Major Barker joined the Canadian Forces in 2000, and graduated from the Royal Military College in 2005. In 2008, he was deployed to Afghanistan, where he worked to help rebuild the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police force. During his time in Afghanistan, he received an official mention in dispatches for his exemplary work. […]
Archives: Oral History Project
Dias, Ricardo
Major Dias joined the Canadian Forces as a reserve Radio Teletype Operator with 745 (Edmonton) Communication Squadron in 1993. While he was attending the University of Alberta, he was accepted into the Reserve Entry Scheme for Officers and was commissioned in 1996. While at 745 Comm Sqn he served in a variety of positions: Troop […]
Meyer, Noelle
Noelle Meyer was born in Paris to parents of Ukrainian Jewish ancestry. She was 2 and a half years old at the time of the Nazi occupation of France, and for one and a half years, until ‘44, we do not know who took care of her. She was then taken in by the orphanage, […]
Protected: Carniol, Ben
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Mahler, Sylvia
Sylvia Mahler is a survivor of the Holocaust. Sylvia does not know her age because her records were lost in the war, but she is registered as born in 1925. She grew up in Stopnica (Poland) and lived there until the war started. In 1941 Sylvia was taken to Skarzysko-Kamienna labour camp, where she was forced […]
Conner, Lynne
Lynne Conner was born on October 1st 1928, in the Cape Verde Islands. She had an older brother, Peter. Her parents are Adela and Richard Wharton. Her mother was Spanish, from the Canary Islands and her father was English. When she was eight, she was the last of her family to move to England, to […]
Good, Mendel
Mendel Good was born in March,1925 in Nowy-Sacz, Poland, which was a very religious and mostly Jewish city. He had a happy family and it was big and close. Mendel had two brothers and a little sister. After the Nazi invasion, Mendel stayed in camps from the age 14 to the age of 21. He […]
Nayman, Sol
Sol Nayman is a Holocaust Survivor from Poland. He was born in 1935 to Yudel Najman and Sore Roize Rosenberg; his older sister Mania was born in 1928. When the war came in 1939, simple, everyday life in their village was turned upside down. The family was fortunate to escape to the forest, where they […]
Windwar, Hana
Hana Windwar was born in 1933 in Warsaw, Poland. She was six years old when the war began and she was the only child of her parents. She went to Russia with her parents. Her dad was taken to Russia, and forced into the army during the war. Her mom needed to work and Hana was put in a orphanage. Hana […]
Dorchik, Mila
Mila Dorchik was born on May 12, 1924 in Szydlowiec, Poland. After the Nazis came into her town, they imposed a curfew and forced citizens to work for them. They did various jobs, such as cleaning the streets, houses, offices, and washrooms. In 1942, she was taken to Skarzysko-Kamienna labour camp and forced to work in an ammunition factory, […]
Vassair, John
John Vassair served in the Canadian Forces during the Cold War era, and as such he participated in a number of peacekeeping missions from the period. Most notably John was deployed in Korea and the Suez in the 50s, during and after the conflicts in both of those nations. As such John followed the actions of the […]
Gardner, Norm
Norm Gardner was born February 13, 1938 in Toronto. He grew up in the city’s downtown core, attending public school and eventually Toronto Central Commerce high school. After school Norm worked at the Toronto Star, while on the side he was a member of the Queen’s Own Rifle reserve. Later Norm went into the pharmaceutical […]
Augustine, Jean
In 1993, Canadian politician Jean Augustine became the first Black woman elected to the Parliament of Canada. An advocate of social justice, she worked as the principal of an elementary school before entering politics. Among her accomplishments as an MP was the introduction of a motion, passed unanimously, to have February proclaimed as Black History […]
Zuber, Pieter
Pieter Zuber served in the Canadian Forces during the Cold War era, and as such he participated in a number of peacekeeping missions from the period. Most notably Pieter was deployed in the Suez in the late 50s, during the period of Nasser’s presidency. As such he followed the actions of the initial UN peacekeeping force, […]
Fowler, Jim
Jim Fowler served in the Canadian Forces during the Cold War era, and as such he participated in a number of peacekeeping missions from the period. Jim was deployed in Germany, and was posted to a number of bases in Canada; most notably he served in the Suez in the early 70s, during the period of […]
Smith, Doug
Doug Smith served in the Canadian Forces during the Cold War era, and as such he participated in a number of peacekeeping missions from the period. Most notably Doug was deployed in the Suez in the late 50s, during the period of Nasser’s presidency. As such Doug followed the actions of the initial UN peacekeeping force, […]
Shaw, Jimmy
Jimmy Shaw was born in 1925 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He attended St. John’s College. His father was in World War I and fought at Vimy Ridge. His mother was a teacher. As a kid he played many sports, his favorite being hockey. When the war started he joined the RCAF at a Bloor and Spadina […]
Brooker, Odie
Odie Brooker was born in 1929 in Toronto’s Cabbagetown neighbourhood. In the midst of the Depression, Odie was placed in the care of the Children’s Aid Society. He spent the next nine years in foster homes in the Caledon region. At age 15, he snuck into the Canadian Army and spent the next year training […]
Vis, Leonard
Leonard Vis was born September 16, 1930 in Amsterdam. His family had decided to remain in Holland in 1939, and Leonard attended a Jewish school after the German invasion in 1940. At that time he lost touch with his friends and went into hiding with his siblings at a neighbor’s home in 1942. He then moved […]
Kalev, Yitzchak
Yitzchak Kalev was born in Jerusalem, Palestine. He has lived there for all his life. During WW2 he served in the Royal Navy on a minesweeper. He remembers seeing the German paratroopers land in Crete and the bombers on D-Day. He also fought in the IDF for many years in the War for Independence. He […]
Chu, Beatrice
Beatrice Chu was born in the end of December, 1930 in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Before the war, she was middle class. She lived with her many sisters and brothers and her parents; she was the oldest sibling and had 9 younger siblings that she helped to care for. The Japanese came to attack Hong Kong […]
Glassman, Israel
Israel Glassman was born in Montreal, Quebec on April 22nd, 1924, six months after his mother landed in Canada. He was not born in a very good period: the Great Depression hit Canada in 1929 and 1930. During that time, Mr. Glassman played street hockey and baseball with his friends for fun. He also did many […]
Cohen, Kelman
Kelman Cohen, born in 1925, was the son of Morris Cohen and Esther Minden of Toronto. Morris Cohen was a Russian immigrant. Kelman grew up in the Great Depression and in his own words, ‘we all suffered’. Kelman had a colourful childhood in downtown Toronto, and he shared many of his recollections from the neighbourhood […]
Weisberg, Sam
On December 7th, 2015, six students from Crestwood Preparatory College went to the Baycrest Centre to interview Sam Weisberg, accompanied by his wife, Rosa. Sam is a Holocaust survivor, born to a Jewish family in a German-speaking region of Poland called Silesia in 1927. He was taken to the Krakow ghetto, and later to multiple […]
Fiszman, Renee
Renee Fiszman is a child survivor of the Shoah from France. Her father joined the French military at the war’s outset, and this would prove to be a crucial decision for the rest of the family; he was taken as a POW early in the war, and would not rejoin the family until 1945. When […]
DeSimone, Raffaella
Raffaella DeSimone was born in Italy in 1943, in the midst of the Second World War. As her parents were farmers, and there was no work, the family relocated to France, and then to Canada. The family arrived in Halifax, at Pier 21, and they began to adapt to their new country, reaching out to family […]
Sloma, Chava
Chava Sloma was born in Otwock, Poland in 1925. Though she recalled incidents of anti-Semitism, she said her prewar life was for the most part good. All that changed dramatically in September 1939 though; the family initially fled to Warsaw, but as the German army advanced, the decision was made to separate, and Chava and […]
Cygelfarb, Berthe
Berthe Cygelfarb is a Holocaust Survivor with a compelling story to tell, and she tells it beautifully. When Berthe visited Crestwood in December 2015, she spoke to Mme Doherty’s French class, and they were entranced by Berthe’s charm and humour, as were the students in the subsequent interview. Berthe recounted to both groups the horrors […]
Harmon, Phil
Phil Harmon is an American veteran of the Second World War from Maine, where he presently lives in the town of Hollis. Originally from the Cape Elizabeth area, Phil grew up against the backdrop of the Great Depression, though his family was fortunate to be spared many of its most negative impacts. By 1939, as […]
Millhausen, Bill
Bill Millhausen was born on January 10, 1918 in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan. He went to university, where he studied math and engineering and this led him on his World War Two path. He became an engineer who built bridges in the war. He was recruited by the head of CN rail, a World War 1 […]