Jean-Marie Doan (nee Shoulds) was born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia two months after the Great Stock Market Crash of 1929. She shares her story of growing up during the Great Depression, as well as her experiences on the home front during World War 2. With two uncles fighting in the war, Jean was extremely aware […]
Archives: Oral History Project
Gamulka, Ala
Ala Gamulka is a Holocaust Survivor from Bucharest, Romania. She and her family were fortunate to escape the city as the German invasion closed in around them, making their way to a boat which took them on a harrowing journey through the Adriatic Sea. Like many wartime refugees, they were intercepted and placed in a […]
Reid, Jack
Jack Reid was born in Toronto, and joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1943. Working as a depth charge operator on the HMCS Longueil, Mr. Reid participated in numerous convoys of military and supply ships making the treacherous journey across the north Atlantic. After the end of the war (and one last convoys across the […]
Weksberg, Lenka
Lenka Weksberg was born in Tacovo, Czechoslovakia, in 1926. In 1944, the entire family was deported to the Mathesalka Ghetto in Hungary and then to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where her mother and brother were murdered. Lenka survived a slave labour camp in Geislingen, and Alach, as well as a death march. Lenka was liberated by the US […]
Fisch, Edward
Edward Fisch grew up in wartime Hungary. Grandparent of Crestwood student Sidra Fisch, he learned to survive against the backdrop of Hungarian fascism and the 1944 occupation of Hungary by Nazi Germany, including time spent in the ghettoes and camps. Edward visited us for this interview in October 2013, where he was interviewed by Sidra […]
Grizzle, Stanley
Stanley Grizzle has led an illustrious life, and Crestwood students were fortunate to meet him in the spring of 2013 – on several occasions – and we are indebted to Kathy Grant and the Legacy Voices Project for setting up that introduction. Stanley Grizzle was born in Toronto in 1918, to Jamaican parents who immigrated […]
Mann, Charles
Charles Mann is a Canadian veteran of World War Two who served with the Black Devils. Originally from Port Hope, Charles and his family were affected by the Great Depression, like so many other Canadian families. Charles left school for work, but with the coming of the war, he enlisted in the army, and when […]
Bornstein, Max
We met Max Bornstein at Baycrest Geriatric Centre in Toronto, where he is a resident. We learned about him through the Azrieli Foundation, as they have published his memoirs. Crestwood students Emma Myers and Sarah Mainprize interviewed Max at Baycrest in February 2013. Max’s story is remarkable, and a singular one in many ways. He […]
Sitzer, Max
Max Sitzer is a Holocaust Survivor from Poland who has a family connection at Crestwood; he was interviewed by his young cousin Mara Bowman here at the school in March 2013. Max lived in eastern Poland and was under Soviet rule for the first part of the war, but with the German invasion in 1941 […]
Miller, Etti
Etti Miller is a child survivor of the Holocaust. Born just as the war was beginning, Etti and her family were forced into the Vilna Ghetto. They were lucky to escape the liquidation of the ghetto, as they managed to find their way into the forests. They remained there the duration of the war, living […]
Taylor, Heber
Heber Taylor was born in Carbonear, Newfoundland and Labrador. When the war came along, Heber began working for Bell. In 1941 he decided to enlist. Heber volunteered so that he would be able to choose where he would serve. With the decision in his hands, he chose to fight as part of the Royal Canadian […]
Azarov, Vladimir
Vladimir Azarov grew up against the backdrop of Stalin’s Soviet Union. He and family were relocated to Kazakstan while Vladimir was young; a standout memory involves a confrontation between his mother and a secret police officer. In spite of the hardships, Vladimir had many fond memories of his early life, and it gave him the […]
Gancman, Henry
Before the war, Henry Gancman was living a comfortable life in a middle class Polish family. He had two sisters and a brother, was learning to be a carpenter, and he enjoyed playing soccer. All that came to a quick end after Sept. 1939 – like so many Polish Jews, Henry dealt with the restrictions […]
Allen, Fred
Fred Allen served in the Canadian Forces for many years; he enlisted and served overseas in WW2, and he kept this career going well into the postwar period. During that time he was also deployed to Vietnam, where he served as part of the truce commission. Fred is a fantastic storyteller, and his recollections here […]
Manestar, John
John Manestar was born in 1922 in Croatia. He came to Canada with his mother because his father had come 6 years earlier, looking for work. The depression hit in 1929 right after they moved into their house. His family along with others had trouble with money, but they learned to make ends meet. John met […]
Zeller, Helen
Helen Zeller grew up in Poland. She was living a very comfortable life with her family when the war began, quickly changing everything. While most of her family was lost, Helen and a few others were fortunate to escape the liquidation. She was able to survive in a bunker and the forest, dependent on a […]
Gould, Dennis and Raybell
Dennis and Raybell Gould are the grandparents of Crestwood student Sarah Gould. Dennis and Raybell grew up in wartime England, where they experienced the bombings, the rationing, and the general anxiety of life in England at war. Dennis enlisted in the Royal Navy near the end of the war, and he served aboard the HMS […]
Ekstein, Anita
Anita Helfgott was born in Lvov, Poland on July 18, 1934. Her parents were Edzia and Fischel Helfgott. Anita was an only child and was therefore slightly spoiled before the war. For the first 2 years of the war, Anita lived under Russian occupation. Life at this time changed very little. The only way […]
Rips, Paul Henri
Paul-Henri Rips was born on October 23, 1929 in Antwerp, Belgium. He lived with his father Isadore, mother Faja and sister Sina. Paul described his years before the war as his “golden childhood”. There were mutterings of what was to come but his childhood was pleasant. On May 10th 1940 Belgium was invaded by Germany. […]
Sermer, Zuzana
Zuzana Sermer was born in the town of Humenné, Slovakia on August 29, 1924. Zuzana had a happy childhood. The war would change that though. In the spring of 1942 all single women who were 16 and older were told to go to the police station. All the other women packed their things but Zuzana […]
Freund, John
John Freund came to us courtesy of the Azrieli Centre in January 2013. John is from Czechoslovakia, where he was living a “golden life” with family and friends. When the Germans invaded, that situation changed quickly. John survived the Terezin camp with his family. From there, John and his family were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where […]
Rubinstein, Len
A South African Jew, Mr. Leonard Rubinstein volunteered to fight with the British 8th Army the “Desert Rats” in WW2. After seeing action in Bardia, he was captured and spent the remainder of the war in Axis POW camps, where he was fortunate to keep his religious identity secret from the Gestapo. Mr. Rubinstein came […]
Leggatt, Charles
Charles Leggatt served in the British army during WW2. Charles visited us at Crestwood several times, and on our final visit with him we visited him in his home. Charles was a magnificent storyteller, and he shared with Crestwood students his numerous wartime exploits: the Home Guard, his memories of his brother Kenneth, the Battle […]
Cohen, Judy
Judy Cohen is a Holocaust survivor from Hungary. She was born on September 17th, 1928 in the city of Debrecen. Judy was the youngest in a family of 7 children. Her early life was a good one, full of promise and possibility, until she and her family were caught up in the terrible events unfolding […]
Grey, Nina
Nina Grey survived the Holocaust in wartime Poland. Her family was on the move, hiding in and out of Warsaw and fortunately always able to stay just one step of the Germans. She shared her story at Baycrest’s Cafe Europa in the fall of 2012, when she sat down with Jake Borinsky, Jessie Cooke, and […]
Wasserman, Sally
Sally Wasserman is the only child survivor of the Dambrowa ghetto, which was located in southern Poland, not too far from Auschwitz-Birkenau. When her family was forced into the ghetto, her mother encountered Mr. Turken, a man who did work for the authorities in the ghetto. He and his wife agreed to take Sally in […]
Maxwell, Martin
Martin Maxwell was born in 1924, in the city of Vienna. He grew up amidst difficult circumstances in the 1930s, when Hitler come to power. On December 31, 1938, Martin and his brother left Austria to go to Great Britain on the Kindertransport. Martin was adopted by a family there. In 1942, he joined the […]
Charness, Mark
Mark Charness was born May 18, 1923 in Montreal. He was raised in a loving, hard-working family, where he learned to give generously of himself. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force on the first day he was eligible. With a keen gift for math, Mark trained as a navigator, earning the rank of […]
MacDonell, George
George MacDonell was one of Canada’s last survivors of the Battle of Hong Kong. He was born August 5, 1922, and he grew up in and around Listowel, Ontario against the backdrop of the Great Depression. He made the decision to enlist early in the war, and was shipped overseas early in the war; he […]
Eisen, Alex
Alex Eisen was born December 9, 1929 in Vienna, Austria. After the Anschluss in 1938, the Eisen family fled to Hungary. In 1939, Alex’s father was arrested and fled to Palestine, leaving his wife alone with their three children. Alex and the rest of the family endured the hardships of the Budapest Ghetto, but later […]