartz, Sarah Golub, Sue [Sape], Hymie Golub. Front row: Mrs. Lepofsky, Mildred Golub.; 021: National Council of Jewish Women, 44 St. George Street, ca. 1943. Also pictured is Betty Stone and Dora Stein (4th left).; 022: Sam Dime, Dime’s Pharmacy, 568 Jarvis Street, Toronto, ca. 1951.; 023: Dorothy Stein (m. Dime) at closing of canteen, 44 St. George Street, Toronto, 1945. Photographer Globe & Mail.; 024: Ada and David Dime, Muskoka Sands, Gravenhurst, ca. 1922.; 025: Canadian Jewish Congress Service Mens Club postcard, ca. 1940s.; 026: Mrs. Ada Dime, Dime’s Dry Goods, 30 Simcoe St. S., Oshawa, ON, 1926.; 027: David Dime (left), with orphans in Baron de Hirsch Farm in Saskatchewan, ca. 1906.

Administrative History: The donor Sam Dime served in the Second World War. In 1947 Sam and his wife Dorothy Dime (née Stein) opened Dime's Drug Store at 568 Jarvis Street in Toronto. The pair operated the Jarvis Street institution for thirty-nine years and officially closed their store in 1986.

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

Subjects: World War, 1939-1945

Places: Oshawa (Ont.); Belleville (Ont.); Muskoka (Ont. : District municipality); Saskatchewan

Source: Archival Accessions

Maxwell London [graphic material] – [ca. 1945].

Accession Number: 2009-2-1

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2009-2-1

Material Format: graphic material

Physical Description: 42 photographs : b&w ; 10 x 13 cm

Date: [ca. 1945]

Scope and Content: This accession consists of photographs taken by an unknown individual—likely someone in the government or military—during the Second World War. The photographs feature broken-down army equipment, soldiers, prison scenes, the German and Austrian countryside, destroyed buildings, and deceased and emaciated prisoners of concentration camps.

Custodial History: These photographs were given to Maxwell London following the end of the Second World War by a British officer. They were kept in his house until his death in 2003, at which point they came into the possession of his daughter Sandra London-Rakita. They were given to Susan Jackson of UJA Federation in November 2008, who passed them on to the Archives.

Administrative History: Pte. Maxwell London (1917-2003) was born in Toronto on 15 April 1917 to Morris and Jennie London from Russia. He married Marielle (nee McCall) London in 1957 in Montreal and had 2 daughters: Lynda and Sandra and 4 grandchildren Zachary Elkaim, Justin Elkaim, Ryan Rakita and Brianna Rakita. London was in the Royal Regiment of Canada during the Second World War. He was captured in 1942 at Dieppe and held as a POW in Stalags 8B and 2D. He was liberated at the end of the war and went to England before returning to Canada. He died on 13 December 2003.

Use Conditions: Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.

Subjects: World War, 1939-1945

Name Access: London, Maxwell, 1917-2003

Source: Archival Accessions

Jack Gang - 9 Jun. 2010

Name: Jack Gang

Material Format: moving images

Interview Date: 9 Jun. 2010

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Jack Gang

Number: OH 378

Subject: World War, 1939-1945

Interview Date: 9 Jun. 2010

Quantity: 1 reference DVD (WAV file); 1 archival DVD (WAV file)

Interviewer: Stephanie Markowitz

Total Running Time: 34:19

Notes: Jack was interviewed as part of the Memory Project event held at Lipa Green on 13 May 2010 in partnership with the Historica Dominion Institute.

Biography: Jack was a private in the Polish Army from 1944 to 1946. He was stationed in Europe and involved in liberation campaigns in Poland and Germany.

Material Format: moving images

Geographic Access: Germany; Poland

Original Format: DVD

Source: Oral Histories

Jeffery Wolf Ostroff - 9 Jun. 2010

Name: Jeffery Wolf Ostroff

Material Format: moving images

Interview Date: 9 Jun. 2010

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Jeffery Wolf Ostroff

Number: OH 379

Subject: World War, 1939-1945

Interview Date: 9 Jun. 2010

Quantity: 1 reference DVD (WAV file); 1 archival DVD (WAV file)

Interviewer: Sam Gojonovich

Total Running Time: 17:21

Notes: Jeff was interviewed as part of the Memory Project event held at Lipa Green on 13 May 2010 in partnership with the Historica Dominion Institute.

Biography: Jeff served in the British Merchant Navy from 1944 to 1948 as a deckhand / helmsman. He was involved in the Battle of the Atlantic and was stationed in the Arctic Circle.

Material Format: moving images

Original Format: DVD

Source: Oral Histories

Martin Maxwell - 10 Jun. 2010

Name: Martin Maxwell

Material Format: moving images

Interview Date: 10 Jun. 2010

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Martin Maxwell

Number: OH 385

Subject: World War, 1939-1945

Interview Date: 10 Jun. 2010

Quantity: 1 reference DVD (WAV file); 1 archival DVD (WAV file)

Interviewer: Sam Gojonovich

Total Running Time: 26:55

Notes: This interview is part of the Memory Project event held at Lipa Green on 13 May 2010 in partnership with the Historica Dominion Institute.; http://www.thememoryproject.com/search?query=maxwell

Biography: Martin Maxwell born in Vienna in 1924 was transported to England as part of the Kindertransport project. Martin enlisted in the British Air Corps in 1942 and served as a glider pilot in the British Army. Stationed in Europe, Martin was involved in the D-Day and Arnhem campaigns. He was imprisoned as a Jewish prisoner of war in Hanover, Germany and in 1948 participated in the war crimes commission in Washington D.C.

Material Format: moving images

Original Format: DVD

Transcript: .25-1.06: Maxwell, born in Vienna, was one of 10,000 children to be transported to Great Britain as part of the Kindertransport project. 1.07-2.03: Maxwell discusses his service as a glider pilot in the Air Corps of the British Army. 2.04-4.00: Maxwell discusses his participation as a glider pilot in the D-Day operation. 4.01-5.08: Maxwell provides a brief description of his training as a fighter pilot. 5:09-5.30: Maxwell discusses an incident involving his evacuation via submarine from Europe back to England. 5.35-7.12: Maxwell discusses his involvement in General Montgomery’s Operation Market Garden and the Battle of Arnhem in Holland. 7.13-7.52: Maxwell discusses an injury he suffered during his participation in Operation Market Garden. 7.53-8.35: Maxwell discusses the armistice which allowed the dead and wounded, including Maxwell, to be moved from the field to a hospital. 8.36-9.00: Maxwell describes an incident that occurred while he was held at SS barracks in Appledorn. 9.01-10.11: Maxwell describes his imprisonment as a Jewish prisoner of war (POW) in Fallingbostel, a camp near Hanover, Germany. 10.12-11.15: Maxwell relates a humorous incident that occurred during his imprisonment in POW camp 11.16-13.10: Maxwell describes the sixty-fifth anniversary of the liberation of Holland. 13.11-13.33: Maxwell discusses photographs taken during the sixty-fifth anniversary. 13.34-14.09: Maxwell talks about his motivation for joining the army. 14.10-14.22:Gojonovich is formulating his next question. 14.23-15.22: Maxwell recalls an antisemitic incident he experienced during his service. 15.23-15.55: Maxwell discusses the eighty Jewish paratroopers buried in the cemetery at Arnhem. 15.56-17.20: Maxwell discusses the events that led to his participation in the War Crimes Commission held in Washington, D.C. in 1948 17.21-18.09: Maxwell discusses his present day work with war veterans and Holocaust education. 18.10-20.42: Maxwell relates the story of a chance encounter with a young girl at Bergen Belsen. 20.43-22.00: Maxwell talks about the honour he received in Holland when he was presented with the torch of freedom.

Source: Oral Histories

Robert Shapiro - 10 Jun. 2010

Name: Robert Shapiro

Material Format: moving images

Interview Date: 10 Jun. 2010

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Robert Shapiro

Number: OH 386

Subject: World War, 1939-1945

Interview Date: 10 Jun. 2010

Quantity: 1 reference DVD (WAV file); 1 archival DVD (WAV file)

Interviewer: Stephanie Markowitz

Total Running Time: 29:26

Notes: Robert was interviewed as part of the Memory Project event held at Lipa Green on 13 May 2010 in partnership with the Historica Dominion Institute.

Biography: Robert served in the Royal Air Force from 1940 to 1945 as a physical training instructor, flight MAC (Military Aircraft Carrier), and air-sea rescuer. He was stationed in England.

Material Format: moving images

Original Format: DVD

Source: Oral Histories

David Smith [graphic material (electronic)] – 1940-1945.

Accession Number: 2011-11-6

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2011-11-6

Material Format: graphic material (electronic)

Physical Description: 4 photographs : b&w (jpg) ; 15 MB

Date: 1940-1945

Scope and Content: Accession consists of four electronic copies of original photographs documenting David Smith during the Second World War.

Custodial History: The photographs were loaned to the Archives to be copied and returned. They were returned by courier on 21 November 2011.

Administrative History: Max and Rose Smith opened a resort for Jewish singles in Port Carling, Muskoka in 1938. The resort was kosher and offered Jewish content to visitors. Boys and girls bunked seperately.; Suzanne Smith (née Beskin) and David Samuel Smith met at Cornell University in the spring of 1946, after David returned from service in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. Suzanne was living in the United States and attending Columbia University. She worked as a libraian at Cornell. David studied hotel administration. They married in 1947 and moved back to Toronto in 1948.

Descriptive Notes: Availability of other formats: Digitized material.

Subjects: World War, 1939-1945

Source: Archival Accessions

Leo Heaps [multiple media] – [190-]-1994.

Accession Number: 2012-4-2

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2012-4-2

Material Format: multiple media

Physical Description: 30 cm of textual records and other material

Date: [190-]-1994

Scope and Content: Accession consists of records documenting the literary and military careers of Leo Heaps, as well as a small selection of family photographs and textual records. Included are various manuscripts and other writings, newsclippings and documents related to Heaps' role as a British paratrooper and his subsequent awarding of the Royal Military Cross. The photographs document the Heaps family, as well as the underground resistance movement in Arnhem, of which he was a part.; The videocassette documents a family trip to Arnhem in 1994 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem.; Photo Caption (035): Seargent Alan Kettley of the Glider Pilot Regiment, [194-?]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2012-4-2. Courtesy of the Heaps Family.; Photo Caption (038): Gilbert Sadi-Kirschen known, head of the Special Air Service mission to Arnhem, [194-?]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2012-4-2. Courtesy of the Heaps Family.; Photo Caption (046): Major Tony Hibbot (left) about to take off for Arnhem, [194-?]. Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre, accession 2012-4-2. Courtesy of the Heaps Family.

Custodial History: The records were in the possession of Adrian Heaps, son of Leo Heaps.

Administrative History: Leo Heaps (1923-1995) was born in Winnipeg in 1923, the son of A. A. Heaps and Bessie Morris. His father A. A. was a founder of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, the forerunner of the New Democratic Party. Leo Heaps was raised in Winnipeg and received an education at Queen's University, the University of California, and McGill University. During the Second World War, at the age of 21, Heaps was seconded to the British Army and found himself commanding the 1st Battalion's Transport. He participated in the Battle of Arnhem as a paratrooper.; Leo Heaps was awarded the Royal Military Cross for his work with the Dutch Resistance. His brother, David, had also achieved the same distinction, thereby making them the only Jewish brothers during the Second World War to win the decoration. After the war, Heaps went to Israel and aided their army in the establishment of mobile striking units. Whilst there, he met his wife-to-be, Tamar (1927-). Together they had one son, Adrian, and three daughters, Karen, Gillian, and Wendy.; During the Hungarian Revolution he led a special rescue team to bring refugees out and across the border. In the mid-1960s he returned to Britain where he dabbled in various entrepreneurial projects as well as writing several books, notably "The Grey Goose of Arnhem", telling his own story of Arnhem, the aftermath of the battle, and also the stories of other Arnhem evaders and their dealings with the Resistance.; Leo Heaps spent most of his life in Toronto, Canada, and was amongst the forty Canadian veterans who returned to Arnhem in 1994 to mark the 50th anniversary. He died in 1995.

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.; Publication credit line must read: Courtesy of the Heaps Family.

Descriptive Notes: Physical Description note: Includes ca. 100 photographs; 1 videocassette (ca. 32 min) : col, sd. ; VHS, and 1 presentation piece : 52 x 49 cm.

Subjects: World War, 1939-1945

Name Access: Heaps, Leo, 1923-1995

Source: Archival Accessions

Abe Fishman [textual record] – 30 Mar. 1944.

Accession Number: 2017-9-2

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2017-9-2

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 1 folder of textual records

Date: 30 Mar. 1944

Scope and Content: Accession consists of one letter written by Cpl. Abe Fishman to Mrs. M. Title from Fort Jackson, South Carolina. In it, Fishman details life in the American army including his training schedule, camp duties and general family matters.

Subjects: World War, 1939-1945

Name Access: Fishman, Abe

Source: Archival Accessions

Arnold Mest [textual record] – [19--].

Accession Number: 2013-6-7

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2013-6-7

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 1 folder of textual records

Date: [19--]

Scope and Content: Accession consists of a copy of Arnold Mest's memoirs detailing his role during the Second World War.

Administrative History: Arnold Mest (1921-2000) was a radio operator in the Canadian military during the Second World War. Born in Toronto, Mest was a typesetter for the Toronto Telegram. When it went out of business he moved to San Jose, California and worked for the Mercury News.

Subjects: World War, 1939-1945

Name Access: Mest, Arnold, 1921-2000

Source: Archival Accessions

C. Johnson and Jews In The Military [textual record] – 1940.

Part Of: Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region fonds; Community Relations Committee series; Anti-Semitism cases sub-series

Level: File

ID: Fonds 17; Series 5-3; File 119

Source: Archival Descriptions

Part Of: Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region fonds; Community Relations Committee series; Anti-Semitism cases sub-series

Level: File

Fonds: 17

Series: 5-3

File: 119

Material Format: textual record

Date: 1940

Physical Description: 1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content: File consists of a series of correspondence with Mr. C. Johnson, who questions Jewish participation in the military in the Second World War.

Notes: Previously processed and cited as part of MG8 S.

Subjects: World War, 1939-1945

Source: Archival Descriptions

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Members of the Bielski partisan group (Poland) [graphic material] – May 1944.

Level: Item

ID: Item 1546

Source: Archival Descriptions

Level: Item

Item: 1546

Material Format: graphic material

Date: May 1944

Physical Description: 1 photograph : b&w ; 18 x 13 cm

Scope and Content: This item is a copy photograph of members of the Jewish Bielski partisan group in Poland. They are pictured assembled in the Naliboki forest.

Name Access: Bielski partisans (Resistance group)

Subjects: World War, 1939-1945

Repro Restriction: Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.

Places: Poland

Accession Number: 1978-5-3

Source: Archival Descriptions

Canadian Committee for Soviet Jewry [textual record] – April 1977-March 1978.

Accession Number: 1979-9-8

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 1979-9-8

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 1 folder of textual records

Date: April 1977-March 1978

Scope and Content: Accession consists of one Information Bulletin on Soviet Jewry (vol. 3, issue 4) and two Communique (No. 10, No. 21), both produced by the Canadian Committee for Soviet Jewry.

Subjects: Human rights

Name Access: Canadian Committee for Soviet Jewry

Source: Archival Accessions

Morley S. Wolfe [multiple media] – [197-]-2015.

Accession Number: 2015-7-2

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2015-7-2

Material Format: multiple media

Physical Description: 1 folder of textual records and other materials

Date: [197-]-2015

Scope and Content: Accession consists of records documenting personal and professional achievements of Morley S. Wolfe. It includes a photograph of Morley being introduced as B'Nai Brith Toronto Regional Council president, and a photograph of Morley addressing a group at B'Nai Brith Canada. Also includes two medals, one from Harbord Collegiate and a Peace Medal from the YMCA. There is a paper copy of a family tree created on the internet, a letter to the Toronto Star editor written by Wolfe, an article he wrote about jobs, a speech from his daughters for his 75th birthday, B'Nai Brith Central region mailing lists, material related to a donation to the Osgoode collections library from Morley Wolfe and the Osgoode class of 1955, two of Morley Wolfe's passports, a "Harbord Romeos" members list, a form nominating Karen Mock for the William Hubbard Award, and the text for a League for Human Rights of B'Nai Brith Canada brochure.

Administrative History: Morley S. Wolfe was born in Winnipeg in 1928 to Cecil (b. 1895) and Betty (nee Davidow) Wolfe. He spent his early childhood in various cities in Saskatchewan and Manitoba until moving to Toronto in 1940. Soon after graduating from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1955 he started his own practice as a senior member of the law firm Burt, Burt, Wolfe and Bowman. In 1971 he was appointed Queen’s Council, and from 1973 to 1977 he served as counsel for B’nai Brith Canada. After his retirement from practice in 1993, the Province of Ontario appointed him presiding Justice of the Peace for Ontario and Deputy Judge in Small Claims Court. His first marriage was to Sandra Newman in 1958 and they had three children together: Leslie, Lee, and Melanie. He later married Joan and became the step-father to her daughter, Erin. Throughout his life Morley was passionate about fighting prejudice and discrimination and became involved with organizations, such as the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews and the Urban Alliance on Race Relations. He was also a member of the Toronto Police Services Board Committee on Race Relations, served as Chair of the North York Committee on Community, Race and Ethnic Relations, and was appointed to the Canadian Multiculturalism Council. In addition, he was the founding president of Toronto Residents in Partnership (TRIP) from 2003 to 2006. His involvement extended to Jewish organizations. He served as national president of B’nai Brith Canada (BBC) from 1982 to 1983 and was a founding member of its League for Human Rights. He was also president of BBC’s Toronto Regional Council and Wilson Heights Lodge No. 1998, and of the Jewish Camp Council of Toronto as well as many other organizations. Morley’s hard work and involvement in the community earned him many awards, including, City of Toronto’s William P. Hubbard Race Relations Award, the YMCA Canada Peace Medal, B’Nai Brith Canada Service Award, and the Province of Ontario’s Senior Achievement Award. Around 2002, Wilson Heights Lodge No. 1998 began filing a series of appeals with B’nai Brith International (BBI) over concerns that BBC’s national executive was governing undemocratically. Morley played a key role in filing these appeals and was the centre of one appeal filed after BBC censured him without advance notice or the opportunity for a hearing. These appeals were not all successful. Around 2006, Morley became involved in another appeal against BBC that was filed by a group of members who called themselves the Concerned Members of B’nai Brith Canada (CMOBBC). They alleged that BBC’s national executive had too much centralized power, was not governing transparently, failed to provide members with audited financial statements at multiple annual general meetings (AGMs), passed a constitution that members had defeated at the 2005 AGM, and was threatening and harassing some members. BBI’s appeal court rendered its verdict in 2007 in favour of BBC. Soon after this judgment was made BBC took steps to expel all the members of CMOBBC. In response, Morley resigned from the organization. Morley currently resides in Brampton.

Subjects: Human rights

Name Access: Wolfe, Morley, 1928-

Source: Archival Accessions

Morley S. Wolfe [multiple media] – 1955-2005.

Accession Number: 2015-7-5

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2015-7-5

Material Format: multiple media

Physical Description: 3 cm textual records; 7 photographs

Date: 1955-2005

Scope and Content: Accession consists of records documenting the professional achievements of Morley S. Wolfe. It includes academic certificates and awards, plaques and certificates honouring his service to the community, a composite photograph of his graduating class at Osgoode Law School, and photographs of Morley Wolfe with notable people. Idenitifed in the photographs: Jean Chretien, Hilary Weston and Rosa Parks.

Administrative History: Morley S. Wolfe was born in Winnipeg in 1928 to Cecil (b. 1895) and Betty (nee Davidow) Wolfe. He spent his early childhood in various cities in Saskatchewan and Manitoba until moving to Toronto in 1940. Soon after graduating from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1955 he started his own practice as a senior member of the law firm Burt, Burt, Wolfe and Bowman. In 1971 he was appointed Queen’s Council, and from 1973 to 1977 he served as counsel for B’nai Brith Canada. After his retirement from practice in 1993, the Province of Ontario appointed him presiding Justice of the Peace for Ontario and Deputy Judge in Small Claims Court. His first marriage was to Sandra Newman in 1958 and they had three children together: Leslie, Lee, and Melanie. He later married Joan and became the step-father to her daughter, Erin. Throughout his life Morley was passionate about fighting prejudice and discrimination and became involved with organizations, such as the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews and the Urban Alliance on Race Relations. He was also a member of the Toronto Police Services Board Committee on Race Relations, served as Chair of the North York Committee on Community, Race and Ethnic Relations, and was appointed to the Canadian Multiculturalism Council. In addition, he was the founding president of Toronto Residents in Partnership (TRIP) from 2003 to 2006. His involvement extended to Jewish organizations. He served as national president of B’nai Brith Canada (BBC) from 1982 to 1983 and was a founding member of its League for Human Rights. He was also President of BBC’s Toronto Regional Council and Wilson Heights Lodge No. 1998, and of the Jewish Camp Council of Toronto as well as many other organizations. Morley’s hard work and involvement in the community earned him many awards, including, City of Toronto’s William P. Hubbard Race Relations Award, the YMCA Canada Peace Medal, B’Nai Brith Canada Service Award, and the Province of Ontario’s Senior Achievement Award. Around 2002, Wilson Heights Lodge No. 1998 began filing a series of appeals with B’nai Brith International (BBI) over concerns that BBC’s national executive was governing undemocratically. Morley played a key role in filing these appeals and was the centre of one appeal filed after BBC censured him without advance notice or the opportunity for a hearing. These appeals were not all successful. Around 2006, Morley became involved in another appeal against BBC that was filed by a group of members who called themselves the Concerned Members of B’nai Brith Canada (CMOBBC). They alleged that BBC’s national executive had too much centralized power, was not governing transparently, failed to provide members with audited financial statements at multiple annual general meetings (AGMs), passed a constitution that members had defeated at the 2005 AGM, and was threatening and harassing some members. BBI’s appeal court rendered its verdict in 2007 in favour of BBC. Soon after this judgment was made BBC took steps to expel all the members of CMOBBC. In response, Morley resigned from the organization. Morley currently resides in Brampton.

Subjects: Human rights

Name Access: Wolfe, Morley, 1928-

Source: Archival Accessions

Human rights [textual record] – 1950.

Part Of: Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region fonds; Community Relations Committee series; Research Records sub-series; Civil and Human Rights Legislation sub-sub-series

Level: File

ID: Fonds 17; Series 5-4-1; File 12

Source: Archival Descriptions

Part Of: Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region fonds; Community Relations Committee series; Research Records sub-series; Civil and Human Rights Legislation sub-sub-series

Level: File

Fonds: 17

Series: 5-4-1

File: 12

Material Format: textual record

Date: 1950

Physical Description: 1 folder of textual records

Scope and Content: File consists of correspondence, newspaper clippings and a statement by Rabbi A.L. Feinberg regarding the Forest Hill Village Board of Education's experimental project to segregate Jewish and non-Jewish students.

Notes: Previously processed and cited as part of MG8 S.

Subjects: Human rights

Source: Archival Descriptions

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Sol Zulauf - 30 Jul. 2010

Name: Sol Zulauf

Material Format: moving images

Interview Date: 30 Jul. 2010

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Sol Zulauf

Number: OH 403

Subject: Canada--Armed Forces; Royal Canadian Army (RCA); World War, 1939-1945

Interview Date: 30 Jul. 2010

Quantity: 1 reference DVD (WAV file) ; 1 archival DVD (WAV file)

Interviewer: Historica Dominion Institute

Total Running Time: 27:30

Notes: Sol was interviewed as part of the Memory Project event held at Lipa Green on May 13, 2010 in partnership with the Historica Dominion Institute.

Biography: Sol served in the Royal Canadian Army as a tank driver. He was stationed in Europe.

Material Format: moving images

Geographic Access: Europe

Original Format: DVD

Source: Oral Histories

Heaps family [textual record, graphic material] – 1929-1982.

Accession Number: 2015-1-7

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2015-1-7

Material Format: textual record; graphic material

Physical Description: 30 cm of textual records; ca. 20 photographs

Date: 1929-1982

Scope and Content: Accession consists of records documenting the Heaps family. Included are general letters and postcards, wartime correspondence, political materials, photographs, and newsclippings. Of note is a 1948 letter written (but perhaps not sent) to David Ben-Gurion describing various issues he was finding with the Israeli army. There is also a great deal of correspondence between Leo, David and A. A. during the war, including some letters describing his escape from Arnhem and a letter describing the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp in 1945.

Administrative History: Leo Heaps (1923-1995) was born in Winnipeg in 1923, the son of A. A. Heaps and Bessie Morris. His father A. A. was a founder of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, the forerunner of the New Democratic Party. Leo Heaps was raised in Winnipeg and received an education at Queen's University, the University of California, and McGill University. During the Second World War, at the age of 21, Heaps was seconded to the British Army and found himself commanding the 1st Battalion's Transport. He participated in the Battle of Arnhem as a paratrooper.; Leo Heaps was awarded the Royal Military Cross for his work with the Dutch Resistance. His brother, David, had also achieved the same distinction, thereby making them the only Jewish brothers during the Second World War to win the decoration. After the war, Heaps went to Israel and aided their army in the establishment of mobile striking units. Whilst there, he met his wife-to-be, Tamar (1927-). Together they had one son, Adrian, and three daughters, Karen, Gillian, and Wendy.; During the Hungarian Revolution he led a special rescue team to bring refugees out and across the border. In the mid-1960s he returned to Britain where he dabbled in various entrepreneurial projects as well as writing several books, notably "The Grey Goose of Arnhem", telling his own story of Arnhem, the aftermath of the battle, and also the stories of other Arnhem evaders and their dealings with the Resistance.; Leo Heaps spent most of his life in Toronto, Canada, and was amongst the forty Canadian veterans who returned to Arnhem in 1994 to mark the 50th anniversary. He died in 1995.

Descriptive Notes: Availability of other formats: Digitized material.

Subjects: Concentration camps; World War, 1939-1945; Zionism

Name Access: Heaps, Leo, 1923-1995; Heaps, David; Heaps, A. A.

Source: Archival Accessions

Clifton Pezim - 30 Jul. 2010

Name: Clifton Pezim

Material Format: moving images

Interview Date: 30 Jul. 2010

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Clifton Pezim

Number: OH 404

Subject: Canada--Armed Forces; Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF); World War, 1939-1945

Interview Date: 30 Jul. 2010

Quantity: 1 reference DVD (2 WAV fies) ; 1 archival DVD (2 WAV files)

Interviewer: Shayla Howell

Total Running Time: File 1 : 32:18; File 2 : 2:33

Notes: Clifton was interviewed as part of the Memory Project event held at Lipa Green on 13 May 2010 in partnership with the Historica Dominion Institute.

Biography: Clifton served in the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1942 to 1946 as part of the groundcrew that worked on heavy bombers. He was stationed in England and Scotland. After D-Day, he was stationed in Belgium.

Material Format: moving images

Geographic Access: Belgium; England; Scotland

Original Format: DVD

Source: Oral Histories

Alex Levin [textual record] – [2010?]-[2015?].

Accession Number: 2015-7-6

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2015-7-6

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 1 folder of textual records

Date: [2010?]-[2015?]

Scope and Content: Accession consists of thank you cards from schools where Alex was a speaker, sharing his story of Holocaust survival.

Administrative History: Alex Levin (1932-2016) was born Joshua Levin in 1932 in Rokitno, Poland. (He was also known as Yehoshua and Shike.) Rokitno was occupied in 1941 by Nazi Germany and Alex escaped the Rokitno ghetto with his brother in 1942, hiding in the woods for eighteen months. Soviet troops found him in January of 1944 and invited him to join the 13th Army as a field hospital unit helper. Because his Yiddish nickname was unfamiliar (Shike, from his Hebrew name, Yehoshua), they called him Shura or Shurik, diminutive forms of Alexander, which became his formal name. He became an officer in the USSR and an engineer. He immigrated to Canada in 1975 and brought his family to join him in 1980.

Subjects: Education; Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); World War, 1939-1945; Antisemitism

Name Access: Levin, Alex, 1932-

Source: Archival Accessions

Israel Nutzati - 30 Aug. 2010

Name: Israel Nutzati

Material Format: moving images

Interview Date: 30 Aug. 2010

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Israel Nutzati

Number: OH 409

Subject: Prisoners of war; World War, 1939-1945

Interview Date: 30 Aug. 2010

Quantity: 1 reference DVD (1 WAV file) ; 1 archival DVD (1 WAV file)

Interviewer: Shayla Howell

Total Running Time: 43:20

Notes: Israel was interviewed as part of the Memory Project which was undertaken in partnership with the Historica Dominion Institute

Biography: Israel grew up in Palestine and enlisted in the British Army with the Jewish Brigade in 1945. He was stationed in various cities near Italy and throughout Europe and Egypt. Although he did not see any fighting, he was involved in the transport of prisoners of war and guarded army vehicles. He was released from the army in 1946.

Material Format: moving images

Geographic Access: Egypt; Europe; Italy; Palestine

Original Format: DVD

Source: Oral Histories

United Restitution Organization, Toronto Office [textual record] – [195-?]-[198-].

Accession Number: 2007-3-5

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2007-3-5

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 12.5 m of textual material and 6 boxes of index cards

Date: [195-?]-[198-]

Scope and Content: This accession consists of 43 cubic foot boxes of closed case files as well as six boxes of index cards created by the United Restitution Organization, Toronto Office. The case files document the Article 2 (boxes 1 - 11) and Hardship (boxes 12 - 43) programs. Most of the documentation within the case files are in German.; The index cards document the BEG and Russlandfaille programs and correspond to records that were transferred to the Holocaust Museum in Washington. The files were created during the early years of the URO that were donated by URO to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. in October, 1990. That institution has approximately 100 boxes of closed case files from the Toronto Office. The index cards DO NOT correspond to any case files that we have as part of our holdings.

Custodial History: After the Toronto URO office closed, the one case worker left moved from the second floor of the Lipa Green Building to the same floor as the OJA the end of March, 2007. Before the move, the OJA was asked to take all of the historical files that were there in boxes, listed them and transferred them to the UJA Warehouse. The index cards are in the OJA vault.

Administrative History: In Canada, the United Restitution Organization (URO) was founded in 1953 under the aegis of the Canadian Jewish Congress. The funds advanced by the Claims Conference were administered by the CJC which also gave support by providing the URO with office space and clerical staff. Offices were set up in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver. The Winnipeg and Vancouver offices closed in the 1970s and the Montreal office remained open until 2002, after which time the active cases were sent to the Toronto office. The Toronto office officially closed on April 1, 2007. There was one case worker, however, who contintued to tend to any active claims that were left. Her position was transfered to Jewish Family and Child in 2013. The URO dealt with a variety of different types of claims. The first and largest were the BEG cases (Bundesentschaedigungsgesetz), which translates as Federal Indemnification Law for the Compensation of Victims of National Socialist Persecution. This program provided compensation for individuals persecuted for political, racial, religious, or ideological reasons who suffered long-term damage to their health, imprisonment, death of family members, loss of property, reduced income, or reduced professional advancement. The other two major programs or cases covered by the URO were the Hardship Fund and Article 2. The Hardship Fund was established during the 1960s and was open to Jews who emigrated from the former Soviet Union who were not eligible for compensation under the BEG program. The Article 2 program, in turn, arose during the 1990s, after the unification of the German government. It is still operating today and is open to Jewish victims of Nazi persecution who met a certain critiera, and those who are eligible, are provided with a pension paid out in installments every three months each year.

Use Conditions: Closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing the records.

Subjects: Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Nonprofit organizations

Name Access: United Restitution Organization (Toronto, Ont.)

Source: Archival Accessions

United Restitution Organization, Toronto Office [textual record] – [195-]-2012.

Accession Number: 2015-1-6

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2015-1-6

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 11 m of textual records

Date: [195-]-2012

Scope and Content: Accession consists of United Restitution Organization (URO), Toronto Office case files for the following funds: Hardship Fund; Hardship Fund, Pre-1965 Austrian; German Social Security (EB); German Social Security (DE); Article 2 Fund; Ghetto Lodz; and the immidiate post-Second World War Wiedergutmachung reparations. There is also a small amount of general operational files.

Custodial History: These records were left in the URO office following the departure of the URO staff person. They were boxed and moved by archives staff.

Administrative History: In Canada, the United Restitution Organization (URO) was founded in 1953 under the aegis of the Canadian Jewish Congress. The funds advanced by the Claims Conference were administered by the CJC which also gave support by providing the URO with office space and clerical staff. Offices were set up in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver. The Winnipeg and Vancouver offices closed in the 1970s and the Montreal office remained open until 2002, after which time the active cases were sent to the Toronto office. The Toronto office officially closed on April 1, 2007. There was one case worker, however, who contintued to tend to any active claims that were left. Her position was transfered to Jewish Family and Child in 2013. The URO dealt with a variety of different types of claims. The first and largest were the BEG cases (Bundesentschaedigungsgesetz), which translates as Federal Indemnification Law for the Compensation of Victims of National Socialist Persecution. This program provided compensation for individuals persecuted for political, racial, religious, or ideological reasons who suffered long-term damage to their health, imprisonment, death of family members, loss of property, reduced income, or reduced professional advancement. The other two major programs or cases covered by the URO were the Hardship Fund and Article 2. The Hardship Fund was established during the 1960s and was open to Jews who emigrated from the former Soviet Union who were not eligible for compensation under the BEG program. The Article 2 program, in turn, arose during the 1990s, after the unification of the German government. It is still operating today and is open to Jewish victims of Nazi persecution who met a certain critiera, and those who are eligible, are provided with a pension paid out in installments every three months each year.

Use Conditions: Closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA Director prior to accessing the records.

Subjects: Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Nonprofit organizations

Name Access: United Restitution Organization (Toronto, Ont.)

Source: Archival Accessions

Sgt. Ben Kanter in military uniform (Brantford, ON) [graphic material] – [between 1939 and 1945].

Part Of: Sadie Stren fonds; Photographs file

Level: Item

ID: Fonds 78; File 3; Item 32

Source: Archival Descriptions

Part Of: Sadie Stren fonds; Photographs file

Level: Item

Fonds: 78

File: 3

Item: 32

Material Format: graphic material

Date: [between 1939 and 1945]

Physical Description: 2 photographs : b&w (1 negative) ; 18 x 13 cm and 12 x 10 cm

Admin History/Bio: Sgt. Kanter was with the Royal Canadian Artillery.

Scope and Content: This item is a copy print and corresponding negative of Sergeant Ben Kanter of Brantford, Ontario, in his military uniform, taken during the Second World War.

Name Access: Canada. Canadian Army

Subjects: Portraits; World War, 1939-1945

Accession Number: 1978-11-3

Source: Archival Descriptions

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Max Rapoport in military uniform (Brantford, ON) [graphic material] – [between 1939 and 1945].

Part Of: Sadie Stren fonds; Photographs file

Level: Item

ID: Fonds 78; File 3; Item 31

Source: Archival Descriptions

Part Of: Sadie Stren fonds; Photographs file

Level: Item

Fonds: 78

File: 3

Item: 31

Material Format: graphic material

Date: [between 1939 and 1945]

Physical Description: 2 photographs : b&w (1 negative) ; 18 x 13 cm and 12 x 10 cm

Scope and Content: This item is a copy print and corresponding negative of Max Rapoport of Brantford, Ontario in his military uniform, taken during the Second World War.

Subjects: Portraits; World War, 1939-1945

Accession Number: 1978-11-3

Source: Archival Descriptions

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Esther Mager [graphic material (electronic)] – 1940-[2004?], predominant 1940-1945.

Accession Number: 2010-5-14

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2010-5-14

Material Format: graphic material (electronic)

Physical Description: 27 photgraphs : b&w and col. (jpg)

Date: 1940-[2004?], predominant 1940-1945

Scope and Content: Accession consists of scanned photographs documenting Esther Mager's experience serving in the Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. Also included is one wedding portrait of her husband and one photograph of Esther with her children and grandchildren. The verso of scanned photographs were also scanned to show annotations and dates on the originals.

Administrative History: Esther (nee Mendelson) Mager was born in Montreal on December 3, 1917 to Max and Lillian Ray (nee Bloomfield) Mendelson. Her mother passed away nine months after her birth, duing the flu epidemic of 1918, and her father remarried Sarah Wallman. Max had six additional children with Sarah. From the age of tweleve to about the age of eighteen, Esther worked in her father's jewellery store, Thompson's Jewellery, located on Philips Square. There she performed various jobs such as, polishing jewellery and assisting customers. Around the age of eighteen she began work as an assistant bookkeeper for a company that manufactured refrigerators where she was paid $25 per week.; In 1941, Esther joined up with the Canadian Air Force, where she performed motor transport and was paid $28 per week. She met her husband, Saul Mager, on a blind date in Montreal while on leave from her post in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. Saul was in the dress manufacturing business in Toronto. They married in 1945 and had two sons together; Mark (b. 1946) and Howard (b. 1949).

Use Conditions: Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.

Subjects: Families; World War, 1939-1945

Name Access: Canada. Royal Canadian Air Force

Source: Archival Accessions

Lev Mikhailovich Pikus [graphic material (electronic)] – 1965, 1985.

Accession Number: 2011-4-7

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2011-4-7

Material Format: graphic material (electronic)

Physical Description: 2 photographs (tiff) : col. and b&w

Date: 1965, 1985

Scope and Content: Accession consists of two photographs documenting Lev Mikhailovich Pikus's involvment with the partisans in the Brest Underground during the Second World War. Included is one photograph of Lev meeting with other partisans in Minsk in 1965. Identified are (left to right): Alexander Poliakov, Vasily Nesterenko, Lev Pikus, Alexandra Nesterenko, and Tzila Vladiminova. Also included is one portrait of Lev in military uniform that was taken in 1985.

Custodial History: Records were loaned to the Archives for copying as part of the Russian Jewish War Veterans oral history program. The originals were returned to the donor.

Administrative History: Lev was fourteen when the Second World War began and living in Brest, Belarusia. He joined the Brest Underground (podpolye), which was linked to partisan detachment. As part of his service in the underground he collected arms and sent them to partisans and spread anti-Nazi leaflets among the Brest population. Under the cover of a beggar, he went to railway stations to collect information about Nazi trains. He sent this information to the partisans so they could blow up the trains.

Subjects: Guerrillas; World War, 1939-1945

Places: Minsk (Belarus)

Source: Archival Accessions

Anna Khaliavskaya [graphic material (electronic)] – [ca. 1956].

Accession Number: 2011-4-6

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2011-4-6

Material Format: graphic material (electronic)

Physical Description: 1 photograph (electronic) : b&w ; 14 MB

Date: [ca. 1956]

Scope and Content: Accession consists of one electronic copy of a photograph of the Jewish Partisan Unit in Belarus, circa 1956. Anna is pictured in the front row, third from the right. Her husband Abrahm is second from the right.

Custodial History: The item was loaned to the Archives for copying as part of the Russian Jewish War Veteran initiative. The original photograph was returned to the donor on the same day.

Administrative History: Anna was in the Minsk ghetto at the start of the Second World War when she escaped to a partisan detachment in May 1942. She stayed with this detachment until 1944. Originally it was a Jewish group but later grew to include non-Jews as well. Their first fight was in June 1942 when they were surrounded by Germans troops, however they broke through the line and got away through the surrounding swamps. Anna's job was to fill cartridge belts for the machine guns. She later joined the Minsk Partisan Brigade and was charged with guarding the partisan camp and later recruiting new people to the group from Minsk. She participated in a “Rail War”, destroying the rail lines and blowing up Nazi trains. The MPB worked in collaboration with the Minsk Underground (Podpolye). Her husband Abrahm was a commander of another subversion group called the Podryvnaya Gruppa.

Subjects: World War, 1939-1945; Guerrillas

Source: Archival Accessions

Posluns family [textual record] – 1927-1984, predominant 1927-1947.

Accession Number: 2021-11-21

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2021-11-21

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 13 cm of textual records

Date: 1927-1984, predominant 1927-1947

Scope and Content: Accession consists of material documenting the Posluns family. Included are letters to Sam Posluns written in 1927, when Sam was in New York; letters to Sam Poslun written in 1947, when he was in Europe with the Tailor Project; miscellaneous newspaper articles; and a 1984 Negev Dinner book. Of note is a letter addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Posluns from Abby Fuhrman, whose son, David Fuhrman, went to live with the Posluns during the Second World War.

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.

Subjects: Families; World War, 1939-1945

Name Access: Posluns (family); Posluns, Samuel, 1910-1994

Places: Europe; New York (N.Y.).

Source: Archival Accessions

Daniel Zultek [textual record] – [1939?]-2020, predominant 1939-1946.

Accession Number: 2022-2-3

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2022-2-3

Material Format: textual record

Physical Description: 3 cm of textual records

Date: [1939?]-2020, predominant 1939-1946

Scope and Content: Accession consists of records documenting the immigration of Daniel Zultek from Poland to Canada under a Sugihara Visa in 1941 and documents pertaining to Sugihara visas and Chiune Sugihara (also known as Sempo Sugihara), a Japanese diplomat who served as vice-consul for the Japanese Empire in Kovno (Kaunas), Lithuania. Included are Daniel’s travelling documents dating from 1939 to 1941—an identification document, an immigration identification card, a quarantine/medical examination card issued by Nippon Yusen (also known as NYK Line), and a ship manifest; correspondence between Daniel and Polish consulates in Toronto and Montreal (1941-1943)—one of the letters (28 May 1942) was obtained by Daniel for the purpose of bringing his brother, who was still in Warsaw at that time, over to Canada; a memorandum from the Jewish Community of Kobe to Daniel (1941); records documenting Daniel's experience in serving in the Polish Armed Units in Canada (1941); work documents pertaining to Daniel’s career at Canada Motor Products (1941-1942); and a brief memoir written by Daniel with notations by his daughter Irene. Also included are newspaper clippings and book chapters documenting Daniel’s immigration to Canada via Japan under a Sugihara visa (1993-2020), a programme book of the Sempo Sugihara Tribute Dinner (1993), and a pamphlet of the Chiune Sugihara Memorial Hall in Japan.

Custodial History: The records were in the possession of Daniel’s daughter, Irene Henry, before being gifted to the Ontario Jewish Archives on Feb. 9, 2022.

Administrative History: Daniel Zultek (1910-1995) was born in Warsaw, Poland, on 1 September 1910, to Leon and Helena Zultek. Leon owned a large freight shipping company on the Vistula River, between Danzig and Gdynia harbours. Leon was a successful businessman, a community leader, a philanthropist, and a life member of the Jewish Kehilla Congress in Warsaw, which was allegedly the largest Jewish institution in Europe voted by the Jewish public. Daniel had been running the family business since 1932 until 1939 when the Second World War broke out. He was nominated to the board of directors of the company in 1938. In January 1939, Leon died of a heart attack. Daniel's mother Helena, sister Natalia, and most family members were murdered by Nazi Germany in concentration camps. The only survivors were Daniel, his elder brother Rafael, Irene (Rafael's first wife, who lived in Argentina), and four cousins name Daniel (surname unspecified), Rita (surname unspecified), Adam Zultek, and Dorka Zultek. On 6 September 1939, Daniel fled Warsaw, where was heavily bombarded by German troops, and headed for Pinsk, a city near the Soviet border. Half a month later, because Soviet troops invaded Pinsk, Daniel escaped to Vilnius in the neighbouring country Lithuania. In June 1940, the Soviet Union entered Lithuania. During that time, Daniel heard that the Japanese consulate in Kaunas was issuing transit visas. Fortunately, on 1 August 1940, Daniel received his visa from Vice-consul Chiune Sugihara. In the same month, he managed to escape Kaunas and headed for Moscow. With a Russian transit visa, he took the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Vladivostok; from there, he took a ship for Tsuruga Port, Japan. During his stay in Japan, he learned that the British Embassy in Tokyo was recruiting volunteers to join the Polish Armed Forces in Australia, the United States, and Canada. Daniel volunteered and chose Canada as his destination. On 5 June 1941, he embarked on the ship, Hikawa Maru, in Yokohama and arrived in Vancouver on the 17th of the same month. From there, he headed for the Polish military base in Owen Sound, Ontario. Daniel received eight months of military training in Owen Sound but was honourably discharged owing to a cataract in his right eye. Fortunately, he was allowed to remain in Canada. After being discharged, Daniel worked various jobs to make a living. In 1941, he had jobs with Canada Motor Products and Frankel Engineering; from 1942 to 1945, he served de Havilland Aircraft as an inspector; from 1945 to 1948, he worked as a sales representative of an American milkshake and ice cream company named Mr. Gordon. While working at Frankel Engineering in 1941, Daniel met Mr. Epstein who introduced him to farming. In 1948, Daniel bought a one-hundred-acre farm in Brampton, Ontario. In the same year, he attended an agriculture college in Guelph, Ontario. While running the farm, he also opened Caledon Sand and Gravel, a company located in Caledon, Ontario, supplying sand and gravel for construction. His career also involved business in real estate. Daniel married Molly Mandel in 1943 and had three daughters Helen, Leona, and Irene. Molly (nee Mandel) Zultek (1915-1989) was a Torontonian of Russian descent. Her father, Albert Mandel, was one of the founders of the Congregation Knesseth Israel (also known as the Junction Shul) located on Maria Street in the Junction. Molly grew up in the Junction neighbourhood. In 1957, Daniel sold the farm and moved to Forest Hill Village a neighbourhood and former village in Midtown Toronto with his family. Daniel retired in 1988. In addition to business, Daniel also devoted his time to charity and social work. Daniel was an ardent Zionist and visited Israel twenty-seven times. He was director and a member of the board of governors of the Jewish National Fund. He was also a generous contributor to Jewish organizations and sponsored the Hebrew University and its students.

Descriptive Notes: LANGUAGE NOTE: some of the material is in Japanese and has been translated into English. Translated documents are available at S:\Collections\2022-2-3.; Availability of other formats: digital preservation copies for most documents have been created and are available in PDF, JPG, and TIF formats.

Subjects: Immigrants; World War, 1939-1945

Places: Warsaw (Poland); Lithuania; Japan; Toronto (Ont.); Owen Sound (Ont.); Brampton (Ont.)

Source: Archival Accessions

Fred Schaeffer - 11 Jul. 1980

Name: Fred Schaeffer

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 11 Jul. 1980

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Fred Schaeffer

Number: OH 24

Subject: Communities; Immigrants--Canada; Rabbis; Synagogues

Interview Date: 11 Jul. 1980

Quantity: 1

Interviewer: Stephen Speisman

Total Running Time: Side 1: 31 minutes; Side 2: 9 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: Fred Schaeffer's wife, Beverley, grew up in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. Beverley's grandfather, Hyman Kaplan, emigrated from Vilna, Lithuania in 1907, and after a few years in New York, moved to Toronto. Shortly afterwards, he became the first Jew to settle in Kirkland Lake in 1914.; In the 1920s, the Jewish community in Kirkland Lake built a permanent synagogue and acquired an aron kodesh of eastern European design, its lamps, railings, pews and reader’s desk, from the disbanded Ukrainishe Shul in Montreal. In the 1970s, the Kirkland Lake Synagogue disbanded and Fred and Beverly Schaeffer acquired the aron kodesh, all of its furnishings, the ner tamid, and the parochet. They generously donated these Jewish artifacts to Beth Tikvah Synagogue, Toronto, in 1988, in memory of Isadore Kaplan, father of Beverly Schaeffer and Erich Schaeffer, father of Fred Schaeffer.; Fred married Beverley in Toronto. Like many children from Kirkland Lake, Beverley had moved to the city to attend university. Fred and Beverley are keen collectors of Canadian art. He is a retired civil engineer and a former chair of the Canadian Art Historical Committee at the AGO.

Material Format: sound recording

Name Access: Atkins (family); Bucavetsky (family); Cochrane (Ont.); Etkins (family); Mallins (family); Purkiss (family); Schaeffer, Fred

Geographic Access: Ansonville (Ont.); Engelhart (Ont.); Kirkland Lake (Ont.); Krugerdorf (Ont.); Ontario, Northern; Timmins (Ont.)

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: Audio cassette; Digital file

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 24 - Schaeffer\OH24_001_Log.docx; G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 24 - Schaeffer\OH24_002_Log.docx

Source: Oral Histories

In this clip, Fred Schaeffer and Stephen Speisman discuss some of the earliest synagogues established in Northern Ontario.

In this clip, Fred Schaeffer relates colourful anecdotes about the first Jewish settler in the Swastika-Kirkland area, Roza Brown.

Karrie Weinstock - 11 Jul. 2016

Name: Karrie Weinstock

Material Format: moving images

Interview Date: 11 Jul. 2016

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Karrie Weinstock

Number: OH 435

Subject: Immigrants--Canada

Interview Date: 11 Jul. 2016

Interviewer: Lisa Newman

Total Running Time: OH 435 part 1: 22 min.; OH 435 part 2: 11 min.; OH 435 part 3: 22 min.; OH 435 part 4: 5 min.

Biography: Karrie’s life has long been characterized by both privilege and an acute sensitivity to the challenges facing those less fortunate than herself. Although she grew up in a happy professional family, her childhood was marked by uncertainty. Her father, Jack Unterhalter, was a civil-rights lawyer in the apartheid era, active in left-wing politics, and Karrie recalls him keeping a packed briefcase by the door during the state of emergency in case the authorities should come for him.; As a young woman, Karrie studied to be an English teacher at Homerton College, Cambridge. She then returned to South Africa, where she taught for two years, before moving to Boston to pursue a master’s degree in educational administration, planning, and social policy at Harvard. Upon graduating, she took a position at Milton Academy, an independent school in Boston. She enjoyed her time there but chose to relocate to Toronto, where she had an aunt. For over three decades, she has worked at Branksome Hall, first as an English teacher, then as an administrator, and now in her current role as deputy principal.; In 1985, Karrie married Michael Weinstock, a native Torontonian, whose family embraced her as one of their own. Both Karrie and Michael had been married previously, and, through her marriage to Michael, she inherited three beautiful stepdaughters. Karrie and Michael had a child of their own, a son who shares his mother’s love of South Africa, visiting the country each year.; Recognizing her great fortune in life, Karrie gives back through her volunteer work with the Stephen Leacock Foundation, which, among other initiatives, supports low-fee independent schools in South Africa that are connected to independent and public schools in Canada so as to form a unique triangle of hope.

Material Format: moving images

Language: English

Name Access: Weinstock, Karen

Geographic Access: Boston (Mass.); Cambridge (England); Jamestown (South Africa); Johannesburg (South Africa); Toronto (Ont.)

Original Format: Digital file

Transcript: Part 1:; 00:00 Karrie outlines her immediate family. She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa.; 01:28 Karrie discusses her family history. Her maternal grandfather was born in 1891 in Lithuania. He came to South Africa in 1914 to escape the military. Her maternal grandmother was born in 1903 in Lithuaniaf. Her paternal grandfather was born in 1888 in Poland. Her paternal grandmother, whose parents came from Lithuania, was born in London in 1893.; 03:54 Karrie discusses her father's career as a civil rights lawyer. She discusses her father's role as a founding member of the Liberal Party in South Africa.; 06:35 Karrie discusses the impact her father's political activism had on her family. She offers examples to illustrate the unique situation in her home while growing up (e.g. political meetings, fear of her father's imminent arrest, visits from political prisoners).; 08:26 Karrie offers her impressions of the position taken by the greater Jewish community in South Africa.; 09:27 Karrie explains why she and her siblings attended independent schools.; 11:00 Karrie discusses her family's involvement in the Jewish community and Jewish practice.; 13:15 Karrie discusses how her parents stressed the importance of education and viewed education as a means of leaving South Africa. She discusses the education paths of her siblings as well as her own. Karrie received her teaching qualifications at Cambridge and earned a master's degree in administration planning and social policy at Harvard.; 15:34 Karrie lives in Canada. Her sister lives in London. Her brother opted to return to South Africa.; 16:38 Karrie relates an anecdote that compares her current situation of seeing her mother once a year with Black workers in South Africa who saw their children once a year.; 17:48 Karrie explains that both her sister and brother were unable to return to South Africa for a period of time. In her sister's case it was due to her political activity; in her brother's case, it was due to his refusal to serve in the military.; 18:55 Karrie discusses her "charmed" life growing up.; 20:54 Karrie discusses her teaching qualifications and first teaching position at an independent school for mixed-race students.; Part 2:; 00:56 Karrie discusses her experience at Harvard. Specifically, she mentions a friendship.; 06:09 Karrie explains why her parents preferred that she not return to South Africa.; 07:09 Karrie relates the story of finding a job at Milton Academy in Boston following graduation.; Part 3:; 00:00 Karrie explains how she decided to move to Toronto.; 03:45 Karrie explains how she became engaged and married to Clive Lovett in 1979. She explains the factors that contributed to the end of their four-year marriage.; 05:16 Karrie discusses her teaching and administrative responsibilities at Branksome Hall.; 12:59 Karrie describes meeting and marrying Michael Weinstock. Michael has three children from a previous marriage. Karrie and Michael have one son together.; 15:20 Karrie explains how Peter Oliver, a prominent South African-born Toronto philanthropist and businessman, arranged to fund and build an independent school, the Get-Ahead Project School in rural South Africa. She explains her involvement with the project and the connection with Branksome Hall, Rose Avenue Public School, a high-needs school in Toronto, and the Get-Ahead Project School in South Africa.; Part 4:; 00:00 Karrie continues to describe the inter-school program that has been set up for students at Branksome Hall, a school in Jamestown; Toronto, and the Get-Ahead school.; 02:26 Karrie discusses her role on the board of the Leacock Foundation and her opportunity to further the inter-school program. She cites an example of how they contributed to the Get-Ahead school.; 04:17 Karrie reminisces about times when she felt Canadian.

Source: Oral Histories

A Triangle of Hope

A Packed Suitcase by the Door

A Charmed Existence

First World War photographs (Jack Aarons) and Murray House (Catering), Toronto [graphic material] – 1915-[ca. 1966].

Accession Number: 2004-5-54

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2004-5-54

Material Format: graphic material

Physical Description: 23 photographs : b&w (11 negatives) 13 x 18 cm or smaller

Date: 1915-[ca. 1966]

Scope and Content: Accession consists of copy photographs documenting the military career of Jack Aarons in England, Egypt, and Palestine during the First World War and at military parades in Toronto after the Second World War. There is also a photograph of the inerior of the Murray House catering kitchen on Steeles Avenue about 1966.

Subjects: World War, 1914-1918; World War, 1939-1945

Places: Egypt; England; Palestine

Source: Archival Accessions

Harry Abramsky - 6 Jul. 1982

Name: Harry Abramsky

Material Format: sound recording

Interview Date: 6 Jul. 1982

Source: Oral Histories

Name: Harry Abramsky

Number: OH 49; OH 50

Subject: Kingston

Interview Date: 6 Jul. 1982

Quantity: 2

Interviewer: Stephen Speisman and Marjorie Feldman

Total Running Time: OH49_001: 31.04 minutes; OH49_002: 31.00 minutes; OH50_001: 30.59 minutes; OH50_002: 1:09 minutes

Conservation: Copied August 2003

Notes: Poor audio quality in many sections. OH50_002 started in the middle of the story; cut at 1:09.

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: Harry Abramsky was born in Kingston on 29 September 1897. He and his wife, Ethel, were highly respected by citizens and business owners in Kingston. They were also loyal friends of Queen's University. Over the years, they have made many gifts to the university, including funds for the construction of a building that was completed in 1957. In 1974, the building was renamed as Abramsky Hall in their honour. (There is also Abramsky Laboratory in Botterell Hall.) An area within the Agnes Etherington Art Centre is dedicated to the memory of the Abramsky family. The Harry Abramsky Scholarship in the School of Business at Queen's University was also given by Harry Abramsky. Harry Abramsky was a life member of the Royal Kingston Curling Club. He died in February 1988, aged ninety.

Material Format: sound recording

Language: English

Geographic Access: Kingston (Ont.)

Original Format: Audio cassette

Copy Format: CD

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 49, OH 50 - Abramsky\OH49_001_Log.pdf; G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 49, OH 50 - Abramsky\OH49_002_Log.pdf; G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 49, OH 50 - Abramsky\OH50_001_Log.pdf; G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 49, OH 50 - Abramsky\OH50_002_Log.pdf

Source: Oral Histories

Sam Pizel [object, graphic material] – 1939-1945.

Accession Number: 1984-5-7

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 1984-5-7

Material Format: object; graphic material

Physical Description: 1 coin; 16 photographs : b&w ; 7 x 10 cm

Date: 1939-1945

Scope and Content: This accession consists of one Mount Sinai Lodge A.F. & A.M. No. 522 G.R.C. 25th anniversary coin. The coin has the lodge's coat of arms on the recto and a set of tablets with the words "keep these and good fortune will be yours" on the verso.; Also included are 16 photographs of the Allied Forces (including the Canadian Army) at Bergen-Belsen in April 1945 following the liberation of the camp. Pictured are the general grounds, mass graves with sign markers, a group of (local German?) women crowded around the back of an army truck, army personnel observing and taking photographs of a deceased victim, a crematoria, and Sam Pizel (standing right) and other servicemen with a box of human ashes.

Administrative History: Sam Pizel (?-29 Sept. 2004) was married to Lily and was the brother of Irving Pizel.

Use Conditions: Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.

Descriptive Notes: Availability of other formats: Digitized material.

Subjects: Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); World War, 1939-1945

Name Access: Pizel, Sam; Bergen-Belsen

Places: Germany

Source: Archival Accessions

Morley S. Wolfe [graphic material, textual record] – [194-]-2014.

Accession Number: 2015-11-4

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2015-11-4

Material Format: graphic material; textual record

Physical Description: 19 photographs : b&w and col. ; 20 x 26 cm and smaller; 1 folder of textual records; 1 poster ; 35 x 51 cm

Date: [194-]-2014

Scope and Content: Accession consists of photographs and textual records related to the personal and professional life of Morley S. Wolfe. Photographs include a snapshot of Morely dressed in a Harbord Collegiate sweater; his first year law class at Osgoode Hall (1951); attendance at B'nai Brith Wilson Height Heights Lodge events and publicity stills from Branson Hospital. Textual records include a Branson Hospital promotional flyer; correspondence with Sir Martin Gilbert, the official biographer of Winston Churchill; email print outs of a series of letter to the editor correspondnece from Morely to the Toronto Star concerning human rights,immigration and Israel's right to exist.; In addition, there is a photocopy of a Toronto Star photo of Mayor Art Eggleton, awarding Morley S. Wolfe with the William P. Hubbard race relations award; a print out from Harbordite (page 21) of Morely's entry into the Harbord club; a print out of his review of the book Walking with Giants by Saoul Feldberg; and a poster presented to Morely by the Children's Breakfast Club's presdient Rick Gosling, on the occasion of his 75th birthday (2003), in hounour of Morely's volunteer work with the club.

Administrative History: Morley S. Wolfe was born in Winnipeg in 1928 to Cecil (b. 1895) and Betty (nee Davidow) Wolfe. He spent his early childhood in various cities in Saskatchewan and Manitoba until moving to Toronto in 1940. Soon after graduating from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1955 he started his own practice as a senior member of the law firm Burt, Burt, Wolfe and Bowman. In 1971, he was appointed Queen’s Council, and from 1973 to 1977 he served as counsel for B’nai Brith Canada. After his retirement from practice in 1993, the Province of Ontario appointed him presiding Justice of the Peace for Ontario and Deputy Judge in Small Claims Court. His first marriage was to Sandra Newman in 1958 and they had three children together: Leslie, Lee, and Melanie. He later married Joan and became the step-father to her daughter, Erin. Throughout his life Morley was passionate about fighting prejudice and discrimination and became involved with organizations, such as the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews and the Urban Alliance on Race Relations. He was also a member of the Toronto Police Services Board Committee on Race Relations, served as Chair of the North York Committee on Community, Race and Ethnic Relations, and was appointed to the Canadian Multiculturalism Council. In addition, he was the founding president of Toronto Residents in Partnership (TRIP) from 2003 to 2006. His involvement extended to Jewish organizations. He served as national president of B’nai Brith Canada (BBC) from 1982 to 1983 and was a founding member of its League for Human Rights. He was also president of BBC’s Toronto Regional Council and Wilson Heights Lodge No. 1998, and of the Jewish Camp Council of Toronto as well as many other organizations. Morley’s hard work and involvement in the community earned him many awards, including, City of Toronto’s William P. Hubbard Race Relations Award, the YMCA Canada Peace Medal, B’Nai Brith Canada Service Award, and the Province of Ontario’s Senior Achievement Award. Around 2002, Wilson Heights Lodge No. 1998 began filing a series of appeals with B’nai Brith International (BBI) over concerns that BBC’s national executive was governing undemocratically. Morley played a key role in filing these appeals and was the centre of one appeal filed after BBC censured him without advance notice or the opportunity for a hearing. These appeals were not all successful. Around 2006, Morley became involved in another appeal against BBC that was filed by a group of members who called themselves the Concerned Members of B’nai Brith Canada (CMOBBC). They alleged that BBC’s national executive had too much centralized power, was not governing transparently, failed to provide members with audited financial statements at multiple annual general meetings (AGMs), passed a constitution that members had defeated at the 2005 AGM, and was threatening and harassing some members. BBI’s appeal court rendered its verdict in 2007 in favour of BBC. Soon after this judgment was made BBC took steps to expel all the members of CMOBBC. In response, Morley resigned from the organization. Morley currently resides in Brampton.

Subjects: Law; Human rights

Name Access: Wolfe, Morley, 1928-

Source: Archival Accessions

Simchat Torah rally for Soviet Jewry, City Hall, Toronto [graphic material] – 1970.

Level: Item

ID: Item 4771

Source: Archival Descriptions

Level: Item

Item: 4771

Material Format: graphic material

Date: 1970

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Notes: JCRC Box 44, File 155A.; Copyright: Globe and Mail.; See photos for negative number.

Name Access: Simchat Torah; City Hall

Subjects: Demonstrations; Human rights

Source: Archival Descriptions

North American High School Network (NAHON) students protest for Soviet Jewry at postal station, 6035 Bathurst St., Toronto [graphic material] – Apr. 1986.

Level: Item

ID: Item 4428

Source: Archival Descriptions

Level: Item

Item: 4428

Material Format: graphic material

Date: Apr. 1986

Physical Description: 1 photograph

Notes: Photo by Graphic Artists.

Name Access: North American High School Network

Subjects: Demonstrations; Human rights

Places: Bathurst Street (Toronto, Ont.)

Accession Number: 1986-12-3

Source: Archival Descriptions

International Council of Jewish Women [textual record, graphic material] – 1940-1996.

Part Of: National Council of Jewish Women of Canada fonds; International Council of Jewish Women series

Level: Series

ID: Fonds 38; Series 6

Source: Archival Descriptions

Part Of: National Council of Jewish Women of Canada fonds; International Council of Jewish Women series

Level: Series

Fonds: 38

Series: 6

Material Format: textual record; graphic material

Date: 1940-1996

Physical Description: 30 cm of textual records; 11 photographs

Admin History/Bio: The International Council of Jewish Women is made up of Jewish women's organizations from across the world. Founded in 1912 and revived in 1949, the ICJW's goals were to promote equal rights, women's rights, understanding, and peace throughout the world. It sought to spread knowledge about and strengthen Jewish cultural traditions, to help build Israel, and to encourage women to participate in community services. It cooperated actively as a non-governmental organization with UNESCO, and was an accredited observer at the United Nations. The National Council of Jewish Women has been a vital member of the ICJW, with a number of its members having served on the executive and as vice-presidents and presidents of the ICJW.; In a first attempt to form an international council of Jewish women, representatives from the National Council of Jewish Women in the United States, along with similar organizations in Great Britain and Germany, met in Rome in 1912. Their efforts were aborted with the onset of World War I, but in the 1920s, Jewish women's groups reconvened and ended up holding three meetings. After a long hiatus due to the devastation of World War II and the Holocaust, the International Council of Jewish Women was officially re-born in 1949 in Paris. The ICJW has held conventions every three years since 1954, and in countries around the world, including in Toronto in 1972, and in Vancouver in 1987.; The ICJW was organized in a committee system which communicated through a network of newsletters, mailings, and triennial meetings. Committees have included By-Laws, Community Services, Herczeg Israel Seminar, Newsletter, North American Committee, Public Relations, Resolutions, Soviet Jewry, Status of Women, and United Nations. The ICJW also held regional meetings, seminars such as the Rosa and Esteban Herczeg seminars in Jerusalem, and field trips.; Canadian presidents of the ICJW have included Antonia S. Robinson (1957-1960), and Helen Marr (1990-1993). While serving as president, Tony Robinson represented Jewish women of Canada at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.; Helen Marr served as president of National Council of Jewish Women of Canada, Toronto Section from 1973 to 1976, and as president of the NCJWC from 1981 to 1985. She married Gerald Marr, and has three children. Helen served as Canada's Vice-President to the ICJW from 1986-1989, and chaired the ICJW's triennial convention in Vancouver in 1987. She also held leadership positions with the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Ben Gurion University, Canadian Jewish Congress, and the Skylight Theatre.

Scope and Content: Series contains records documenting the National Council of Jewish Women of Canada's involvement in the International Council of Jewish Women. It includes pamphlets and publicity material, newsletters, the 75th anniversary tribute book, by-laws and resolutions, material from conventions and other activities, correspondence, and photographs.; A portion of the records were generated during Helen Marr's presidency of the ICJW. These records include by-laws and guidelines, committee files, and mailings.

Notes: The International Council of Jewish Women was variously called the World Congress of Jewish Women, the World Conference of Jewish Women, and the World Organization of Jewish Women between 1912 and 1929.

Name Access: Helen Marr; World Congress of Jewish Women; World Conference of Jewish Women; World Organization of Jewish Women

Subjects: Human rights; Women

Source: Archival Descriptions

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Alex Levin [textual record, graphic material (electronic), moving images (electronic)] – 1944-2015 (predominent 2008-2015).

Accession Number: 2015-8-10

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2015-8-10

Material Format: textual record; graphic material (electronic); moving images (electronic)

Physical Description: 10 cm of textual records; 2240 photographs (jpg and gif); 8 moving images

Date: 1944-2015 (predominent 2008-2015)

Scope and Content: Accession consists of records related to the activities of Alex Levin, a Jewish war veteran and Holocaust survivor. Records include letters written to Levin from school children following various speaking engagements; interviews with Crestwood School, CHAT, and Netivot Hatorah; a recording of the Saluting Our Italian Heroes commemorative event; recordings of Remembrance Day ceremonies hosted by the Canadian Jewish War Veterans (Toronto Post); and photographs documenting events attended by Levin including Holocaust remembrance events, Yom Hashoah, Remembrance Day ceremonies, March of the Living, Miracle Dinners and Proms, Azrieli Foundation events including the launch of Levin's book "Under the Yellow and Red Stars", school visits, JWV programs with Sunnybrook veterans, portraits of Levin through the years and various scanned images of Levin's family.

Administrative History: Alex Levin (1932-2016) was born in 1932 in Rokitno, Poland. In 1941, the Germans invaded Rokitno and established a ghetto and formed a Judenrat to carry out their orders. In 1942, the Ghetto was evacuated and the Jews were brought to the town's marketplace to be transported by train to be killed. Levin was ten years old when he escaped into the nearby forest with his brother Samuel where he lived for 18 months in a hole in the ground. He was twelve when he emerged from hiding to find that his parents and youngest brother Moishe had been murdered. In 1944, he joined the Soviet forces as a messenger boy. After the war, he was sent to the USSR and enrolled in cadet school, remaining in the Soviet army until forced out for being Jewish in the 1970s. An engineer by training, Alex came to Canada in 1975 via Austria and Italy, and now lives in Toronto where he regularly speaks about his experiences in the Holocaust.

Subjects: Education; Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); World War, 1939-1945

Name Access: Levin, Alex, 1932-2016

Source: Archival Accessions

Slepkov family (St. Catharines, Ont.) [textual record, graphic material (electronic)] – 1923-2004.

Accession Number: 2007-6-36

Source: Archival Accessions

Accession Number: 2007-6-36

Material Format: textual record; graphic material (electronic)

Physical Description: 3 photographs : b&w (jpg); 1 textual record

Date: 1923-2004

Scope and Content: Accession consists of one issue of the Jewish Standard, from June 2004, two scanned copy photographs of Sid Slepkov during the Second World War, and one scanned copy photograph of Sid's father Morris in front of his clothing store, the Fashion Cloak and Fur Co. in St. Catharines, Ontario.; The photographs are as follows:; 1. Sydney Slepkov in decompression chamber, Second World War.; 2. Morris Slepkov outside his store, 1923.; 3. Sydney Slepkov, 1944.

Custodial History: The original photographs are in the possession of the donor. The OJA was granted permission to scan the photos in June 2007, as part of the Ontario Small Jewish Communities initiative. These copies were then donated to the Archives on 2007-06-04.

Use Conditions: Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.

Subjects: World War, 1939-1945; Business; Communities

Name Access: Slepkov, Sid; Slepkov, Morris

Places: St. Catharines, Ont.

Source: Archival Accessions