Arnold Friedman was born in the Carpathian region of the Ukraine. When the prewar border adjustment known as the Anschluss occurred, he and his family suddenly found themselves living in Hungary. As such, they were offered a temporary respite from the Holocaust. While Polish and Ukrainian Jews were confronted by the Nazi onslaught in 1939-40, […]
Archives: Oral History Project
Bohm, Hedy
Hedy Bohm grew up in prewar Romania, in a region that later came under Hungarian control. As the war escalated, she and her family increasingly came under the influence of the Nazis, and the family was deported to Auschwitz in the summer of 1944. Hedy was able to survive Auschwitz-Birkenau for three months; at that […]
Cipin, Josef
Jozef Cipin was a young boy when the war began. He and his family were on the run in the early part of the war, evading the Nazis and hiding out with the partisans. When the Gestapo caught up, Jozef was interrogated and deported to the Terezin camp, where he managed to survive the Holocaust. […]
Buchman, Roma
Roma Buchman is the grandmother of Crestwood graduate Ashley Bitton. When Ashley was in Mr. Masters CHC2D class 2006-7, we invited Roma to speak to the class. Roma is from Galicia, in Poland. When the war began, she found herself in a ghetto with the rest of her family. Her parents made the difficult decision […]
Fontaine, Les
We met Les Fontaine at the Sunnybrook Veterans’ Wing in the fall of 2012, when he was interviewed by grade 11 students Sarah Mainproze, Steph Erdman, and Kristen Stribopoulos. Les served in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War, and he shared with the girls his memories of the Great Depression, as well […]
Finnigan, Jim
We met Jim Finnigan at the Sunnybrook Veterans’ Wing in the fall of 2012, where he was interviewed by Grade 12 students Katherine Charness, Julie Cho, and Emma Myers. Jim served in the Royal Air Force in the Second Wolrld War, where he was connected to transport details that were deployed largely in the Middle […]
Stewart, Donald
Donald Stewart was born in Vancouver B.C. He served with the Royal Canadian Navy Merchant fleet. Growing up Donald had been a sea cadet and he always admired sailors. As it was wartime and all of his friends had signed up, he wanted to do his part. So Donald had to go through basic training […]
Metcalfe, Walter
We met Walter Metcalfe on a field trip to the Sunnybrook Veterans Wing in the fall of 2012. Walter served in the RCAF in World War Two, when he flew numerous missions as part of Bomber Command. He enlisted and served in the infantry in the Korean War as well. Walter’s memories went beyond the […]
Hans, Denise
Denise Hans was born June 21, 1938. She is the 4th of 6 children. Her father, Michel, and mother, Perla, came from Poland in the early 1920’s. When the war broke out, the round up of Jews first affected her family when her father received a “Billet Vert” asking him to go to the police […]
Zelcovitch, Simon
Simon Zelcovitch was born in Poland shortly before the onset of the war. When his father foresaw the approaching Nazi invasion, the family fled to Russia, where they lived in ghettoes. With the escalation of the Holocaust, the family followed Simon’s older brother Yossel into the forest, where they took refuge in the Bielski Brothers’ […]
Sterk, Eddy
Eddy Sterk lived in Holland at the beginning of the war. As his father worked in a hospital, Eddy and his family were able to evade the early deportations, which slowly saw Amsterdam’s Jews transported “to the east”. Eddy’s siblings were eventually taken, and soon after Eddy and his parents were rounded up as well. […]
Eisenstein, Jenny
Jenny was born in Poland in 1927, where she had four siblings. She grew up in Bedzin, a city with a thriving Jewish community. As a young girl, she read and was active in many Jewish organizations. As she remembers, all that changed on Sept. 1, 1939, when the German invasion began. She and her […]
Stern, George
George Stern survived the Holocaust in Hungary. A teenage boy at the time, George lost most of his family, but he was fortunate to go into hiding in the countryside. He remembers that he lost his Barmitzvah to the war. When the conflict was over, he emigrated to Israel and later to Canada, where he […]
Goobie, Myer
Myer Goobie is from East York in Toronto. He visited us in October 2012, when he was interviewed by students Antony Cook and George Giannopoulos. Myer served in the Canadian Forces during the Second World War, specifically the Devil’s Brigade, a commando unit made up of American and Canadian soldiers. Myer saw action in Sicily, […]
Vania, Zatoon
Zatoon Vania grew up in South Africa, where she experienced the full weight of the Apartheid regime. She and her husband fought that system and became members of the African National Congress, where they worked with Nelson Mandela. Zatoon came to Canada in the mid-1960s, where she raised a family and pursued a career. We […]
Turner, Davina
Davina Turner was in the CWAC Canadian Women’s Auxiliary Corps as WW2 came to a close. She toured Europe with her band, entertaining the occupying troops stationed in northern Germany. She met her future husband on the troop ship as they returned to Canada. After the war Davina settled into life in postwar Toronto, doing […]
Stickley, Charlcie
Charlcie Stickley came to Canada at 7 years of age. After her fathger left, her mother had to clean houses; it was a hard life for her mother. Even as a student, Charlcie was aware of economic realities of Great Depression and felt restricted in school. In June 1942, she met her future husband. When […]
Santos, Rowena
Rowena Santos is actively involved in Ontario and local politics. She is a member of the provincial NDP, where she serves as Vice President, and she is affiliated with the organization Equal Voice, which seeks to promote women’s involved in Canadian politics, and she has twice spoken to Politics and Female Mentor Group students at […]
Sallie, Rabia
Rabia Sallie is the sister of Zatoon Vania, who also appears on this page. Rabia too is fom South Africa, where she grew up under the shadow of Apartheid. Like here sister Zatoon, Rabia also braved the consequences and challenged the intolerance of that system. We met her at the Noor Cultural Centre in Toronto, […]
Rotondo, Dominic
Domenic Rontondo was born in Italy, in the early months of World War Two. When his father went off to war, his mother saved Domenic’s life during aerial bombing that devastated their village and killed most of the family. Domenic was raised by his grandparents and learned about his early life through them and other […]
Nemat, Marina
Marina Nemat was born in 1965 in Tehran, Iran. At the age of 16, she was arrested on false charges and spent more than two years in the infamous Evin prison, in Tehran, where she, along with many of her friends, was tortured. She was condemned to die, but survived because one of the Revolutionary […]
Singh Nagra, Pardeep
Pardeep Singh Nagra is a Canadian athlete and human rights activist. He came to speak to Mr. Masters’ History 10 class in the spring of 2010 and again in 2011, which he followed up with an interview by student representatives from the YARRD club. Pardeep’s story is an inspirational one; he came to Canada from […]
Marcharia, Bodia
Bodia Marcharia is the current president of Friends of the Congo, an NGO dedicated to improving the quality of life for the Congolese people. Bodia is a passionate speaker, and she addressed many of the region’s concerns, among them conflict minerals and the conditions facing Congolese women. Bodia visted Crestwood in January 2012, where she […]
Ikeda, Sid
Sid Ikeda is a past president of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre in Toronto. As a young boy he was relocated along with his family in the British Columbia interior, where he experienced the internment camps. He was interviewed by Colin Walker in January 2009 and has since come back to Crestwood several times to […]
Ebrahim, Kassim
Kassim Ebrahim grew up during the Apartheid era in South Africa. Later a teacher in Rhodesia and Zambia, he eloquently provided Crestwood students with a glimpse into the history of Apartheid, as well as telling them his own stories and sharing his memories. We met him through the Noor Cultural Center in Toronto, where he […]
Hylton, John
John Hylton grew up in 1940s England, where his childhood was deeply impacted by wartime events. He remembers the Battle of Britain, the rationing, the V-1 attacks, and most importantly he remembers his father’s service as a physician. John was interviewed for this project by Alec Maavara. […]
Gutmanas, Aleks
Aleks Gutmanas is the External Secretary for the Bahai Community of Toronto. He visited Ms. Laforest’s World Religions 11 class in the fall of 2009 and later sat down with Alix Postan, Sy Greenberg, and John Shahidi for an interview. […]
Fahmy, Charazad
Crestwood has been very fortunate to build a partnership with the Noor Cultural Centre in the last few years. Kassim Ebrahim and Samira Khanji have welcomed us and have taught Crestwood students some very important lessons about Islam and tolerance and diversity. We visit each year, and members of the Noor community generously have shared […]
Elliott, Omar
Omar Elliott came to us courtesy of the Noor Culture Centre, a mosque and Islamic Centre in the Crestwood neighbourhood. Omar is from Guyana and has travelled extensively, living in South America, Europe, Asia , and North America. He spoke to a group of Crestwood students about his experiences and life’s lessons along his personal […]
Ciano, Sergio
Sergio Ciano was a young boy when World War Two began. He lived in Somalia, an Italian colony in Northern Africa. His father was an officer in the Italian Military Police. Sergio was interviewed for this project by Lowell Williams in early 2009. […]