Frank Boyd was born in Toronto in 1922. He grew up against the backdrop of the Great Depression, though he said he was lucky to have been sheltered from the toughest times. After graduating high school, 19-year-old Frank Boyd joined the armed forces in Toronto, choosing the air force. After training he boarded the troopship […]
Archives: Oral History Project
Mendham, Frank
Frank Mendham was born in Toronto in 1924; like many his age he grew up against the backdrop of the Great Depression, dealing with the realities of day-to-day life. When the war came, Frank went into the cavalry, like his father before him. By the time of the Second World War, tanks had replaced horses. […]
Stewart, William
Private William Stewart served as a “bat man”, or officer’s aide, with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (British) during World War 1. Crestwood Grade 9 student Katie Stewart sat down with her father, Alan Stewart, to learn more about her great-grandfather’s wartime experience. Pte. Stewart, like many soldiers of his generation, was reluctant to talk […]
Grosman, Edith
Edith Grosman was born in Humenne, Czechoslovakia in 1924. Her life and family were all good, until the war came along. With that, a facsist government appeared in Slovakia, and restrictions began to be put in place, and Edith soon found herself deported to Auschwitz, and after that a series of labour camps. With the […]
Brooks, Douglas
Douglas Brooks was born in 1921 in Toronto, the middle child out of all his four brothers. Douglas is currently 92 years of age. He grew up against the backdrop of the Great Depression. Like many men, the reason Douglas joined the army was simply because there was no work; also all his friends and […]
Reeser, Karl
The Reesers were born in what is now Czech Republic, formerly known as the Czechoslovakia, in a small town provincial town of about 30,000 people, located about 60 km west of Prague. Karl’s life in Rakovnik was very pleasant and luxurious. He and his family lived in a very large house facing the pretty main […]
Saks, Simon
Simon Saks was born in Poland in 1932. He was taken by the Nazis from his home at the age of 7, and was imprisoned until his liberation at the age of 13. He had one year of education at a public school before that time. Simon at first was in the Warsaw Ghetto; there […]
Boothe, Shaun
Shaun Boothe is a fixture in the Toronto hip hop community, one we have been proud to host a number of times at Crestwood. He first visited The CHC classes in 2011, where he showed Mr. Masters’ and Mr. Hawkins’ classes an alternative approach to modern history, using hip hop as a means to teach […]
Davis, John T.
John T. Davis is a legend on the Toronto music scene, where he is known professionally as a high energy jazz/blues/gospel organ player. The Hammond B3 Organ is his instrument of choice, but he also plays the piano and synthesizer, and sings. John also arranges music, playing originals and standards of many diverse styles, both […]
Hamilton, Shelley
Shelley Hamilton is a singer/entertainer based in Toronto, and one we have gotten to know very well over the years at Crestwood. Shelley is a woman of many talents, whose diverse portfolio can be seen at her website at http://www.shelleyhamilton.ca/. She has done supply teaching here and has been involved in many Black History Month […]
Perhar, Ranbir
Mr. Ran Perhar is a valued member of the Crestwood community. In the spring of 2013 he welcomed Crestwood students to his gurdwara, and in the winter of that year Mr. Hawkins’ World Religions Class had the opportunity to return the welcome. Mr. Perhar was able to offer students a glimpse into how Sikh beliefs […]
Ali, Habeeb
Mr. Habeeb Ali has been a friend of Crestwood since 2013, when he welcomed Crestwood students to the Toronto Islamic Foundation as part of our Houses of Worship Field trip. In addition to his scholarship on Islam, and his experience as an educator, Mr. Ali works with the International Development and Relief Foundation. In December […]
Schiff, Vera
Vera Schiff was born in 1926, in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to a middle class family. After the Nazi invasion of the country in 1939, her family became marginalized at home until 1942, when they were deported to the concentration camp, Theresienstadt. She would be the lone survivor from her family. Theresienstadt is also where she met […]
Cohen, Israel
Israel Cohen is a Survivor from Poland. Mr. Cohen was born is Lodz, Poland. He had two sisters. One was killed in the camps, and the other was murdered by the Polish a few months after the war. At first he was in the Lodz Ghetto, then Auschwitz, and then Kaufering until liberation. After liberation […]
Rhind, Jack
Jack Rhind was born May 1, 1920 in the Toronto neighbourhood of Rosedale. His father was a successful dentist, and Jack grew up in pretty good circumstances, attending UTS for high school, and then the University of Toronto itself. The family’s fortunes did change with the Great Depression, but Jack went to work, and began […]
Landsman, Fania
We were fortunate to meet Fania Landsman in October 2013 at Baycrest’s Cafe Europa, where she graciously took time out of her day to come and share her story. Mrs. Landsman was born in Belarus, Poland in 1941. She spent the war years in Russia with her mother. In the postwar years, Mrs. Landsman moved […]
Schild, Erwin
Rabbi Erwin Schild was born in Mulheim, Germany in 1920. His family, consisting of his parents and two siblings, owned a local store and considered themselves part of the larger community. Erwin went to public school until age 16, when he was forced out of the public system as Nazi restrictions began to increase. At […]
Hishon, John
John Hishon and his mother lived in the Yonge & Bloor area of Toronto, where his Mom worked extremely hard to make a living during the Great Depression.. When the war broke out, John trained on the Canadian Exhibition grounds, where at first they did not have any equipment and were laughed at. He eventually […]
Libman, Faigie
Faigie Libman was born in Kaunas in 1934, an only child. Her mother was a nurse and her father owned a successful bookstore. They lived an affluent lifestyle. In 1941, when Germany invaded and bombed Lithuania, more than 3,500 Jews were murdered. They were humiliated, abused, tortured and murdered. After the invasion, a ghetto was […]
Ford, Jack
Jack Ford was born in 1921 and is currently 92 years old. He was born in Oklahoma City, in the United States but grew up in Canada. When the war broke out in 1939, he decided to enlist in the Canadian forces, even though it was not yet an American war. Jack joined the RCAF, […]
Daniel, Carmi
Carmi Daniel is a representative of Hashomer Hatzair, an NGO that works on behalf of Israeli causes and issues. he was interviewed in December 2013 by Politics 12 student Matthew Cohen. […]
Tagaki, Hatsuno
Hatsuna Tagaki is the grandmother of Crestwood student Marina Morris. Marina interviewed her in September 2013, when Hatsuna was visiting Toronto from Japan. Hatsuno was born against the backdrop of World War Two, and she grew up during the difficult postwar years. Hatsuno shares here her memories of family and Japan’s changing culture in the […]
Talbot, Bill
Bill Talbot grew up against the backdrop of 1930s Toronto. When his father, a World War One veteran, passed away, Bill dropped out of school to help his mother make ends meet. When the war came along, Bill enlisted, eventually finding his way into the First Canadian Parachute Regiment. Training took place in both the […]
Leipciger, Nate
Nate Leipciger was born in 1928, in Chorzow, Poland. He survived the Sosnowiec Ghetto and the camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Fünfteichen, GrossRosen, Flossenberg, Leonberg, and Dachau. Nate and his father were liberated in May 1945, and Nate immigrated to Canada in 1948. Nate came to speak at Crestwood in November 2013, when he was interviewed by […]
Grosman, Riva
Riva Grosman was born May 17, 1926 in Poland (present-day Belarus). Riva had three sisters and her parents, and they were well off for the time as her father was a lumber merchant. Because of this Riva and her sisters went to a private school. At the beginning of the war, Riva and her family […]
Frieberg, Gerda
Gerda Frieberg was born in Upper Silesia, Poland in 1925. In October 1939, her father was taken away. In 1940, Gerda, her mother, and sister were deported to the Jaworzno Ghetto. In 1942, she was sent to the Oberaltstadt concentration camp, where her sister was interned. Her mother joined them in 1943. Gerda worked in […]
Blay, Shirley
Shirley Blay is from Poland, but in the chaotic days at the start of the war she and her family found themselves in the Soviet side of Poland, and they were subsequently transported deep into the USSR, to Kazakstan and Uzbekistan. They endured many hardships but unlike many Polish Jews they were able to escape […]
Meisels, Leslie
Leslie Meisels was born in Nádudvar, Hungary in 1927. He lived with his parents, two brothers, and both sets of grandparents. He survived the ghetto in Debrecen, slave labour and eventual deportation to Bergen-Belsen. He was liberated in April 1945 by the US Army. His mother, father and both brothers also survived. Leslie immigrated to […]
Meisels, Eva
Eva Meisels was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1939, an only child. After her father was taken to a forced labour camp in 1942, Eva and her mother were sent to the Budapest Ghetto and eventually, a safe house. They obtained false papers from Raoul Wallenberg and were liberated by the Soviet Army. After the […]
Fox, George
George Fox was born in Berdichev, Russia (later Poland) in 1917, where he lived with his family. The Nazis forced his family into the Brzeziny Ghetto, where they remained until its liquidation in 1942. George was sent to the Lodz Ghetto until 1944, and then to Auschwitz-Birkenau. He was liberated by the US Army after […]