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Interview with Laura Greenberg
https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106348
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Physical Description
- 2 tapes
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Date
- September 3, 2000
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Physical Description
- 2 tapes
- Responsibility
- Interviewed by Joe Murray
- Date
- September 3, 2000
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Storage Location
- vault
- Notes
- Subject: Laura Greenberg Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: September 3, 2000 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: Tape 1 (63:03) Tape 2 (20:04) -Laura’s father came to Canada before World War I; she believes around 1910/1911. He immigrated from the South East part of Poland. Her mother came to Canada after World War I from a small town near Warsaw; she believes her mother arrived in Canada in 1917/1918. -Laura’s parents met in Toronto around 1920. They both worked in the same clothing factory; her father was a machine operator and her mother was a finisher. The family remained in Toronto and Laura grew up at 54 Oxford Street. Her father passed away in 1966 and her mother passed away in 1993. -Laura had 2 older siblings and 2 younger siblings. She had an older sister who died at the age of 4, her older brother's name was Phillip, her younger brother's name was Seymour and her younger sister’s name was Rosie. Laura was born in November of 1928. -She attended public elementary school in Toronto and then attended Central High School of Commerce. She talks of her school and her memories of her teachers getting enlisted in World War II. -Laura attended the United Jewish Peoples’ Order Shul and attended the United Jewish Peoples’ Camp in Brampton Ontario from ages 5 to 14. -Laura talks of her involvement in the orchestra and choir growing up, she discusses the various theaters around Toronto she recalls performing in. Laura then discusses the market near her house, she has fond memories of fridays when she would receive 35¢ and go to a delicatessen and get a full meal with her brother. -Laura talks about her parent’s shuls growing up; they attended different congregations as they were from different towns. Laura talks about how back then they were organized by what town you were originally from, she says it was not uncommon or strange that her parents attended different shul’s. When Laura’s grandfather died her father became more religious; she recalls him starting to host many dinners at their house. -Laura reminisces about going to the movies to watch cartoons on the weekend, her father going to the steam baths and returning home with many friends for a large brunch. She has fond memories of her mother cooking very large meals for the family, for friends, and for Yom Kippur. -when Laura was 3 years old she got her appendix removed at the old children's hospital. She then discusses the hospitals in Toronto. -Laura was in the 7th grade when the Second World War began, she remembers the fear she felt all the time. Her mother and father both volunteered at the Red Cross; Laura also volunteered at the Red Cross when she got older. She made goodie bags for soldiers with soap, candy, toothbrushes, and food. SHe also recalls her mother donating all of their silver to scrap drives. -Laura’s most vivid memory of World War II was in 1941 the day Pearl Harbour was bombed. Laura came home after school to find her mother smashing any dish they had that was made in Japan. After this Laura remembers doing a lot of bombing drills. -After the war Laura worked as a bookkeeper at a women's clothing store. In 1953 she was very involved in B’nai B’rith Women’s and speaks of the 50th anniversary coming up in September of 2000. -In 1953 Laura decided to move to Ottawa. She came to stay at the women’s facility at the YMCA and got a job working with Joe Ages. Joe also found her a place to stay in a house on Friel Street. Laura loved Ottawa and recalls going to basketball games with Ben Shapiro. -In June of 1955 Laura married Milton Greenberg in Toronto. The two met working for Martin Levinson’s Accounting Firm. -Milton and Laura moved out to a home in Ottawa for 5 months before Milton was offered a job in Windsor. The couple moved to Windsor for 18 months. Laura speaks of not liking the community in Windsor, they spent most of their weekends in Detroit with family. -Laura and Milton then moved to Toronto and in 1961 their son Mark was born. Shortly after they decided to return to Ottawa in December of 1961. They moved back to Ottawa and were neighbours with Bill Gencher and his family. -Laura became very active in Machzeiki Hadas and the Pioneers Association. She speaks of her time throwing dinners and parties for the congregation. She talks about how the shul used to be very divided by gender. She remembers always having to leave early for the “men's party” and sitting apart from her husband at Machzeiki Hadas. She was a part of the woman who pushed back against this and worked for the woman to have a bigger hand in the shul. -Laura talks about stores in Ottawa; she recalls A.J. Freimans store and the scandal around the first time he was open on Yom Kippur. -When her son MArk turned 5 Laura returned to work. She worked as a bookkeeper at different places and eventually was a bookkeeper for the JCC. END OF TAPE 1 -Laura begins by talking about Joe Ages’ restaurant Sharry’s; Laura helped with the bookkeeping and setting up the restaurant. -Laura recalls in the late 60’s when everything began opening up on Sundays. Her husband had been a big football fan and when the games moved to sunday’s Laura and Milton would go to the Rough Rider’s games every weekend. -Laura talks of Rideau Street and Sparks Street shopping; She used to get dressed up to go shopping on Sparks Street in all the nice stores. -Laura worked at the Jewish Community Center from 1980/1981 to 1995. In that time she saw the transformation of Hillel School, as well as the opening of the new COmmunity Center. -LAura’s husband Milton “Murph” was a chartered accountant; he began working for the government before moving to public accounting and finally opening up his own firm. Murph and Laura were married for 33 years and Murph passed away in December of 1988. -Their son Mark Greenberg went to Hillel school and then to Hillcrest Academy. He attended the University of Toronto and then Medical School before becoming a doctor. Mark married his wife Melissa in August of 1988 and they have 3 children together; Ryan, Max, and Jake. MArk has his own family practice and specializes in drug addiction therapies. -Laura concludes her interview by speaking about her personality; Joe addresses her habit of speaking her mind and telling the truth. Laura is very proud of herself and says she always tells the truth whether it is appreciated or not. She was also raised to use her time to help so she is very active and volunteers at many charities and organizations. She speaks of her travels to Alaska, California and Israel as well as her travels around Canada. She concludes by talking about her husband's family and her siblings who are still in Toronto. END OF TAPE 2
- Name Access
- Joe Murray
- Archival / Genealogical
- Archival Descriptions
- Repository
- Ottawa Jewish Archives
Interview with Lil Cohen
https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106339
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Physical Description
- 2 tapes
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Date
- December 4, 2000
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Physical Description
- 2 tapes
- Responsibility
- Interviewed by Joe Murray
- Date
- December 4, 2000
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Storage Location
- vault
- Notes
- Subject: Lil Cohen Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: Tape 1 62:58 Tape 2 25:29 -Lil’s family came to Canada circa 1920, their ship docked in Halifax and they then travelled to Ottawa. -They were immigrating from Bessarabia; they decided to leave once the Soviet Union began the pogroms and anti semitism became prevalent. -The family lived at 156 George Street when they first got to Ottawa and Lil’s father worked at the Loeb (?) families candy factory on sussex. -In 1938 her father opened his own confectionary store and factory at 305 Dalhousie. Lil discusses how the war quickly broke out and sugar was rationed, because of this she remembers the giant lines at Christmas and Easter. The factory sold both hard candy and chocolates. -Lil recalls a woman with the last name Finkelstein who hand made all of the chocolates and would let Lil eat the discarded chocolate. -Lil began working in the store at the age of 13 or 14 and she has fond memories of the very loyal staff. -Lil then talks about her route to and from her house and the murray street shul. She mentions the names of family homes she remembers walking past and who she remembers socializing with. Some of the people she spent the most time with include the Saslov twins, the Slones, the Steinberg's, and the Edelsons. -She touches on her memories of York Street Public School and recalls some of her teachers; Ms. Eardly, Mr. Westwater, Ms. Eckart, Ms. Watts, Mr. Seymour, Mr. Sutherland, Mr. Marks, and Ms. Mitchel. -She has fond memories as a child of spending her saturdays doing foot races with the Saslov twins at the baseball field. -She then attended the School of Commerce. She recalls socializing at Sherman’s and Snyder’s both of which were across the street from the school. SHe excelled at sports and gymnastics at school and did not enjoy home economics. -Lil recalls attending Fader on George street for a year before quitting because she did not enjoy the classes. -She was a member of B’nai Brith in Ottawa as well as the girl guides. She also founded a club with her girlfriends called Select Teens. She recalls spending her teen years socializing and dancing at the Wise families store. -Lil touches on her memories of her sister marrying young and her brother being a fantastic dancer and wearing zoot suits. -Her father purchased a cottage in Britannia opposite the train tracks. Lil spent most of her summers there with the Saslov’s, Bookerman’s, and Blostein’s. She has fond memories of swimming and diving at the beach. -Lil spent most of her social time at Britannia either at Lakeside Gardens listening to the music or Clancy’s. -She recalls the tea dances that were held in the basement of the King Edward synagogue. -Her family then moved to 92 Charlotte street where she would sit on the stairs and watch her brother and his friends play poker. This is how she learnt to play cards. -In her teen years she wrote a gossip column for B’nai Brith, this evolved into her becoming a secretary at the Hadassah because she was very fast and good at taking notes. -Lil then speaks about the Cohen side of her family. -She met George Cohen on a blind tennis date at Tel Aviv Tennis Club and they were married for 27 years before separating. They had 2 children and 4 grandchildren. -it was George who encouraged her to return to work in the mid 60’s. She began as a casual employee for the government. She speaks about taking the entrance exams for the government and of experiencing anti-semitism in the office. -Lil is a very confident woman and speaks of her time in the office; she tells funny stories about paying her boss back from card games and practicing her golf in the office hallways. -In April of 1968 Lil received a request to interview at the Israeli embassy as Arie Eshel’s secretary. Lil interviewed and wagered her job offer against her job to get better benefits. END OF TAPE 1 -Lil ended up starting work at the Israeli Embassy for ambassador Arie Eshel in May of 1968. -Lil worked with 8 ambassadors from 1968-1996. Lil loved the job and talks about her role in the embassy, her responsibilities, and the difficulties she would have with guest lists to events. -Lil discusses her trips to Israel. She discusses the people she stayed with, the perks of travelling with the embassy, and her experiences in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. -She discusses Israeli food and all the politicians she got to meet. -At the time of the interview Lil has been retired for 4 years. She is now a secretary for the Canada Israel Cultural Foundation as well as the secretary for her apartment building. She also has plans to volunteer with teenagers. END OF TAPE 2
- Name Access
- Joe Murray
- Archival / Genealogical
- Archival Descriptions
- Repository
- Ottawa Jewish Archives
Interview with Mervin Blostein
https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106337
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Date
- October 25, 2000
- Scope and Content
- Subject: Mervin Blostein Interviewer: N/A Date: October 25, 2000 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 1:01:07 **RACISM DISCLAIMER** TRIGGER WARNING FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT -Mervin’s father was from Lithuania and his mother was from Minsk, Russia. His father was a teacher in Russia. -In 1920…
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Scope and Content
- Subject: Mervin Blostein Interviewer: N/A Date: October 25, 2000 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 1:01:07 **RACISM DISCLAIMER** TRIGGER WARNING FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT -Mervin’s father was from Lithuania and his mother was from Minsk, Russia. His father was a teacher in Russia. -In 1920 at the age of 17 Mervin’s father came to Ottawa. -In 1925 at the age of 5 Mervin’s mother came to Ottawa with her family. -Mervin’s father moved in with an uncle, J Marks, upon his arrival while he learnt english. He sold oil rags and t-shirts. Once he learnt english he began selling insurance. -Mervin speaks of a story of his fathers Bar Mitzvah in 1914 during the war. Which led to a few years living in Russia and working in a herring factory. -Mervin’s father sold insurance, then moved into tire sales, and finally used furniture; a business which Mervin joined in the 1950’s. -Mervin discusses his childhood home at 60 Cobourg Avenue. The family then moved to Nelson street when he turned 13 years old. -Mervin discusses his mothers side of the family and his cousins the Sasloves and the Goldenburgs (?). -Mervin was born in Ottawa in 1927 at the Grace Hospital that has since been closed. ***-He attended York Street Public School and recalls some of his teachers; Mr. Matthews, Mr. Ketcheson (?), Mr Cook, and Mrs. Eckhart. He tells a story of the time he received the strap at school. (TRIGGER WARNING SEXUAL ASSAULT) -Mervin attended Feder at the King Edward Synagogue and recalls some of his classmates; Joe Murrey, Harold Cohn, Dolly Ginsberg, Ellie Edlestein, Sydney Novak, and Lasser Weiner (?) are a few of the classmates mentioned. -Mervin played street hockey on York Street in his childhood and remembers spending all of his money at Edelson’s (?) buying gum. -He goes on to list stores and businesses he remembers but have since gone out of business. He mentions Botonov Bakery, Kardish Bakery, AJ Freimans, The shops all along Williams Street, AD Pleats store (?), Shulmans on George Street, Lepointe Fish Market, and Ritz on Rideau Street. -He speaks about being in the 39th Boy Scouts Troops in 1939 and being a bike messenger for the city. He remembers his troop leader being a man named Meiser and going on sleigh rides in Mooneys Bay. -Whites Double Dip is a fond childhood memory for him as is getting smoked meat sandwiches from Mikelsons (?). -Mervin says that the social scene after shul was at Barney Wise’s, Rideau Theater or Francais Theater. -When Mervin was 10 he wanted a bicycle but could not afford one so he used to rent one from Jack’s Bike Rental or Arts Bike Rental until his father was able to buy one for him. -Mervin’s family purchased a cottage on the main street of Britannia Beach for $500 with his cousins the Sasloves. The house had 4 bedrooms and an outhouse. -Mervin talks about his friend Maurie Karp who sold newspapers as a boy in downtown Ottawa. -During elementary school Mervin fixed mattress springs for work and in High School he worked for his father delivering furniture. -When asked about clubs he participated in he recalls; Boy Scouts, Macabee Squadron, B’nai B’rith, The Knights of Pythias, AZA, and was chairman of the seats at Murray Street Shul. -Mervin mentions a story of losing his corporal strips in his squadron and then tells a story of how the shul handled selling seats to people who could not afford to purchase them. -Mervin then goes into a discussion about his furniture business with Harold Cohn and the process of buying furniture from foreign countries. ***-Mervin tells a story about a customer and his interactions with the customer. (RACISM) -Mervin discusses trips and travelling he has done to Mallorca and Jerusalem. He says upon arriving in Israel he had a very good feeling because of the atmosphere and community. -Mervin concludes by saying that he has enjoyed living in Canada and is very happy the country has treated him well. END OF TAPE
- Responsibility
- Interviewed by Joe Murray
- Date
- October 25, 2000
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Storage Location
- vault
- Name Access
- Joe Murray
- Archival / Genealogical
- Archival Descriptions
- Repository
- Ottawa Jewish Archives
Interview with Moe Litwack
https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106352
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Date
- July 10, 2000
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Responsibility
- Interviewed by Joe Murray
- Date
- July 10, 2000
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Storage Location
- vault
- Name Access
- Joe Murray
- Archival / Genealogical
- Archival Descriptions
- Repository
- Ottawa Jewish Archives
Interview with Morley Goldfield
https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106437
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Physical Description
- 2 tapes
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Date
- April 4, 2001
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Physical Description
- 2 tapes
- Responsibility
- Interviewed by Joe Murray
- Date
- April 4, 2001
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Storage Location
- vault
- Notes
- Subject: Morley Goldfield Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: April 4, 2001 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 52:18 -Morley’s grandparents on his paternal side arrived in Canada in 1894 from Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg. They had 5 children; Ben, Charlie, Archie, Pearl, and Mitchel. -Morleys grandfather worked with Cattle in Ottawa and the family followed suit and worked in the meat industry. -Charlie was Morley’s father. Charlie married Eva Cohen and they had 5 children; Lionel, Morley, Jack, Anita, and Barbara. -Morley talks of his neighbourhood growing up and the shops nearby. Morley attended York Street Public School. He recalls the school having many Jewish students as well as German students. He never had troubles with the German students but says the French boys would often beat him up. -Morley eventually became a butcher. His brother Lionel and Uncle Archie got him into the business. They opened a butcher shop on Murray Street and then expanded to include a delicatessen in the store. In the delicatessen they served smoked meat and salami sandwiches. Morley recalls making smoked turkey sandwiches for Pierre Trudeau. The brothers ran an exhibition stand at the Ottawa Exhibition. -Morley then discusses some fun trips and stories of him and his best friends Gerry Dover and Ben Shapiro. Morley travelled a lot when he was young; he went to Newyork and did a big European trip where he visited Italy, France, England, and Scotland. -Morley got married in 1957 to his wife Diane in California. They had 3 children; Eva Lynn, Kim, and Gary. Gary married Allison Saks and Morley then discusses the Saks family and the Gatineau Country Club. -When Morley and DIane got married they moved in with his mother, then a small apartment. They then purchased a small house in the West End before purchasing the house he currently lives in on Killarney drive in 1965. -Morley talks about the business expansion and creation of the line “Bevi’s Delicatessen products” named after Lionel’s daughter Beverley. -Morley discusses his brother Jack and his children Eva and Eric. Jack passed away in 1991 on a trip in Sweden of a heart attack. -Morley’s daughter Eva Lynn went to York University for marketing and his other daughter Kim went to Toronto to be a nurse. Gary went to Carleton University and got a PhD. -Morely reflects on his business; it was a very hard industry and he worked very hard to be successful. In his reflection on it he is not sure he would do it again if he got to do it over. -Morely and his family attended Synagogue at the King Edward Shul and he recalls the Sunday dances and events. -Morely reflects on growing up poor and making the best of it. -In his retirement Morley spends a lot of time at the JCC working out and does some work with mortgage brokers. He also travels to FLorida each winter, visits his daughter in California, and visits Europe. -Morley concludes by discussing the Ottawa Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and the Jack Goldfield award. He created this award in memory of his brother and it is given to the best male and female athletes each year. END OF TAPE
- Name Access
- Joe Murray
- Archival / Genealogical
- Archival Descriptions
- Repository
- Ottawa Jewish Archives
Interview with Morris Cantor
https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106338
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Date
- December 13, 2000
- Scope and Content
- Subject: Morris Cantor Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: December 13, 2000 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 63:15 LANGUAGE WARNING -Morris was born in Lithuania, his family is from a small town near Kovna. -in 1930 the family started to see more anti semitism and decided to immigrate to…
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Scope and Content
- Subject: Morris Cantor Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: December 13, 2000 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 63:15 LANGUAGE WARNING -Morris was born in Lithuania, his family is from a small town near Kovna. -in 1930 the family started to see more anti semitism and decided to immigrate to the US. He had 3 brothers living in South Africa and a brother and a sister living in the US. Morris and his brother and sister still living in Lithuania were sponsored by his family in Boston and immigrated. They could not get into the US so they came to Canada instead. -In June 1930 they arrived in Quebec City then came to Ottawa when Morris was 12 and a half years old. -In Ottawa Morris’s sister worked stringing pearls and his father worked at a wholesale market in the Byward Market. -Morris attended York Street Public School for 2 years and he discusses skipping grades and his favorite teacher Mr. Cook. -Morris left school to work with his father. He worked as a door to door fruit peddler after his father bought a horse and wagon. He discusses the prices he was selling at and how drastically prices have changed. -Morris’s brother went to Montreal for a short time to learn the butcher business and when he returned they opened a butcher store in the Byward Market. -he discusses meat prices and customer interactions, he particularly remembers the generosity of a customer who gave him new clothes in exchange for meat. -In 1936 the brothers bought a new building and moved the butcher into a bigger space. -Morris was a member of the Machzikei Hadas when it was at its Murray Street location. He speaks on his memories of the older members of the congregation and Kaddish. -In 1942 he enlisted in the Royal Candian Airforce. He worked very hard to be the best he could; he recalls shining his shoes until they looked like mirrors and sleeping on top of his made bed so it always looked neat. -Morris was promoted to Corporal where he began teaching students and eventually got made a Sergeant. He has fond memories of playing cards in the Sergeants mess hall and his colleagues drinking. -He recalls working on a base near the Alaskan Highway and selling his liquor to men working on the highway instead of drinking it himself. -He was discharged in 1945/1946 and he returned to Ottawa. -Morris went back to working at the butcher shop and met his wife Goldie Cantor. Morris and Goldie were married in June of 1946. -Morris speaks about how hard the work was in the butcher shop, he says he barely saw his children since he was always working. -He then speaks about a man in real estate coming into the shop and that is where he learnt of an auditorium that was for sale. He bought the auditorium and remodeled it. The auditorium was host to hockey games, skating clubs, wrestling matches, concerts, and midget (derogatory term) wrestling. -He discusses making deals with CBC to have tv broadcasts of events and business deals gone bad involving the auditorium. -Eventually the building was bought by the YMCA for $300,000 -Morris then touches on his family life. He had 3 daughters and one son; Elsa, Evelyn, Leslie, and Ian. Morris details each of their education and marriages. He is very proud of his children, their partners, and his grandchildren. -Joe Murray brings up rumours that Morris has a brother in South Africa who is involved in the diamond trade, Morris says these are false rumors and his brothers left South Africa some time ago. -Morris then discusses his Slaughterhouse; in 1959 he purchased a meat plant. His plant produced both beef and pork and twice a week had kosher slaughtering. He sold this plant in 1975. -Morris finishes by telling the story of when Elvis Presley performed at his auditorium and he got to meet him. He also talks about the times he had circuses with elephants in his auditorium. END OF TAPE
- Responsibility
- Interviewed by Joe Murray
- Date
- December 13, 2000
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Storage Location
- vault
- Name Access
- Joe Murray
- Archival / Genealogical
- Archival Descriptions
- Repository
- Ottawa Jewish Archives
Interview with Morton Taller
https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106366
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Physical Description
- 2 tapes
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Date
- June 1, 2000
- Scope and Content
- Subject: Morton Taller Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: June 1, 2000 Interview Location: Ottawa Length of Time: Part 1 32:05, Part 2 23:27, Part 3 41:44. Total time: 1:37:16 Part 1- 32:05 - Morton begins the tape by talking about how his family came to Canada. Morton expresses how he wished these i…
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Physical Description
- 2 tapes
- Scope and Content
- Subject: Morton Taller Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: June 1, 2000 Interview Location: Ottawa Length of Time: Part 1 32:05, Part 2 23:27, Part 3 41:44. Total time: 1:37:16 Part 1- 32:05 - Morton begins the tape by talking about how his family came to Canada. Morton expresses how he wished these interviews were done earlier, as he is unclear about some parts of his story. -Taller’s father and mother both came from Russia, but he is unsure of what part. His father was 21/22 and came to Canada in 1901. -He believes his father left Russia because they were conscripted into the army. -He went to New York, and landed at Ellis Island, where he worked as a cabinet maker. -He went to Canada from Ellis Island. Taller is not sure of the exact information -His father landed in Ottawa, where he had no one. -He got a job on a railroad- In W(?)- 60-100 km north of ottawa -He brought his mother, and Taller’s sister Edith, who was born in Russia, out to Ottawa after finishing working at the railroad. -There were 10 kids, most were born in Canada. -Taller’s brother Norman was born in New york, as was Taller -In Canada his father was farming in Billings Bridge, where he had a 300 acre farm that he did not own and cows, and used to sell milk, door to door and downtown. They were there a number of years, and then they stopped in 1916. -From there, the family moved to New York in 1916, where they rented a farm and stayed there for 5 years. -Morton was born in New york in 1919, his brother Norman in 1921. -Taller’s maternal uncle, and his paternal grandfather were brought out as well by his father -They left Ellenville, New York, which was 100 or so miles from New York city. -His father brought out his Auntie Becky, his Auntie Rachel, his Aunt Eva, Aunt Annie. Along with his Uncle Morris, Uncle Oh(?), who was a tailor and got himself into a tailor shop. -The family lived in Sandy Hill, and some relatives lived along Murray Street -They were the original Jews that came from Russia and congregated on Murray street -The “smaller Taller” is now living in Israel- he married a girl who worked for the Israeli embassy and they’re now living there -The “taller Taller” is living in Israel but is very sick now- he is near the border up north near Lebanon. -His aunts and uncles were not named Taller, but had to take on his father’s name to come to Canada. His fathers name was not Taller either, it was Tallerenski? But they gave him the name Taller when he immigrated. All the people in his family who came to Canada were given the name Taller as well -There were other families who came to Canada. The Tsvinskis? And Sepkas? -Norman and Ralph Sepkas were children who were brought to Canada and Sam Sepkas became a butcher -In Ottawa, Taller was living on Bayview Road. His father bought the corner of Bayview and Wellington. -His father was originally a mattress maker in Europe, so when he came here, he bought that corner, and he started making mattresses -Taller was 2 years old when he came from New York, and they came to Ottawa in 1921 -At that time, they lived above a factory. Their roof leaked, but they lived there anyway. -They later moved down to Cummings Ave, and after that, each family branched out. -His Zeidi (father’s father) bought a horse and a wagon, and he was a peddler who went door to door. When his Zeidi used to come downtown, his Zeidi always stopped to talk to Morton’s father because he was his only son. He always came with cents for the kids, but Morton’s mother didn’t like that as she didn’t want her children to become beggars. -His grandparents were religious. -Zeidi Mayor, was his Mother’s father and Bubby L? -Up in Billings Bridge, his father started a small shul because there were other Jews living there the area. After his father finally moved from the farm to the city, he used to go back up to Billings Bridge all the time. By 1926, his father had a Chevy truck he would use to visit Billings Bridge. -The Greenbergs and Soloways were families there, they also grew vegetables -Mika Greenberg, Sam Greenberg, Johnny Greenberg, and Benny Greenberg are descendants of that Greenberg family -In Billing’s Bridge, H.B. Billings, was the squire who owned all the property. -Not so long ago there was an opening up the hill, and two of H.B.’s daughters were there. One of his son’s got killed in the war. Taller introduced himself to the daughters and said his father farmed the land many years ago. Taller talked with the daughters about how interesting it is to date back how people came here with nothing, and how people either lived, gained, or died. Taller said these are real pioneering stories -Taller transferred to Kanuck Public school in Grade 5, and he was there for about 2 years and then sent to Devonshire public school. -The kids played baseball because a bat and ball was cheap and lasted a long time, and there were outdoor skating rinks that were free. -Taller’s father was a great believer in the second hand stores on Williams street. He only bought second hand. The kids had skates, gloves, hockey sticks from Winnow street second hand stores. Taller said the rich sold them and the poor bought them but it was great fun. -From Devonshire Public School, he went to Glebe highschool, but was not good at school. -After, there was advertising for people to work in the government, so Taller took an exam and passed. He became an office boy at 17, making $35 a month. He mentioned that later when he came back from overseas he got $60 a month. -Taller wanted to be a pilot in the air force, but his mother said he should make some money so he stayed with the Goverment job. He worked there for 4 years. And then the war broke out. -Taller was living on bayview road when the war broke out, and all those 21 years of age and over had to do 4 months. He was called up, he did his 4 months, and he really didn’t know what to do and they were given an option; if they volunteered they could take any service they want. -So Taller volunteered, was sent to Toronto, got in the air force, and was an LAC(?) -While in active service, they gave him a job where he went to Quebec, and he worked in the photography section as a GD, the General Dealer? (unclear). He wasn’t there very long before he was sent overseas. -Joe brings Taller back to his education. Taller went to Devonshire and Glebe highschool. He went to Hader Jewish studies on George street, where Lipschitz was his teacher. Solemski and Raspberg were both teachers there as well. -He remembers Lipschitz taught them, but Taller didn’t do well. Lipschitz was strict on Taller -Lipschitz and Solemski got into a fight with the admin of the school, and started a school on Rideau street. Later they reconciled so they came back to the first school on George Street. -Morton Taller begins telling a story about a boy named Jack who drowned. Jack’s family had a cottage in Old Orchard and he drowned. Taller remembers when they brought him home everyone was wondering what was going on. -Joe and Taller reminisce about how in those days the Rabbis used their fists, canes, whatever, and loved to pull ears. -Izzy Shinder, Louis Fiends, Rubin Fiends, and Dave Fiends were in his class. -Taller doesn’t remember if there were girls in Hader, he doesn’t think they went to Hader in those days, or at least there were none in his class Morton recalls that there were big snowball fights between Jews and others, because Hader backed onto York street, where York public school was so they would meet and fight. -Morton recalls his mother liked having live chickens at home because she liked fresh poultry. -His father bought him a bike and he remembers he used to have chickens in a bag on his back, he’d bring them to rideau where they'd be slaughtered and he'd pick them up after Hader. He would bring them home and his mother would pluck them Part 1 ends with Joe asking about what Butchers there were in Ottawa at the time. Part 2: 23:27 -Joe asks Morton to backtrack to his family, specifically the 10 children. -Morton reminisces on how women today don't have time to clean the floors and do the shopping at the same time, but his mother had time to clean the house, raise 10 kids, do milking on the farm and gather eggs. -He’s the only brother left out of 5 brothers and 5 sisters -He lists his brother; Sam, Moses, Norman, Archie, and himself Morton. He begins to list his sisters, naming only Edith before moving on. -Edith married Mor Sasler, a butcher who wanted to open a butcher shop. -Taller’s family worked with Sasler after he opened his butcher shop, Capital Meat Market on Bell Street. Taller's sister Eva was a cashier and Taller helped in the butcher shop. -Backtracking to 1941, Morton went overseas for 4 years. Archie and Norm also went overseas in the army in 1941. They went over within 6 months of each other, but he forgets the name of the boat he went over on. -Morton remembers when he woke up in the morning, they were surrounded by American war ships; 4 destroyers, 4 battle cruisers. He said it felt good to see them in 1941, considering the North Atlantic was full of German submarines. -Morton landed in Greenock Scotland. They had nothing to eat, and the story was the Germans bombed the gasworks and that was why they had to eat uncooked bread -He went down south to (?) for 17 days, and then he was in the south side of London for 4 months. He was then posted in the 408 squadron up north. -Morton’s brothers were in Europe; Archie was in Italy. Norman never got out of England even though he was first overseas and the last home. Norman got married in London. -Archie almost got married but the CO’s took him off the ground and then he was in Italy for 14 months. He was in the 23rd Ambulance?. Norman was in the 5th CS? -Morton was there until 1944, before he was sent home. -There were a lot of changes when he came back. -Morton got 30 days leave, and they gave him 12 months pay at $100 a month which for him was a big step. He bought a car, a 1941 chevy, and was back to work in the government, but he found it sickening. -Morton remembers he was a driver in the air force, where he was outside all the time and then he had to go back to the government and sit around and everyone looked sick to him. -He left there and went to work for his brother in law Abel Who was a butcher, at the Ottawa meat and fish in the Byward market. -Abel used to yell at his workers because when they picked up the fish they picked them up by the eyes, and then the eyes got squished and it didn't look fresh, so people wouldn't buy them. -Morton worked for Abel for a few months but he was too tough so Taller left and went back to his government job. -After his government job, Archie and Morton bought West End Meat Market. They almost bought the tailor store, but there was something wrong with the lease. It belonged to Zegarman, who was a tough landlord, and someone else he can’t remember. -After West End Meat Market, they went into Albert Meat Market. -Morton’s brother in law Morris owned Albert meat market, and Archie and Morton went in and learned how to Butcher. Morton remembers on Saturdays it was packed. -Archie, Morton and their brother in law Morris were tired of the butcher shop, so they wanted to turn it into a self-serve store on 71 Williams. -While they were building the butcher shop into a self-serve store, Morton made a few trips to other self-serve stores to figure out how to do it. -Morton was 35 when they turned this into a self-serve store. -After a short while, the self-serve made the manual serve look bad with sales, and they went completely self-serve, leading to a spike in sales. -They used to take in about $4000 on Saturdays and went up to $12,000 on Saturdays, because of the self-serve. At the time, they had about 30 employees. -Morton begins to tell a story about Ray who worked at the Schule and was his spare driver. They built the butcher shop across the street where a shoe store was, which is now a restaurant that they owned. The whole top floor was a freezer and downstairs they rented it out to a food store. They kept turkeys across the street in the freezer, so when you wanted a box of turkeys you went across the street. In each box there were 4 15 lbs turkey in a box so 6o lbs per box. The bottom of a box became wet and when Ray picked it up, the turkey fell out and landed on his foot. To this day, Morton says Ray says he can still feel it. -Morton met his wife Sally. She taught school in Ottawa and she lived with his aunt Becky. Morton was introduced to Sally and 6 months later they were married -Morton begins to tell the story of his wife Sally. Sally comes from a farm in Kemptville. She and her sisters and parents came over here in 1939, after they escaped Poland. Canada allowed 50 jewish families from Poland, and they were one of the families picked to come here. -Sally had a brother and 3 sisters. However, her brother was turned away by the immigration officers. They told her parents to take him back to Europe or the entire family had to go back. -Sally was only 9 years old. Her father stayed in Canada with the girls, while her mother took her brother back to Poland. Sally doesn’t know or remember why her brother was turned away. But her mother came back and never spoke of it. -After getting married, Morton and Sally lived on a chicken farm, where they had around 12,000 chickens and used to ship them to Montreal. -Sally and Morton had 4 children, unfortunately their son Jay was 29 when he died. -Morton has 3 lovely daughters. And at the time they had 4 children, so 4 grandchildren for Morton and Sally. Tape 2 ends. Part 3: 41:44 -For the 3rd session, Joe states he was just handed a typewritten sheet, 14 inches long, with all kinds of data that Morton will explain. -Morton recalls he was discharged from the air force and placed on reserve. The reason being the air force had more people than they needed so they were placed on reserve rather than discharged because they were still at War with Japan. The condition of their reserve was if they had to go to war with Japan, Morton would have to go back on active service. -Morton says that luckily for him the Americans ended the war in the Pacific and he did not have to go back. -Joe starts to read some of the volunteer things Morton had done. He was the former chairman with JNF, served with UGA for 20 years, and was the immediate past chairman for the state of Israel bonds -On his support of Israel, Taller says he was always connected with Israel in the fact that he believed in it very much, to the extent now he has a daughter who lives there who has had 3 children born there. She didn’t marry an Israeli but married Professor Steinburg, who is a writer. -Morton also owns an apartment there, and the last time he and Sally were there was February 2000 -Joe asks Morton Taller about his connection with the Bechlem? Congregation and when he came to Machzikei Hadas. -Morton recalls how a friend Zawyer? took them out for dinner and said he had found land for a synagogue. -Sally Taller expresses her gratitude to Rabbi B? For his role in the purchasing of the land used for the synagogue, and helping them to not be unjustly penalized. -Sally mentions how they were still at Bechlem while the land for Machzikei was being built, as they lived there from 1958-1976. -Morton says they chose to build where they did because there was already a Shul in the West end, and as the Jewish community was growing they wanted a new location. The land was available, and it belonged to the United Church who was selling it. -Sam, Archie, Morton, paid $3000 to get the land. -Morton mentions Rabbi Boka, who helped them get the land, after he was, according to Morton, given a bad deal. Morton believed the city did not treat Rabbi Boka with respect, so Morton bought the land. -Joe mentions how proud he was because people used to go to the same Shul as him. -Morton mentioned how not a lot of people had money, but he was always trying to be generous to those who needed help. -Joe asked Morton about his membership with the Royal Canadian air force association, and does he attend any events/meetings? -Morton responds the events are usually friday night -Sally Taller says Morton was in charge of a big dinner for the 45th anniversary, and all members came to Ottawa. -Morton is also a B’nai Brith Gold Menorah Member, a charter member at the Rideau View Golf and Country Club, and a meat packer council member -On the golf course, Morton says there were only a few of us that put the money in there. The land was donated by Alec Betchelmen? He was a great guy. Taller says that before Jews couldn’t get into golf courses but now they could fund it themselves -Archie and Morton were members and then Sam joined later. Morton passed on his membership to his daughter -Morton says at the start of his membership he put in $1000, Archie put in $1000. Right away they jacked it up for charter members for $1500. When he went to transfer his membership to his daughter it was $7000. -Sally begins to retell the story of her childhood and coming to Canada. She was born in Poland, her father left Poland in 1939, he was determined to get out of Poland. They left his mother and his brother and at the time in 1939 Poland was very generous and allowed 50 polish families to go to Canada with the condition they bought farmland -Her fathers brother was in New York and he knew if he didn’t go to canada he’d never see him again -Sally was 9 and they found a farm in Kemptville for $2000, the only money they could bring into the country -Schniderman’s in Kemptville took it upon themselves to help her father and backed him when he was purchasing the land and to this day Sally’s family is very grateful. -Sally said her family were 3 sisters and 1 brother, when they got to Pier 21 in Halifax, for some reason her brother was not allowed. The Polish medical said everything was ok but then said to her parents either you take your son back and leave him or you all go back. -Her mother took her little brother back and left him with her uncle. By the grace of god her mother came back in august 1939. -They came to the farm and didn’t know the language or the farm. It was rough but her parents and sisters were wonderful and her family was very orthodox. -Slowly communities started to get bigger in Kemptville, and she recalls Mister Miller gave them part of their house to make Shul -She graduated from public school and highschool and the teachers were good to them and made sure they learned proper english. -She went to Queens and her parents said whatever you do make sure you have an education and that “You can carry your head like a suitcase stuff it as much as you can” -Her parents moved to Ottawa in 1967, but they still go to Kemptville every sunday to spend time as a family -Sally taught for 2 years and after she got married they wouldn't let her teach in Ottawa anymore. -Sally is involved with Hadas. She’s a life member, Chairman of committees, involved with the state of Israel bonds and still involved with Misrahai? -She felt they were doing a great job at keeping tradition and building a sense of community. -She enjoyed volunteering because you got to meet a lot of people -She was a staunch supporter of jewish education and the Tomatoha board, -She thinks it’s very important to have an education -She sent her kids to jewish camps and taught them at home -Her son graduated MIT as an engineer -They all graduated, her daughter Connie got her masters -Morton says that while he’s not a blackhat he believes in shul, rabbis, he’s more or less religious and he believes in jewish organizations, -He’s active in the Jewish war veterans of Canada, but it takes people; Nat Levinson started it. He was chairman for 5-7 years and he wanted to get rid of it but there were no takers. So they had a meeting and Morton stepped forward. -After Morton became chairman of the board of veterans, they had meetings at his house. -He was chairman for 3-4 years but he got sick leading to an operation on his leg. He wasn't able to chair anymore, but he was still a supporter. -The Jewish War Veterans of Canada put out a book, and are a great source of pride for the Jews. Taller says there’s so many who did wonderful service during the war. -Sally took a lot of pictures so they could share their stories with their kids -Sally talks about her time in a choir started by her Cantor, and said she loved being in the choir. When it started there were very few young people in it. -Sally did more volunteer work when the kids were young and she said they always had their house open. -Morton recalls when they went to Montreal to hear a guest speaker, and Jack Smith offered to take Morton’s family all on the bus. They brought their kids and Morton says that his middle daughter Beverly is active in volunteering because of this experience. -They did their best to teach the kids at home so they would carry on traditions. -Their daughter Connie got her masters at Cornell but had to do more schooling in Israel to get a valid nutritionist license. -They have one daughter, Lynda, who lives close by who comes every Friday night for dinner. -All of Morton and Sally’s kids when to college. Recording cut out at 31:55.
- Responsibility
- Interviewed by Joe Murray
- Date
- June 1, 2000
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Storage Location
- vault
- History / Biographical
- Digitized by: Emma Bower
- Name Access
- Joe Murray
- Archival / Genealogical
- Archival Descriptions
- Repository
- Ottawa Jewish Archives
Interview with Norman Polowin
https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106355
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Physical Description
- 3 tapes
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Date
- January 2, 2001
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Physical Description
- 3 tapes
- Responsibility
- Interviewed by Joe Murray
- Date
- January 2, 2001
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Storage Location
- vault
- Name Access
- Joe Murray
- Archival / Genealogical
- Archival Descriptions
- Repository
- Ottawa Jewish Archives
Interview with Ruth Polowin
https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106356
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Date
- December 7, 2000
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Responsibility
- Interviewed by Joe Murray
- Date
- December 7, 2000
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Storage Location
- vault
- Name Access
- Joe Murray
- Archival / Genealogical
- Archival Descriptions
- Repository
- Ottawa Jewish Archives
Interview with Sam Shapiro.
https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106631
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Date
- March 15, 2001
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Responsibility
- Interviewed by Joe Murray
- Date
- March 15, 2001
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Storage Location
- vault
- Name Access
- Joe Murray
- Archival / Genealogical
- Archival Descriptions
- Repository
- Ottawa Jewish Archives
Interview with Sheila Baslaw
https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106436
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Date
- February 20, 2001
- Scope and Content
- Subject: Sheila Baslaw Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: February 20th Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 55:38 -Sheila’s mom was a Rebnovsky and her family was from Ukraine. She was 1 of 7 children and the family lost their parents early. One daughter, Sophie, came to Canada and met her …
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Scope and Content
- Subject: Sheila Baslaw Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: February 20th Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 55:38 -Sheila’s mom was a Rebnovsky and her family was from Ukraine. She was 1 of 7 children and the family lost their parents early. One daughter, Sophie, came to Canada and met her husband. Her husband grew close to Sophie’s family and brought them all over to Canada. -Sheila’s fathers family was from the small town of Purila Estonia. He had 7 siblings and came to Canada during the depression. -Sheila’s father's Hebrew name was Shika and he was an upholsterer in Ottawa. He owned a shop on Wellington Street where the family lived for many years. Sheila talks about how few jewish families lived in the west end. -Sheila’s father then bought a new house and a Roman Catholic Church in Sandy Hill. He used the church as his workshop and the family moved to Sandy Hill. His new shop was on Clarence and Church. -The family also bought a 4 unit house and rented out the remaining 3 units. Sheila lived here from the ages of 9-15. The family then moved to 265 Wilborn ave. -Sheila had 2 siblings; her brother Norman was born in 1931, she was born in 1932, and her sister Rhoda was born in 1938. -Sheila took music and tap dancing classes when she was a child. -Sheila had always dreamed of becoming a social worker, she went to Carleton University and then the St.Patrick School for Social Work. -Sheila talks about her mother teaching herself to read, walking to Mikkenberg’s(?) for smoked meat on Sundays, and how her brother inspired her with how studious he was. -Sheila has been employed since she was 15 years old. She worked at a daycare for multiple summers and then as a camp counselor in the laurentians. She talks about odd jobs she had as a cashier in various clothing stores. -The family had a summer cottage near woodroffe. They would spend the summer there and only come downtown for special occasions. -Sheila married Morton Taller in 1955 and they had 3 children. David was born in 1960, Lawrence was born in 1961, and Coleman was born in 1963. -Sheila talks about the war years in Ottawa. She was young but she recalls rationing and making a blanket with her friend to donate. Morton was 17 when he joined the air force and was sent to Europe. -Sheila returned to work when her son David was 7. She applied for a job at Northern Affairs setting up counseling services for the indigenous communities in the north. She found this job very rewarding and interesting. She then went to work for the Children’s Aid Society where she set up group counseling for unmarried mothers. She then went to McGill to take a course s=of interest for her work where she then joined a research project. In 1976 she became the head of a project to set up research and resources for child abuse, -Sheila talks of her children and their careers, Morton’s career in art, his teaching at the Ottawa Art School and the families painting trips they would take. -Sheila never got to go to Hebrew school growing up and wanted to, so later in her life she attended Hebrew school and had her Bat Mitzvah. Her and Morton continued to educate themselves and are currently taking skating, skiing, and tai chi classes. END OF TAPE
- Responsibility
- Interviewed by Joe Murray
- Date
- February 20, 2001
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Storage Location
- vault
- Name Access
- Joe Murray
- Archival / Genealogical
- Archival Descriptions
- Repository
- Ottawa Jewish Archives
Mrs. Abraham (Dora) Lithwick cutting the ribon at th opening of Hillel Lodge
https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn113387
- Collection
- Hillel Lodge fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- graphic material
- Fonds No.
- O0013; OJA 4-013-111
- Date
- October 10, 1965
- Collection
- Hillel Lodge fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- graphic material
- Date
- October 10, 1965
- Fonds No.
- O0013
- Item No.
- OJA 4-013-111
- Storage Location
- vault
- Acquisition Source
- Hillel Lodg Long Term Care Home (Abby Gourgon)
- Name Access
- Joe Murray
- Archival / Genealogical
- Archival Descriptions
- Repository
- Ottawa Jewish Archives
Images
Rhoda Prager discusses the Cooper / Slone families
https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106357
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Date
- September 10, 2001
- Collection
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- sound recording
- Responsibility
- Joe Murray
- Date
- September 10, 2001
- Fonds No.
- O0045
- Storage Location
- vault
- Notes
- -The Sloan side of Rhodas family came to Canada in the early 1900’s. -The Cooper side had some relatives come to Pembrooke prior to World War I and the rest came to Pembrooke after the war. -When Rhoda was born her family lived at Augusta. At the age of 4 they moved to Electric Street in New Edinburgh. She remembers her neighbour Ben Goldfield, The Betchermans, Estelle Levitan, and Robin’s family grocery store. -The family then moved to 292 Clarence street so Rhoda and her brother could go to York Street Public School. -Rhoda then discusses her neighbours and a former employer who lived in Sandy Hill. Mentions Eating Disorder. -Rhoda remembers shopping at Friemans with her mother and spending Saturdays at the movies with her brother and Julie Cransberg, she says they would go to either Center Theatre, The Regent, or the Capitol. -Rhoda discusses her time at York Street School; she tells a story about Laurie Greenberg (?) standing up to the boys at the catholic school nearby as they were throwing snowballs at her. -Rhoda went to Lisgar High School and during this time moved to her grandparents house on McGee Street. And she remembers this house because she remembers their first refrigerator being delivered in 1938. -During the war years she remembers her mother forming a knitting club to knit for the Red Cross. She talks about learning to knit and sending scarves overseas to help soldiers. She discusses how this is something she kept up with and later in life sent scarves to Israeli soldiers, knitting baby blankets for the civic hospital, and sweaters and afghans for her grandkids. -Rhoda spent lots of her social time growing up playing tennis at Tel Aviv Tennis Club, she talks about the social aspect. -Rhoda tells a story about the delivery boy from Rideau Bakery, and her memories of roller blading to the Rideau Bakery to pick up bread for her family. -She has very fond memories of her mother cooking in the kitchen and selling the food they grew in the garden. She talks about her mother having beautiful gardens at their house on Electric Street. -She remembers the garden at the house on McGee Street because they grew strawberries and she had some every morning. -Rhoda discusses how growing up she never realized how poor her family was, her parents always made sure to have food in the house and her mother was an avid canner so they ate canned food all through the winter. -Rhoda talks about Zeydeh Sloan who she spent lots of time with growing up. She never went to cheder because her Zeydeh taught her at home. She admired him growing up and talks about him always making money on the side through his calligraphy or by teaching diplomats children yiddish. -Rhoda went to Camp B’nai Brith in the summers. -During the war years she was in high school. She talks about rationing and seeing her mother help people label packages being sent overseas. She also recalls the boys breakfast club on sundays. -Rhoda then discusses her life in Pembroke. Rhoda married Newt Prager in 1950 and they had 3 children together, all born in Ottawa. Betsy in 1953 and Jonie and Margo in 1957. Shortly after the twins were born they moved to Pembroke. Rhoda talks about the jewish community in Pembroke and the opening of the synagogue there. -She recalls her and her husband being very active in the community and her spending a lot of time with her friends and her bridge group. -Rhoda used to throw many house parties and talks about throwing big parties for her daughters weddings. She talks about cooking for the parties and her favorite recipes. -Rhoda also volunteered with the auxiliary club at the hospital. SHe says she loved her work in palliative care. -Rhoda’s first daughter Betsy got married in 1980 and was the first jewish girl married in the Pembroke synagogue. -in 1993 Newt passed away and Rhoda moved back to Ottawa. -RHoda talks about her daughters marriages, divorces, children, and their new marriages. Betsy now lives in Nova Scotia with her second husband and Jonie lives in Maryland. -Rhoda talks about joining Agudath Israel when she returned to Ottawa. She now works with an organization bringing gifts and celebrating jewish holidays in long term care homes. -Rhoda now spends most of her time either in Florida, or visiting her daughters in Nova Scotia and Maryland. END OF TAPE ***tape abruptly cuts out at end of interview***
- Name Access
- Joe Murray
- Archival / Genealogical
- Archival Descriptions
- Repository
- Ottawa Jewish Archives
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