Memorandum : Paper : Printed, Typed : Ink : B&W ; Ht: 35 cm x W: 21,5 cm
Other Title Information
Documentary Artifact
Date
[ca. 1983]
Physical Condition
Excellent
Language
English
French
Hebrew
Notes
1 page, single-sided. Folded once horizontally. Document printed on letterhead of Association of Survivors of Nazi Oppression. Letter written from Aba Beer to the Principal of Eckville High School, stating that the organization does not feel that the truth about the facts of the Holocaust has not emerged in the aftermath of the pedagogical practices of teacher James Keegstra. An offer is made for survivors to travel to Eckville and meet with students and faculty members,. Narrative: James Keegstra was a high school teacher and the mayor of Eckville, Alberta when he was accused of teaching students that the Holocaust had never happened, along with other anti-Semitic propaganda. He was charged and convicted of hate speech in 1984, a conviction which was overturned upon appeal, but reinstated by the Supreme Court of Canada. The Association of Survivors of Nazi Oppression, formerly the Association of Former Concentration Camp Inmates, Survivors of Nazi Oppression, was founded circa 1960 in Montreal. Many of its members were founding members of the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre.
376 pages, hardcover book with blue cover. Dust jacket is white with a sketched image on the cover in blue and grey. The cover image shows five men gathered around a fire inside an enclosure with a barbed-wire fence. Photo of the author on an inside page, after title page. Narrative: Donor is Eva Basch, the daughter of Eliezer Basch and Blanka Wiener. Eliezer and Blanka were engaged and escaped together in 1940 to the USSR where they were arrested as political opponents and separated. Eliezer was sent to Siberia (he was liberated in 1948), Blanka was sent to Kazakhstan (liberated 1947). They reunited in Budapest in 1948 where one of Eliezer’s brothers still lived.They later went to DP camp in Münich where they got new ID papers (changed birth dates and official location of wedding). Eliezer and Blanka Immigrated to Canada via Halifax in 1950. They stayed in Montreal for a short time (Eliezer had a sister there), then moved to Kingston where Eliezer’s brother had a store and lived in Napanee until 1953. In 1953, they moved back to Montreal where Eva could have access to Jewish education. Blanka was a waitress and Eliezer worked different jobs including in an insurance company. Eliezer was the Executive Director of the Labour Zionist organization. They bought a yarn store on St. Laurent bvd, called “Magasin de fibres L.B” (now La Bobineuse on Mont-Royal East) which they managed until they retired.