Don Morgan is a Canadian World War Two veteran who grew up in rural Ontario. When the time came to enlist, Don chose the air force, and after considerable training in different locations across Canada, he was ready to be a pilot. Further training in England ensued, and Don and his crew were ready to […]
Archives: Oral History Project
Schwemer, Fela
Fela Schwemer is a Holocaust Survivor from Poland. Fela lost most of her family during the war, as she made her way through a series of camps, where she was used as a slave labourer. Fela is a powerful storyteller, and her memory for the little details – the bobby pin that she desperately wanted […]
Glazier, Jack
Jack Glazier was born on February 14,1920 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His family later moved to Regina. After studying engineering, Jack got a job designing diesel engines for a company in Athabasca, Alberta. At the age of 21, he joined the RCAF. After his pilot training had concluded and after being posted in England, he was […]
Lipson, Rabbi Leslie
Rabbi Leslie Lipson grew up in Rochester, New York; he connected to Canada by attending Camp Ramah for ten summers as both a camper and on staff. After graduating from Haverford College, Rabbi Lipson traded currency on Wall Street and then returned to Toronto to work on his MBA at York University. After working in […]
Vertes, Berlina
Newton, Fred
Fred Newton was born in Sarnia, Ontario in 1925. He attended Sarnia Collegiate Institute, and lived in ‘luxury’ throughout his childhood. In May of 1943, at the age of 18, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. After completing training he was stationed overseas but the whole draft was pulled in Halifax due to […]
Flanzraich, Aaron
Rabbi Aaron Flanzraich, was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1966. A graduate of Bar Ilan University, he was admitted into the University’s prestigious Advanced Talmudic Institute. In 1990, he received a dual ordination from Yeshivat Sha’ar Ephraim and the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. He has been the senior rabbi at Temple Beth Sholom in Toronto since […]
Subhani, Munni
Munni Subhani came to us through the Noor Cultural Centre, where she is a member of the congregation. Munni is an accomplished dancer who has taught north Indian classical dance for years at her dance school in Toronto. She says she has found that dance benefits not only the body, but the soul as well, […]
Friedman, Henry
Henry Friedman, a Holocaust survivor, was born on October 22, 1931. Henry was born in a small town in Hungary called Nyireghaza. He went to English and Hebrew school and spent his time with his friends and family. Henry was the youngest of two brothers and a sister. He lived as normal of a life […]
Scott, Doug
Doug Scott was born in Toronto. He graduated from Upper Canada College and the University of Toronto. From there, Doug enlisted in the Canadian army, where he stayed for five years. During that time, the Korean War took place, and Doug was deployed overseas. While in Korea, Doug served in the unique position of sports […]
Lang, Sydney
Sydney Lang was born in Montreal on February 7th, 1923. He currently resides in Toronto and is 92 years of age. Sydney grew up during the Great Depression, in the city of Montreal. He attended public school and was a Canadiens fan. When the war broke out, Sydney was originally denied from the army because […]
Martin, Jack
Jack Martin is from Toronto. He grew up the city’s east end, dealing with the realities of the Great Depression. From a military family, Jack was in it from the beginning; he enlisted in the Queen’s Own Rifles, and set about training. A training accident left him deaf in one ear, but as his officer […]
Lawr, Sheldon
Sheldon Lawr was born March 31, 1922 in Brampton, Ontario, and he grew up in nearby Georgetown. He is the second of three brothers. Due to the economic difficulties of the Great Depression, Sheldon never completed high school; instead he worked on farms (including a memorable journey to the Prairies via boxcar) and at an […]
Roth, Helen
Helen Roth was born towards the end of the Great Depression. Helen was only in elementary school when World War 2 began. She had 2 sisters and four brothers and out of all of them only her and her brother are still alive today. Helen’s father passed away when she was 3, so he did […]
Yousafzai, Sofia
Sofia Yousafzai was born in 1967 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Her family is made up of her 3 brothers, 2 sisters and parents. She lived a normal, but risky life. It was ormal as in she did everything anyone else would do, like going to school and going to interesting places and hanging out with friends. […]
Thiyagarajah, Nayani
Nayani Thiyagarajah is a speaker and community activist and a director and a producer, a daughter of the Yalpanam-Tamil diaspora, as well as a writer, performance artist, and filmmaker. She has worked extensively with multiple arts-based organizations and performance groups across Toronto, including Manifesto Community Projects, ArtReach Toronto, b.current Performing Arts, and Schools Without Borders. She […]
Forster, Alan
Alan Forster was born in Toronto, growing up in the city’s east end during the Great Depression. From a military family, he joined up as soon as he was able, heading off to training and then to England. Shortly after the D-Day invasion, Alan headed to France, to begin his “baptism under fire”. They were […]
Krausz, Sophie
Sophie Krausz is a delightful 73yr. old woman who has been living at the Terraces of Baycrest since 2012. Sophie was born in Russia two months after the Holocaust commenced. She lived in Poland for 13 years. Sophie came to Canada in 1958. Sophie was the only child in her family. The family emigrated from […]
Nirenberg, Erica
Erica Nirenberg was born in 1931 in a small town in Romania. She had 3 siblings but they passed away at a young age. When she was 12 years old, her father was rounded up by the Russian Army and never returned. She and her mother fled to a large Romanian city called Czernovitz to […]
Shukyn, Murray
We met Murray Shukyn at the Baycrest Terraces in January 2015, as part of the new Crestwood-Baycrest initiative to document Jewish history in postwar Toronto. And Murray made interesting contributions in that regard. Murray grew up in the shadow of World War Two, and he reached maturity in the context of the 50s and 60s, […]
Carter, George
George Carter was born August 1, 1921 in Toronto, Canada, and was the first of 14 children of John Carter and Louise Braithwaite Carter, who were from Barbados. Carter excelled in sports as a cricket player, and he was a strong student as well. He was also very social and from an early age he […]
Abramowicz, Karol
A survivor from Poland, Karol’s experience is different from many of the Polish Jews we have interviewed. When the war closed in, Karol and most of his immediate family made their way east, into the Soviet zone – his story reminds us of the Polish partition. From eastern Poland they entered the USSR, where they […]
Jacobs, David
Mr. David Jacobs was born in Tomaszów, Poland. He grew up within the small town, and soon joined his father in working at their family tailoring shop. At age 18, when the war broke out, Mr. Jacobs was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp, where he served as a slave labourer. Mr. Jacobs traveled across Europe […]
Joyner, Mac
Mac Joyner was on May 24th, 1923 in Hamilton, Ontario. As a small child, he and his family moved all around North America, mainly in the southern United States, including California, Florida and Georgia. With all the moving, school life was quite difficult for Mac. After settling back into Canada, Mac grew up living the […]
Noddle, Jim
James Noddle was born over a bakery in the East End of Toronto to a poor large family. Growing up, he became particularly fond of trucks, and this interest continued on post-war. When the war began, he wasn’t too interested in it; however, soon he joined. His main duties in the war in Italy included […]
Hoare, Edward
Edward “Ted” Hoare grew up against the backdrop of mid 1930s London. Ted received a scholarship to attend a uniform school, but he wasn’t able to attend due to a lack of financial resources. He eventually got a job and registered for the military at the age of fourteen, and he subsequently joined the Home […]
Boyer, Michael
Michael Boyer is a veteran born in Toronto, into a big family. Fairly well-to-do, Mr. Boyer and his family were less affected by the depression than many. He joined the army at a young age and became part of the Fourth Field Royal Canadian Artillery. Travelling to Europe, Mr. Boyer fought along allied forces such […]
Bell, Walter
Walter Bell is the father of Mrs. Sue Brownlee, a Crestwood Staff member. As a member of Britain’s Royal Artillery in World War Two, Mr. Bell began training in England, before heading to Freetown, Sierra Leone to train African troops. He eventually took his trained troops and headed to Burma, where he fought for Britain […]
Pasternak, Susan
Susan Pasternak, born Sissi Friedman was 7 months old when the war broke out in September of 1939. She was born on February 1st, 1939 in Zambriow, which is in northeastern Poland. Her parent’s names were Mordechai and Sarah Friedman and Susan was their first and only child. Her father had his own bakery shop […]
Goldhar, Paula
Paula Goldhar is a survivor from Poland. In December 2014 she shared her very compelling story with Mrs. Winograd’s English 8 class. Paula recounted the painful memories that made up her childhood in a very precise way, from the deprivations of the ghetto and the camps to the memories that still are with her every […]