25 records – page 1 of 2.

Interview with Anita Roodman

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106359
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Fonds No.
O0045
Date
November 7, 2000
Scope and Content
Subject: Anita Roodman Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: November 7, 2000 Length of Time: 47:02 - Her mother Lillian Nadler was born in Montreal. Her parents came from Romania, and arrived in Canada in 1912. Her mother was born in 1913, and had 2 sisters and a brother; Sarah Snider, Frances Dryan, Sam…
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Scope and Content
Subject: Anita Roodman Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: November 7, 2000 Length of Time: 47:02 - Her mother Lillian Nadler was born in Montreal. Her parents came from Romania, and arrived in Canada in 1912. Her mother was born in 1913, and had 2 sisters and a brother; Sarah Snider, Frances Dryan, Sam Nadler - Her father came from Russia, his parents came to Canada in 1905. He was born in Russia and was just under a year old when they came here - Her maternal parents came from Bucharest, Romania. Her maternal grandfather was a tailor. - Her paternal grandfather was a farmer in Russia, when he came here they lived on a farm in Buckingham, Quebec, and then started Buckingham Dairy on McGee and St. Patrick - She remembers going to the dairy and visiting her grandparents. - Her parents Lilian and Hyram Kathnelson were married in 1935. - Anita was born in 1936, in Sandy Hill - Anita is the oldest of 8 children- 5 brothers and 2 sisters: Jerry, Morris, Alan, Richard, Marsha, Andrea, Steven - Went to Osgoode St School and then York St. School and then Lisgar Collegiate - A lot of Jewish families in Sandy Hill - Jewish Community Centre was on King Edward Ave. in the old King Edward St. Shul - Belonged to the first Jewish Girl Guides troop with about 15-20 other girls. Used to meet in York st. school once a week. - Used to work at Kiddy Town run by Hy Heins when she went to Lisgar. - Anita has 2 kids; Joel, born in 1959 and Gail born in 1962. Her siblings all have kids. - Recalls growing up and going to the movies, and events held by the JCC. The regent and capital theater and rideau theater. - Her father-in-law had his dental office on Rideau St. - Recalls different restaurants Anita and her friends used to visit - Recalls her father used to take her to Rideau Bakery every sunday morning to get bread. - Anita used to skate, ski and sled with her family. She spent most of her time outdoors - Shopping included Friemans, Birks and Caplans and a few other stores, mostly on Sparks St. now known as the Sparks St Mall - Eaton’s was on the Bank St. corner of Lauier, which was across the street from Cohen furniture, and national bakery. The Odian theater was also on that block, sometime in the 50s. The theater was later destroyed because of a gas leak and subsequent explosion. - When the second world war ended, Anita was 9 years old. Her father took them down to Rideau St. and there were thousands of people dancing in the streets and celebrating - “Football fridays” were high school football games - Recalls when the Ottawa baseball team started, Anita and her friends skipped school to go see them - She went to Hader after school on George St. Mr. Lipshitz was a teacher there. - Jewish Stores; Danes on Rideau St. - Anita took a business course at a college on Spark St. and she got a job in the Public Service commission, then called the Civil Service commission in the government. Worked in the Jackson Building - Anita got married in December 1956 to Mike Roodman - Left the government shortly after, had her kids, and returned to work 10 years later - Left briefly to work with a non-profit. Returned to the government in 1973 and worked in Supply services and public works for 19 years and retired in December 1991 - In 1976 Anita went to Israel. - Recalls when she went to visit Mike who was working in Hong Kong. Mike and Anita enjoy travel. She recalls the time her and Mike spend in warm places during the winter - Anita recalls when her and Mike visited Whitehorse and Alaska Audio Cuts - Anita recalls going to dances every Sunday night at the JCC. It was here that Mike and Anita met and started dating at age 17 and 22 - 9 months later, Mike was in the army, and the Korean war had just ended, but Mike was sent to Korea in November, and he was there for 10 months - They got engaged when she was 18, and married when she was 20 and Mike was 25. Married at Maziki Hadas. Rabbi Epstien officiated. - Recalls going to Florida for their honeymoon - First apartment was on Carmen Ave. in Vanier. There were several other newly married Jewish couples living there - From there they moved to a house in the west end, where they had their son Joel. Moved to Ryan Dr. in the west end. Then moved to Lawrence St. and the kids went to school at Queen Elizabeth School and Rideau High school. Then they moved to Glade Cres Court? Off of baseline rd. near the Carleton Hospital - Mike is in sales in the insurance business. - They are members of Maziki Hadas with Rabbi Bulka - Recalls the wedding of a fellow congregation member. - Mike and Anita took up golfing, and golf with friends at different clubs around the city. - Anita describes how she spends her free time, now that she is retired. - Anita describes how her and her sisters divide their time with their mother, and how their family splits up holidays - Celebrates Hillary Clinton winning a seat in the senate. Audio ends
Responsibility
Interviewed by Joe Murray
Date
November 7, 2000
Fonds No.
O0045
Storage Location
vault
Name Access
Joe Murray
Archival / Genealogical
Archival Descriptions
Repository
Ottawa Jewish Archives
Less detail

Interview with Bob Gencher

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106343
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Fonds No.
O0045
Date
July 11, 2000
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Responsibility
Interviewed by Joe Murray
Date
July 11, 2000
Fonds No.
O0045
Storage Location
vault
Notes
Date Digitized: April 26, 2021 Digitized by: Grace Turner Number of Cassettes: 1 Subject: Bob Gencher and his Family Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: July 11, 2000 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 58:37 Trigger Warning: Racist Language Used -The Gencher family came to Canada after World War I. Bob’s grandfather Jakob Joseph Gencher was the first to come over; the family lived in a small village adjacent to Moscow. Jakob came over 6 years prior to the rest of the family to save the money needed to bring the family to Canada. -Jakob Joseph was a food peddler in the market and lived on Chapel and St. Patrick. Bob tells a story about Marty Saslov’s father who was a travel agent during this time. -Once the family arrived in Canada they moved to Billings Bridge. Bob also recalls a story of how Hy Soloway came to Canada under his father, Harry Gencher’s, passport. -The family lived in a house at 35 St. Joseph Street. The family had 6 children, 4 boys and 2 girls. Abe, Jeanie, Moe, Rita, Bob, and Irving. -Bob recalls that his father was one of the first peddlers to have a motor car instead of a horse and buggy. His father owned a T-4 and had a drop off route on both the east and west side of the canal. -Bob also recalls his family being among the first to have a radio in their home. One of his most vivid memories he has is of the community all coming over to listen to Hitler’s speech in 1939. -Bob then talks about the community and stores his family frequented. **racist term used** -Bob then mentions the Murray Street Shul as well as a few community members who stayed with the Gencher family for a short time. -Bob was born at the Civic Hospital March 15th, 1931. He attended York Street Public School and recalls 2 teachers; Cook and Mathews. -In 1939 the family moved to a house on Marlboro Avenue. Bob talks of his parents buying this house with money his brother Abe sent back from his work in the Air Force. Due to this move he changed schools and then attended Osgoode Street School. -Bob attended Hader at George Street and had very fond memories of his classmates there. -Bob goes on to talk about his neighbours in Sandy Hill; he played a lot of sports with the neighbourhood children and particularly recalls the Abelson boys who were the best at sports. -He talks about the community and the stores he recalls; AJ Freiman’s, the Bottanof Bakery (?), and a Kosher Butcher. He talks of how few jewish establishments there are now. -Bob spent time in Carlsbad Springs and tells stories of his memories there. -Bob recalls how the jewish community in Ottawa was very close and tight knit. -Bob attended Ottawa Technical High School after his brother Moe. He talks of how Moe convinced him to play an instrument. Bob took up the trombone and the drums. Later on his younger brother Irving also came to Ottawa Technical High School and took up the clarinet. The three brothers all got into the Ottawa Boys Band and later the Hull Regiment Band. -In 1955 Bob and Leah got married. Leah and Bob met on a blind date set up by Gail Smith in Montreal. The couple had 5 sons and 8 grandchildren. -Bob and Leah were both active in the community and particularly the Jewish National Fund. -Bob and Leah have travelled a lot and have been to Israel 15 times and Australia 13 times. -The family attends Machzikei Hadas. Bob discusses his son's weddings, the fond memories, and of attending Machzikei Hadas as a family. Bob used to be active in the Knights of Pythias, his memories of the organization are of the charitable fundraising and the poker games after meetings. -Bob discusses his son's marriages and careers. All of them are successful and happy in both. -The Gencher family became self proclaimed “ski bums”. Bob talks of spending every winter weekend skiing at Camp Fortune, which in turn meant his sons became great skiers. -In 1985 Bob was in Rome when he had some chest pains, soon after he received a heart bypass. -Bob spent 42 years as a Real Estate Broker and in 1974 he received his appraisal certification. He now works as a forensic appraiser. END OF TAPE
Name Access
Joe Murray
Archival / Genealogical
Archival Descriptions
Repository
Ottawa Jewish Archives
Less detail

Interview with Dave Appotive

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106435
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Physical Description
2 tapes
Fonds No.
O0045
Date
August 30, 2000
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Physical Description
2 tapes
Responsibility
Interviewed by Joe Murray
Date
August 30, 2000
Fonds No.
O0045
Storage Location
vault
Name Access
Joe Murray
Archival / Genealogical
Archival Descriptions
Repository
Ottawa Jewish Archives
Less detail

Interview with David Appotive

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn110753
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Fonds No.
O0045
Date
2000
Scope and Content
Subject: David Appotive Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: 2000 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 1:15:04 -The interview begins with Joe Murray asking why the Appotive family came to Ottawa? -David explains that his mother had always wanted to leave Russia and that most of his fathers side…
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Scope and Content
Subject: David Appotive Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: 2000 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 1:15:04 -The interview begins with Joe Murray asking why the Appotive family came to Ottawa? -David explains that his mother had always wanted to leave Russia and that most of his fathers side of the family had been killed. So in 1925 they came to Ottawa because David’s grandmother on his mothers side lived in Ottawa with 3 sons and 3 daughters, so it was a natural progression for their family to come here. -David came to Ottawa with his mother, his father, his older brother Rudy who was 10 at the time, himself who was 8, his younger brother Joe who was 6, and his youngest brother Ben who was 3. -When they first arrived in Ottawa they moved in with his grandmother at 83 Clarence Street; there were 8 people living in a 2 bedroom and 1 bathroom apartment. -David recalls that the area was very jewish; he mentions a jewish chemist living in the apartment building they were in, a jewish butcher, a jewish tin maker, a jewish family with a furniture store, the Oscar family who were jewelers, and a jewish barber all living on Clarence Street. -David recalls very fond memories of the local pharmacy as the owner was jewish and always took care of them and offered them discounts. -He also recalls the market and how many jewish families had stands, such as his mother’s brother Zifel (?). -David then discusses his memories of York Street Public School. He recalls himself and his brothers often coming home with bloodied faces because they spoke no english and there was a language barrier with the other kids in school. -David then speaks of his father and how when he arrived he got himself a horse and carriage and began to sell fruit and vegetables around the city. He says his father was relatively successful despite not speaking any english as there was a camaraderie in the community. David also remembers selling fruit in the wagon during the summer with his brother Rudy. -David recalls some of his best childhood memories being at Cheder, he recalls a Rabbi Kranzberg and a Rabbi Clemenski who liked to use the ruler on his hands, but he has only happy memories because they taught him so much. -He can recall one teacher at York Street Public School; Armstrong, who he says was tough but fair. He also remembers the woodworking class, tennis, baseball, and basketball at the school. He estimates that 30-40% of the student population at the time was jewish. -David then talks about his memories of the trip to Canada. He says that despite being young he recalls it taking a year for them to get from their hometown to the boat as the programs for immigration and travel were not very good. He also remembers villagers hiding him and his family for multiple days because of their last name. Once the boat had crossed he remembers landing in St. John New Brunswick where immigration officers could not understand them and spelled their last name however they felt. He remembers this because he has relatives in Israel who spell the last name Apatov. -Joe Murray then asks how David remembers getting along with the non-jewish kids in the area? David doesn’t recall any interactions where he lived with non-jewish families as he said 99% of the population there was jewish. David recalls that all the service they could need were in Lowertown and jewish run so they did not venture out often; there was a milkman, multiple bakeries, and everything could be delivered to your door. -David recalls his father being unhappy in Ottawa, in Russia he had been a playboy with a coach carriage and in Ottawa he did not even speak the language. David recalls his father wanting to go back to Russia after 4 months but his mother convincing him to stay. -David then talks about his memories selling fruits out of the wagon. He says his family found success in it as all 4 four of his brothers worked on the wagon and they could cover streets faster than other peddlers. He recalls the fierce competition in the area and working long days sometimes from 6:00 AM until dark. -David and Joe discuss pay rates at the time and recall how a dollar a day was one of the top rates during this time. David then speaks about how his family was able to save up approximately $700-$800 and buy a house at 224 Clarence Street, the family lived in one half and they rented out the other half. -David has a fond memory of sharing a bicycle with Rudy and riding on the handlebars to and from school together. -David then speaks to his experience in Ottawa during World War II. He decided to enlist so he could choose his unit instead of being conscripted into a unit. He wanted to be a pilot but found out during the entrance exam that he was colour blind so David turned to a unit in British Columbia and was assigned to the Royal Canadian Engineers. He spent the war supplying, building, and unassembling bridges for the Candian Army, the United States Army and the British Army. He was enlisted in this unit with Carl Waserman who he spent the duration of the war with. During this time he discusses losing many “pioneer workers”, who were the men under him building the bridges, and how he was lucky to have not lost too many of his fellow engineers. -Before leaving for the war David had gotten married to Edith Feldblum, he recalls a funny story of himself as a young boy teasing a little girl by pulling her pigtails. 15 years later that woman turned out to be his wife. -David then begins to discuss his current family line; he has 4 children, 10 grandchildren, and 2 great grandchildren. David is still close with his brothers and their families; he discusses where his nieces and nephews ended up and what careers they choose. -David talks about his daughter Sharon and how she worked for 32 years as a school teacher before retiring to travel with her 3 other siblings. All 4 of David's children went on a trip to Greece and Israel together in March of 2000. -The conversation shifts back to Ottawa post-war and David talks about working for S&S Auto Parts, then going on the road to sell parts by himself. However being on the road was not conducive to family life so he switched career paths. -David then bought the restaurant Light Lunch at Somerset and Russell in Sandy Hill. He worked there for 17 years and remembers the long hours he often worked and how he regretted missing seeing his children grow up. -David then discusses how he became president of the Machzikei Hadas, which he refers to as the peddlers shul. The shul’s Rabbi was also servicing 2 or 3 other shuls so he was rarely present on any of the high holidays, so the shul recruited David and other young men to “liven up the shul” as they were working with a very small budget. During this time (1962) David was approached and was asked to become the president of Machzikei Hadas. -After becoming president David worked very hard to increase the budget so the Shul could hire their own Rabbi. He pushed to get rid of the permanent seat memberships they had so that all of the families had to pay membership fees; this increased the budget enough to hire a Rabbi. -The first Rabbi David hired was Rabbi Webber. They rented an apartment for him on Charlotte street and he stayed with the shul for one year. -Machzikei Hadas then hired Rabbi Rubin who had a big family and could not fit in the Charlotte apartment. So David and his family gave up their house for a few months while the Shul looked for a house to buy for the Rabbi. They found a house on Marlboro which was $25,000 however the budget they had was $20,000. So David worked very hard and raised the extra $5,000 himself to purchase the house. -David then discusses all of the surrounding Shuls at the time and watching them all amalgamate into the Kehillat Beth Israel. During this time Machzikei Hadas still operated alone and was beginning to look at moving to Alta Vista as it was where many jews were settling. -Rabbi Rubin left after his contract ended and David then hired a young 21 year old Rabbi by the name of Reuvan Bulka. David says hiring Rabbi Bulka was the best decision he ever made for Machzikei Hadas. -At this point in the interview David's wife Edith joins them and can be heard discussing points with David and Joe. They discuss how lucky the Shul was to have such hard workers and great Rabbi’s throughout the years. -David and Edith discuss how many people in the shul worked hard to keep it afloat. They remember a woman named Bertha who organized social teas and a women's group to help bring money in. And how they used to throw Hanukkah parties that got so popular and large they needed to rent space across the street to throw them. They also discuss how they had many generous doctors and lawyers in Machzikei Hadas; a few they mention are Dr. Sloan, The Greenbergs, The Soloways, The Merski brothers, and the Freemans. -David mentions how much he admired the Freemans and how much they helped the community by supporting many new families and welcoming them to Ottawa. START OF TAPE 2 -David and Edith are discussing how fortunate they are to have lived in Ottawa, they see it as a beautiful city full of generous people who work hard to support the jewish community. -David mentions how lucky Ottawa is to have so many Shul’s in so many different areas of Ottawa; he mentions how the community is growing as there are now shuls in Kanata and Stittsville. -Joe and David discuss how loved and admired David’s brother Ben was in Ottawa. David recalls when he came back from the war and they discovered Ben had Multiple Sclerosis, Ben was the first jewish case of MS in Ottawa. David talks about how Ben’s legacy lives on through his son Warren who has been very successful in Toronto. -David then brings up how hard it was for jews to get loans in the past and he talks about his time as a part of a loan society in Ottawa. They provided small loans to the jewish community and set up sunday lunch at Somerset and Russell. David worked as a bookkeeper for them and recalls that no matter what there was always food and drinks on sundays. -David concludes by telling a story about a young student who used to always come by for Sunday lunch in Sandy Hill. Many years later David was attending an insurance conference when someone tapped him on the shoulder and recognized him; it turned out to be that same student.
Responsibility
Interviewed by Joe Murray
Date
2000
Fonds No.
O0045
Storage Location
vault
Archival / Genealogical
Archival Descriptions
Repository
Ottawa Jewish Archives
Less detail

Interview with David Griller.

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106640
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Physical Description
2 tapes
Fonds No.
O0045
Date
January 3, 2005
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Physical Description
2 tapes
Responsibility
Interviewed by Joe Murray
Date
January 3, 2005
Fonds No.
O0045
Storage Location
vault
Notes
Subject: David Griller Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: January 3, 2005 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: Tape 1 (60:23) Tape 2 (14:09) -David was born in England and spent the first 23 years of his life there. He lived in Northwest London in a very crowded home in Stamford Hill. David was born in 1958 and speaks on his memories of school and life in Stamford Hill. His family attended St. Johns Wood Synagogue. -David’s grandparents came to London from Poland. -David describes St Johns Wood; he felt it was not very welcoming and was not well run. He recalls Cheder being on Abbey Road in a small building. He did not learn much and found the school run down. -David attended Kingsgate Primary School and was the only jewish boy in his class. He recalls playing street games with other children. He also recalls his neighbours growing up; Vidal Sassoon and his family. -David talks about growing up in Britain post war; most of the city was still rubble. Him and the other boys used to sneak in and play in demolished and abandoned houses. -Joe then asks David how the area of Stamford Hill has changed. David talks about the increase of orthodox community. He also mentions the growth of the muslim community in the area. -David speaks about his highschool; he attended high school from the age of 11 to 18. He went to a very nice school with lots of jewish peers. He fondly recalls a jewish teacher he had for physics. David also touches on the culture of the school; the teachers were very violent with students and most had served in World War II. -David discusses the various shuls in London; he says many are very orthodox and he recalls a really great church choir he remembers from his youth. -Joe and David discuss Israel and the impression David grew up with in London. He was born just around the foundation of the state and he speaks of how the community has grown its awareness and donations towards the state. David’s father was also a committed zionist. -David attended University College of London for his studies; he studied chemistry and completed his PhD at the same university. -David began work in England and met a research colleague who was on the National Research Council of Canada. They worked together and published many papers together before his colleague brought him on as a fellow of the Research Council in organic chemistry. David worked for 2 years in Canada as a fellow before returning to England. -In England David worked at a plastics company and then at a consulting firm. After 2 years he returned to canada to work again as a fellow at the National Research Council. -David speaks about his wife; they met while he was in his first year at university. They were introduced to each other by a mutual friend from a social group they were both in. When they met she was 16 and he was 18. -WHen David and his wife arrived in Canada they wanted to start a business together. They founded a school with courses in writing and design. This school grew and is now an online learning school with various courses. -When they first arrived in Canada they moved to Honey Gables just south of the airport. They then moved to Alta Vista to be closer to Machzikei Hadas. He talks of how much he enjoys Machzikei Hadas and how inclusive it is. -David then speaks about his family; he has 3 children. One daughter is married with a child in Toronto, One daughter is at Queens University, and his son is in ENgland working. END OF TAPE 1 -David then talks about his career. David now works at a consulting firm. He moved over to consulting after many years at the NAtional Research Council. David discusses his work, what he does, and who some of his clients are. -David is also the CEO of an Oncology company. He has been focusing more of his attention to that start up. -David is also the chair of fundraising for the Royal Society of Canada. -David concludes by talking about his future plans and retirement goals. He does not see himself retiring anytime soon, he is in no rush. He wants to focus on his oncology company and put more attention into that. David also touches on his mothers colon cancer. END OF TAPE 2
Name Access
Joe Murray
Archival / Genealogical
Archival Descriptions
Repository
Ottawa Jewish Archives
Less detail

Interview with Dr. Norman Tenenbaum

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106367
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Physical Description
2 tapes
Fonds No.
O0045
Date
May 22, 2000
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Physical Description
2 tapes
Responsibility
Interviewed by Joe Murray
Date
May 22, 2000
Fonds No.
O0045
Storage Location
vault
Name Access
Joe Murray
Archival / Genealogical
Archival Descriptions
Repository
Ottawa Jewish Archives
Less detail

Interview with Edith Landau

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106393
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Fonds No.
O0045
Date
July 5, 2004
Scope and Content
Subject: Edith Landau Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: July 5, 2004 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 52:00 -Edith’s father was from the Goldberg family and grew up in Poland. He was in the Polish Army and was a trained barber. -Edith’s mother was from the Steinberg family and was from …
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Scope and Content
Subject: Edith Landau Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: July 5, 2004 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 52:00 -Edith’s father was from the Goldberg family and grew up in Poland. He was in the Polish Army and was a trained barber. -Edith’s mother was from the Steinberg family and was from Russia. They both came to Canada to escape the conditions in Eastern Europe. -Edith’s parents met in Winnipeg where Edith’s father had a small general store. -In 1933 Edith was born in Winnipeg and the family moved to the city where Edith’s father opened more stores. Edith had 2 brothers; Ben and Arnold Goldberg. They were brought up in an orthodox home and Edith talks about the other synagogues in Winnipeg. -Edith was always very active in the choir at her school and at synagogue. -Edith discusses her families many trips to Chicago to visit family. -In school Edith played volleyball, softball, and took ballet. She studied at Talmud Torah for 9 years. -Edith talks of dating in Winnipeg with her two brothers looking out for her and how she met her husband Izzy. After Edith and Izzy began dating, Edith took her first visit to Ottawa. She loved the city and seeing all of the sights. -Edith and Izzy got married in 1952 in November. Edith describes it as the worst day to get married as the rain and hail were so bad most of the family couldn't make it to Winnipeg for the wedding. She talks about her honeymoon and traveling after the wedding to see family members who had missed it. -Edith and Izzy moved to Sandy Hill and Edith recalls their first apartment together. She talked about the local laundromat where everyone had to do their laundry. She loved living in Sandy Hill since it meant she could walk to the market. -Edith worked at the National Research Council. -Edith talks about her memories of singing in the choir at Beth Shalom, her good friends Harvey & Louise Glatt, and the parties she hosted at their house. Edith was always entertaining friends and Joe and Edith recall memories of the parties together. -Edith talks about entertainment during those days. They had to make their own entertainment with games, cards, etc. she recalls a funny memory where they played with a Ouija Board. -Izzy was an accountant and when they got married he started his own company. Edith recalls him telling her she needs to make a life for herself since he will not be home often. She says this is the best advice she had ever gotten. She was always busy, joined lots of things, and has loved her life. -Edith joined Hadassah, B’nai Brith, Beth Shalom, choir groups, and took care of her kids. Her kids all went to Hillel academy and once they were 5 she returned to work. Edith got a job at Carleton University in the economics department where she worked for 25 years. -Izzy and Edith always enjoyed the arts and are members at the National Arts Centre and the Ottawa Little Theatre. -Edith still keeps herself busy with her hobbies; she walks everyday, is a part of multiple choirs, and travels a lot. She travels to Detroit to see her husband's family, she has been to Boston, Nashville, London, Israel, and has plans to keep travelling. -She discusses her sons careers and families. She also finishes by talking about her continued education; she is taking a class at the JCC and loves to read.
Responsibility
Interviewed by Joe Murray
Date
July 5, 2004
Fonds No.
O0045
Storage Location
vault
Name Access
Joe Murray
Archival / Genealogical
Archival Descriptions
Repository
Ottawa Jewish Archives
Less detail

Interview with Esther Blostein

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106336
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Fonds No.
O0045
Date
October 25, 2000
Scope and Content
Subject: Esther Blostein Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: October 25, 2000 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 34:24 **RACIST LANGUAGE DISCLAIMER** DISCLAIMER: interview intended to be with Esther; however, Mervin is invited to join halfway through. -Esther’s family is from Romania. Her f…
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Scope and Content
Subject: Esther Blostein Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: October 25, 2000 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 34:24 **RACIST LANGUAGE DISCLAIMER** DISCLAIMER: interview intended to be with Esther; however, Mervin is invited to join halfway through. -Esther’s family is from Romania. Her father was widowed by his first wife and remarried Esther’s mother. Esther has two half siblings and one full brother named Chuck. -Esther’s father worked at the control board in Ottawa until he fell ill, suffered a leg amputation and passed away when she was 12 years old. Her mother then became the sole parent and began working as an interior decorator. -Esther does not know much about her half siblings; she only knows her brother was in the airforce and her sister moved to Toronto. Chuck is semi retired and working at a clothing store. -Esther attended Osgoode School then York Street Public School followed by Commerce for High School. She recalls some of her teachers; Mr. Bill, Mr. Matthews, Mr. Ketcheson (?), Mr. Gillies. -In school Esther played Volleyball, basketball, hockey, and baseball. She also played tennis at the Tel Aviv Tennis Club. -When asked about stores and restaurants she remembers she talks about a confectionary store on Osgoode, a store called McCools (?) on Laurier avenue, Sherman’s where she would hangout after school, and the dances at the King Edward Shul. -She was very involved in the shul and was the president of the sisterhood at Murray Street Shul. -She did volunteer work at St. Vincent’s Hospital and in a local nursing home. -Esther talks about her trips she has taken in her life which include; Israel, Mallorca, Barcelona, Las Vegas, New Orleans. SHe discusses her favorite parts of the trips and where the best food was. ***Mervin rejoins the interview*** -Mervin and Esther grew up around the corner from each other in Sandy Hill. They did not know each other well because there was a 5 year age gap. -When Mervin was 21 years old he attended a dance at the King Edward Street Shul and asked Esther on a date. -The couple were married in 1951 and moved to an apartment on Frank Street. ***-Esther mentions her previous job and uses out of date racial terms -After their second son they moved to Vanier. They recall their neighbours and playing poker games in the hallway of the apartment building. -They then purchased a plot of land in Alta Vista and watched as their house was built for a year. -Their eldest son Barry married Arlene Gladman and their younger son Alan married Margo Copper. They have 5 grandchildren; 2 of them in Toronto and 3 in Ottawa. 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
Less detail

Interview with George Marcus

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106395
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Physical Description
2 tapes
Fonds No.
O0045
Date
May 4, 2004
Scope and Content
Subject: George Marcus Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: May 4, 2004 Location: Ottawa Number of Tapes: 2 Duration: tape 1- 1:00:47 tape 2- 20:42 George came to Ottawa for work. He was in Boston, working at Harvard University, looking at reproductive biology. He applied for and received several honorar…
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Physical Description
2 tapes
Scope and Content
Subject: George Marcus Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: May 4, 2004 Location: Ottawa Number of Tapes: 2 Duration: tape 1- 1:00:47 tape 2- 20:42 George came to Ottawa for work. He was in Boston, working at Harvard University, looking at reproductive biology. He applied for and received several honorary grants. He applied to Ottawa because it was fully funded, and got a job in the department of Agriculture, at the animal research center The ARC, at that time was called the Animal Research Institute, was part of the research team in the Department of Agriculture, stationed out of the experimental farm. He worked there from 1975-1994 He was also an adjunct professor at McGill. He has graduate students who did research under his supervision from Carleton and McGill. George was born in Toronto in 1933 His parents are both from Poland. His mother came from a town with a large Jewish population. His father came from Warsaw. His mother left home at 12 years old to go to Warsaw to look for work, selling cloth and dried goods, at a store owned by his paternal grandfather. She had at least 9 siblings, only 2 of them made it to Canada and survived the war. She came to Canada in 1929, with the help of an aunt. His father would write her letters, and in 1930 came to Toronto and they married. In Toronto his mother worked for Mrs. Worth, who had a dress store on Bloor st. His mother left the dress store, and started working at Staford and Squires as a saleswoman. Mrs. Staford was from Ireland. In the late 30s, Mrs. Squires left suddenly, so George’s mother offered to buy into the business as a partner with Mrs. Staford. Together they bought the building on Bloor St in 1940. Mrs. Staford retired and gave her half of the business to George’s mother. In 1941, his parents built an addition to the rear of the store, which they moved into. His sister was born in 1941 In 1953, they moved into a larger house after his brother was born. His father was trained as a cutter in Poland, and he came to Canada and got a job working for a relative at the Royal Knitting Company on Spadina Ave. When his mother took over the business, his father quit his position with the RKC and went to work in the store doing alterations. His father was later part of a group of investors that bought a shopping center in Northern Ontario. George went to Huron St. public school, and went to Talmud Torah. He wanted to go to Harvard collegiate, which was the Jewish highschool in the city, but he ended up at Jarvis because of where he lived. Graduated from Jarvis in 1952. Got a scholarship in a number of subjects, and enrolled at University of Toronto in Honours Sciences, but after the first year he decided to go to Israel, and spent a year there. Then decided to come back and finish his education. He arrived in Israel right after a large political split. He recalls how the political left and right shaped his experience in Israel. George was in Israel as part of a program for young people to visit and work. Recalls the others in his group and the places they went on the trip Recalls interactions with people from across the border. He wanted to enter medicine or science, and that was why he returned to Canada. He got a doctorate in biochemistry at UofT, and then got a postdoctoral fellowship and held that fellowship in Israel for 2 years. The administration at his institute did not approve of the work they were doing, and tried to disrupt their funding. He was unable to obtain promotions, so he left after getting a fellowship from the Rockefeller foundation, and moved to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore After the Rockerfeller fellowship was up, he joined the faculty and obtained a research grant from the National Institution of Health (NIH). After spending 4 years in Baltimore, the entire group was invited to Harvard to set up a new unit in reproduction science. They couldn’t take their research funds with them, and they had to apply for new research funds at Harvard, which was impossible to obtain. *Audio skips* Graduated from university in 1956. It was also the year he got married to his wife, Tibey (?) Zeldon. Her dad owned a butcher shop in Toronto on College St. she had 3 sisters and a brother. She taught Yiddish while George was in graduate school until their son Ellie (?) was born the year after they got married. Their daughter Leora was born in 1960 And in 1961 they moved to Israel where both kids learned Hebrew The kids started school in Israel, and continued going to public schools in the states. Ellie (?) finished school in Boston, and then he went to UofT, while the rest of the family went to Ottawa Leora went to Sir Robert Borden school, while they were living on Higgins St, in the west end Recalls buying a house in Ottawa, and the few friends they knew in the Ottawa and Toronto area. George joined Maziki Hadas after moving to Ottawa. Their house wasn’t near the shul, so they looked and eventually moved. Remembers Harry Rosenburg was president of the shul when he first joined Recalls working at the shul bingo Recalls how he used to smoke and why he stopped in 1985 Recalls a car accident he was in, and how it influenced his popularity in shul Involved in a program in 1980 that was driven by Rabbi Bolka about Jewish education, which eventually became Ottawa Torah Institute (OTI), which started in 1981 George was on the board. When students from outside of town started getting accepted into the Yeshiva, it ruined the reputation. That was eventually reversed and no out of town students were accepted, which helped reverse the reputation. Described a project he knew of, that was designed to rescue Jewish literature. George was also involved in a collection at the library. The council promotes awareness of the collection and finds means of publicizing it through special events. Gives an example of an event for the Dead Sea scrolls displayed at the Canadian Museum of History George has 6 grandchildren. After graduating from UofT, Ellie (?) returned to Israel and joined the army. Left the Kibbutz and moved to Tel Aviv. Ellie (?) became a creative writer and got married in December 1991, after meeting his wife during the first Gulf War. Ellie (?) and his wife Michelle has 2 daughters, Amber and Jade Leora moved to New York after graduating from York University with a degree in Math in 1989. Leora and Daniel Farb got engaged and got married in 1990 at the family shul in Toronto. Leora and Daniel have 4 kids and live in California. Recalls his grandson's bar mitzvah in California. *tape 1 ends* Tape 2 George took an early retirement in 1991, before coming back to work as a consultant until funds ran out. Before he retired, he was working on cloning cows. Discusses his publications and the works he has reviewed. Discusses the difficulty of driving around in Ottawa because of confusing street signs. George enjoys gardening, and built a greenhouse at his house. George also enjoys listening to Opera. He enjoys going to the Opera, and collecting opera CDs. He’s been to the Sydney opera, and the Israel Opera. His brother and law was working temporarily in Australia, in Melbourne. George and his sister went to Melbourne and New Zealand. They were staying in Melbourne before realizing Bondi has a large Jewish population, so they visited to get food. They went to a butcher shop in Australia called Soloman’s, to get food for their trip to New Zealand because they were worried about not being able to find Kosher food. George enjoys traveling and collecting old antique maps of the Holy Land, the oldest being from 1495, and the newest from 1700. George enjoys playing sports, but not watching them. He played baseball, football, taught swimming, water polo, and fencing. He is on the board of the Torah Academy of Ottawa, holding the secretary position Recalls the differences he encountered when he moved from Boston to Ottawa Recalls the 1975 election where the Parti Quebecois got in. A lot of people came to Ottawa from Montreal, and as a result of that Ottawa changed and grew, and it became more metropolitan because of this. George served as a volunteer teacher for 2 years at Torah Academy, teaching Hebrew. *audio ends*
Responsibility
Interviewed by Joe Murray
Date
May 4, 2004
Fonds No.
O0045
Storage Location
vault
Name Access
Joe Murray
Archival / Genealogical
Archival Descriptions
Repository
Ottawa Jewish Archives
Less detail

Interview with Gerry Dover.

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106629
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Fonds No.
O0045
Date
June 4, 2001
Scope and Content
Subject: Gerry Dover Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: 2001 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 1:01:57 -Gerry’s grandfather, John, came to the United states circa 1850-1860. He arrived on Ellis Island from Russia with his brother when they were 17 years old. -John sold pocket watches and w…
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Scope and Content
Subject: Gerry Dover Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: 2001 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 1:01:57 -Gerry’s grandfather, John, came to the United states circa 1850-1860. He arrived on Ellis Island from Russia with his brother when they were 17 years old. -John sold pocket watches and would often travel for work, this is how Gerry believes he came to settle in Ottawa. John was one of the first Jewish man to settle in Ottawa. -His grandfather had 5 children, 3 boys and 2 girls. One of the boys went on to become a doctor and the 2 girls got married and moved back to the United States. -Gerry mothers maiden name was Ross, although it was a more russian name until it was changed upon her arrival in the west. -Gerry talks about his uncles and how one uncle was the first jewish man in the RCMP. -Gerry then discusses his cousins and the many that are still in Ottawa as well as the few that have moved to the States. He also mentions his one cousin who was killed in WWII. -Gerry then discusses how his father came to have a hardware store. In 1941 his father was walking down Sparks street when he saw a for rent sign in a hardware store at 187 Sparks Street. Opened in June 1941, fortunate because as rations hit Canada his prices went up. They closed that location April 1, 1979. -In 1955 Gerry and his father had opened a second location in Westboro, and when the Sparks street location closed in 1979 they renovated the Westboro location. -Harold Lee was an employee of their store, both the Sparks Street and Westboro locations for 28 years. -Gerry then discusses where he grew up. When he was born on October 31, 1929 he lived with his grandparents at the corner of McClaren and Kent. two years later his parents purchased a house at 348 Second Avenue, Gerry has lived there since and is still the owner of that house. -Gerry went to Mutchmor Public School and then Glashan Public School. He went to high school at Glebe Collegiate and then attended the University of Ottawa for 3 years. -he has fond memories of playing hockey in high school and playing on a junior team before college. -Gerry recalls being good friends with the Dunlap brothers growing up and to this day he plays golf at the Rideauview Golf Club with them. -Gerry recalls paying 25¢ to go see the Ottawa Commandos, now the Ottawa Senators, play. -Gerry and Joe then swap stories about their time at the university; Gerry tells a story about playing basketball with one of his professors and Joe and Gerry discuss how most of the professors at the time were priests. -Joe and Gerry then reminisce about restaurants in centertown that are no longer around. They mention Cavandish, the Ottawa Bridge Club, The Venician Suites, Tea Garden, The Plaza, and Lindsay's store (?). -They then have a discussion about how the shopping center of Ottawa has changed. They talk about how parking makes it difficult and how big box stores have changed the market. -They further discuss how independent businesses are struggling now and they swap stories about running small independent stores in Ottawa. -Gerry discusses how in his retirement he has started a Gin Rummy club for 15 people where they have a space to play and talk to each other whenever they want. He also plays golf 4 times a week at Rideauview golf club. -Joe and Gerry share stories they both have about Mike Warner, and discuss all of the people in Ottawa Gerry had played Gin Rummy with. -They finish with a story about an italian restaurant they both used to eat at and how opinionated the chef was. END OF TAPE
Responsibility
Interviewed by Joe Murray
Date
June 4, 2001
Fonds No.
O0045
Storage Location
vault
Name Access
Joe Murray
Archival / Genealogical
Archival Descriptions
Repository
Ottawa Jewish Archives
Less detail

Interview with Howard Goldberg

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106344
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Fonds No.
O0045
Date
July 11, 2000
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Responsibility
Interviewed by Joe Murray
Date
July 11, 2000
Fonds No.
O0045
Storage Location
vault
Notes
Date Digitized: October 18th, 2021 Digitized by: Grace Turner Number of Cassettes: 1 Subject: Howard Goldberg Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 50:26 -Howard’s paternal grandfather came to Canada around 1905 from Russia. He came with his wife, his grandfather, and their 2 children. They originally settled in Montreal before relocating to Smiths Falls for the job opportunities. -Howards grandfather worked as a mechanic for the railway in Smith Falls. He and his wife had 7 children in Smiths Falls; one of which was Ben, Howard's father. The family had 9 children total and Howard’s grandmother passed away suddenly after the birth of her 9th child. After this Howard’s great grandmother moved in with the family and raised the 9 children. -Ben went to work with his father and they opened a scrap yard. 2 of Ben’s sisters opened a dress shop in Smith Falls as well. -Howard recalls the house in Smiths Falls and has many happy memories there. He recalls the jewish community being so small in the town that the basement of the house was used as a shul. -Ben would take frequent trips to Ottawa and fell in love with Eileen Rivers at first sight. The two began dating and were married on June 21st 1942. The couple moved to Smith Falls and Howard was born in August of 1943. -When Howard was 2 or 3 the family moved to Ottawa as his parents wanted a bigger jewish community for their children. Howard talks of the house they moved to and the neighbours in the area. -Ben purchased a cl;othing store on Williams street, he also worked with the Day Rivers Fruit, and worked selling Hides as well. -Ben and Eileen purchased a triplex house at 411 Daly Ave and lived there for many years. Howard’s parents were passionate about him receiving a jewish education and they fundraised for a jewish day school. Howard’s parents were able to raise funds to rent a room and Howard and 11 other classmates were the first students of the Ottawa Hebrew Day School in 1948. The school would soon become the Hillel Academy. -Howard recalls him and other boys walking to Freeman’s everyday after school for a malted milk. He then recalls all of the stores on Rideau and the Market that were jewish owned and operated. He talks of when every store used to close for the high holidays. -Howard talks about Sandy Hill and Lowertown; he recalls them as a tight knit community. He has fond memories of the community center at 151 Chapel Street and remembers Sunday Fun Day and the Hot Dog Stand. -Howard talks about the various jewish clubs in Ottawa. He talks about how many families used to not be able to pay fees for clubs or organizations and the community would help out. -Howard went to High School at Lisgar Collegiate and then went to Sir George William School for retailing. He then took over his parents' store and worked long hours there. When the opportunity to work for the UJA came about he accepted. -Howard got married to his wife Ibolya in August of 1970 and they had 2 children. Howard met Iboyla on a trip to Israel where he roomed with her Brother in Law. -Howard talks of his 2 children and their marriages and accomplishments. -Howard then discusses problems he saw in the community and the work he did to fix it. -In his semi retirement Howard wishes to volunteer more with the community, his shul, and Hillel Lodge END OF TAPE
Name Access
Joe Murray
Archival / Genealogical
Archival Descriptions
Repository
Ottawa Jewish Archives
Less detail

Interview with Isadore Hoffman.

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106638
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Fonds No.
O0045
Date
November 23, 2004
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Responsibility
Interviewed by Joe Murray
Date
November 23, 2004
Fonds No.
O0045
Storage Location
vault
Notes
Subject: Isadore Hoffman Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: November 23, 2004 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 28:14 -Isadore’s parents came from Ukraine. They came to Canada and settled in Montreal 80 years ago. His parents left Ukraine to escape from the Tsar. THey came to Canada with Isadore’s older brother and then had Isadore, and his younger siblings in Montreal. -Isadore’s dad was a peddler who worked as a milkman and then a wholesaler who sold non perishables. -Isadore attended Fairmont Elementary and never graduated from High School. He began work very early. Isadore discusses his odd jobs he had in Montreal. -In 1958 he came to Ottawa and married his wife Evelyn. In Ottawa he began working in insurance sales and has been doing that since 1961. -Isadore and Evelyn first moved into a house at 904 Kirkland, then moved to a bungalow before moving to Nepean to raise their children. Isadore talks about the various jewish organizations he is a part of; B’nai Brith and the Rideauview Golf Club. -Isadore has worked very hard to raise money for charities he is passionate about all his life. He has hosted numerous charity golf tournaments. He has focused on Cancer research and Chrohn’s disease as they have both affected his family. -Isadore reminisces about Montreal; talks about bars, restaurants, bands. He tells a story about a date night in Montreal and the kindness Frank Rice (?) showed him. -During the war years Isadore recalls hearing women screaming everyday when they learnt of their loved ones death. -He talks of his first few years in Ottawa and the challenges he faced. -Isadore then talks about his children, grandchildren, and great granddaughter. He expresses how proud he is and how great a family he has. -Isadores hobbies now included spending the winters in Florida, golfing, crosswords, watching sports games on TV, and sending jokes he finds on the internet to his friends. -Isadore was a member of the Chevra Kadisha and discusses his time doing that as wella s his long time membership to the JCC. -One person in Ottawa who is always in Isadore’s mind and heart is Rabbi Bulka; expresses his love for Rabbi Bulka. END OF TAPE
Name Access
Joe Murray
Archival / Genealogical
Archival Descriptions
Repository
Ottawa Jewish Archives
Less detail

Interview with John and Reba Diener

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106340
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Physical Description
2 tapes
Fonds No.
O0045
Date
February 13, 2001
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Physical Description
2 tapes
Responsibility
Interviewed by Joe Murray
Date
February 13, 2001
Fonds No.
O0045
Storage Location
vault
Notes
Subject: The Diener Family Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: 2001 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 1:46:40 -Joe is interviewing both Reba and John together. -Reba begins by talking about growing up in Montreal. She grew up on the corner of Colonial Street and Mille Neuf. She remembers the community being a mix of Jewish and French Canadian. -Her grandfather came to Canada in 1900 from Ukraine. He fled the country to avoid the tsar’s draft and brought over Reba’s grandmother and their children a year after he arrived in Montreal. -Her father worked in a clothing factory and was very involved in the local shul and cemetery. Reba says she recalls walking through some neighbourhoods in Montreal and feeling the anti-semitism. -Reba attended Bancroft Public School. She says it was close to 100% jewish and she has only fond memories of the school. She then went to Baron Byng High School. She tells a story about spring choir and about how the boys side of the school used to misbehave. -Reba then talks about seeing her mother go grocery shopping everyday since they had no refrigerator. She also talks about being a teenager during the war and remembering rationing in the stores. -Reba tells a funny story about trying to sneak into movie theaters when she was young, since at the time you had to be over 16 to go to the movies. -Reba also remembers yeshiva when she was young and while she says she has fond memories she grew to resent it in high school as she felt it limited her ability to do school activities. -Joe asks her about restaurants she recalls and Reba remembers Lindy’s on Park ave. She has fond memories of not only the restaurant but the street as she remembers meeting there after church services. -Reba talks about her uncle, who she does not name, but owned a men's clothing store on St Lawrence Street. She recalls him being successful but also being a gambler, he had season tickets to the Montreal Royals and Reba recalls seeing Jackie Robinson play. -Some more of her fond memories in Montreal were shopping at Eatons and the Eaton's christmas parade. -Joe asks her about her neighbours and Reba tells a funny story about a neighbour who was having an affair, the stable in her neighbourhood, and the local barber and his antics. -Joe now interviews John about his father, Nathan. John’s father was born in a province previously in Poland but now located in the Ukraine. -Nathan was the only family member to survive the holocaust. Himself and his father escaped from a camp, unfortunately his father passed away from typhus on the journey from the camp. John’s father then joined the Polish Russian Air Force and post war he worked to help jewish families get to Israel. -At the time of the interview John is doing genealogy research to try to learn more about his family's history as they unfortunately do not know much about his father’s life in Europe. -After the war Nathan was heading to Russia when he ran into a women he knew from childhood at the train station who told him to go west instead of east. From there Nathan went to Italy for a few years before coming to Canada in September of 1948. -Nathan came to Canada on the ship the Sturgeous (?) and arrived in Halifax. He then went to Montreal followed by Ottawa. -John recalls his father being very worldly and speaking approximately 5 languages; he says this is how he gained such a loyal customer base in a bilingual city. -In Ottawa Nathan lived with his sponsor family Sam and Goldie Silver (?). -Nathan went to night school to learn book keeping and subsequently learnt english. Following school Nathan went into business with Mr. Gandall and opened a butchershop at 10 Byward Market. This business relationship did not last long and the two ended their partnership. -Nathan then joined Sam Saslov’s business as Sam was wanting to retire. The Saslov’s had a milk store and when Nathan joined they also became a butcher. -Reba and John were married in January of 1953. They moved into a small apartment on Rideau street for a year before purchasing their first house at 119 Russell Street. They had 4 children John in 1954, Seymour in 1956, Joel in 1959, and Sharon. -They lived at 199 Russell for 5 years before moving to their house on Woodcrest where they stayed until 1998. -John then speaks about his childhood. He attended Hillel academy for 8 years and has fond memories of his teachers; Warner Bower, Nathan Levine, Mr. Frankel, and Mrs. Gory (?). John tells a funny story of getting in trouble as a child at school and hiding at a Pollywog pond to avoid his parents, -John went to Ridgemont High School and says he struggled at first because he was only 12 when he started there. He quickly got people to stop bothering him however when he punched a classmate in the face after being teased. John graduated from Ridgemont in 1971. -John then went to Carleton university for a Bachelors of Commerce, after 3 years he lost interest in the program and transferred to Algonquin college to study data processing. -During his years at school he also worked at his fathers store and worked with the 39th scouts group. -He then began work at Fiends Flowers (?) in 1975. He worked with them to computerize their payment system for flower deliveries. -In 1977 John started working for Trebleclef. He worked there for 4 years and met his wife there. -in 1981 Nathan was looking to retire and John took over the store from his father. John talks about how they always had nice and fresh window displays and began selling pollock. John tells a funny story about selling the pollock outside of the store and chasing thieves down the street. -When John took over the store in the 80’s grocery shopping and family trends were rapidly changing. During this time John expanded the business into wholesale sales and expanded the seafood products they sold. -John got into the seafood market through a man in Toronto named Henry Ender who was a fish dealer with great connections and introduced John and his brother Joel to the Boston Seafood Convention. It was at the Boston Convention that John found Nathan’s Herring and began selling it in Ottawa. -During this time John also expanded the business when he met a man from Iqaluit who talked about the lack of good meat up north. John let the man order in bulk and shipped it up to him frozen, from there more people in Iqaluit wanted to order from him and he started shipping alot of meat and groceries to customers in the north. This became a major part of the business. -reba then speaks about her involvement in the community. She was an active member of Mechzikei Hadas and the PTA at Hillel Academy. -She then talks about her trips to Israel, Vegas, and New York City. -John then tells a story about how his father always picked his animals for slaughter himself and has fond memories of driving to Greely on thursdays to pick out cows. -John finishes by talking about how his father instilled the value of knowing your business in him, it is because of this that John is a very hands on owner and has the loyalty of his staff. END OF TAPE
Name Access
Joe Murray
Archival / Genealogical
Archival Descriptions
Repository
Ottawa Jewish Archives
Less detail

Interview with Label Silver

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn106394
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Fonds No.
O0045
Date
May 18, 2004
Collection
Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Item
Material Type
sound recording
Responsibility
Interviewed by Joe Murray
Date
May 18, 2004
Fonds No.
O0045
Storage Location
vault
History / Biographical
Interview with Label Silver Date Digitized: June 7th, 2022 Digitized By: Kate Reeve Number of Cassettes: 1 Subject: Family history and involvement in Ottawa community Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: May 19th, 2004 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length: 47:36 - Grandfather Benjamin Silver arrived in 1877 from Bialystock, died in 1939 in Ottawa, Grandmother arrived in 1879, Rochel Shershevsky, also from Bialystock, died in 1940, both became citizens in 1897, they arrived with a daughter Leibe and son, Elieazor, who died in Israel, another son Isaac born in Ottawa, January 10th in 1894, last son was his father Harry, born September 1895 in Ottawa, one of first Jewish families in Ottawa, had one of first minyans in their house in early 1900s. - Father was born at 263 Clarence street, house still in existence, Label grew up right next door at 261 Clarence, and family operated kosher grocery store down the street, grew up speaking only Yiddish. - Label was born in 1928, his father was a peddler who had self-taught the whole Talmud, was treasurer of local synagogue and was one of founders of Ottawa Free Loan Society - Hosted traveling Rabbis, were members of Murray Street Shul, very pious family, had 8 children total; Mendel, Label, Aaron, Esther, Dora, Rubin, Joe, Rubin. Mendel and Rubin both became Rabbis, the boys were homeschooled by private Rebbe with their cousins, learnt only Hebrew from 9-4, then 10-15 mins of English lessons, while girls were sent to public school. After a few years, when Label in Gr. 3, gov. forced them to go to public school, Label went to Rideau Street School, then to York Street Public school. - Sent to yeshiva in Baltimore, learnt from 7am-4pm, then went downtown to night school at Baltimore City College, did a year at Johns Hopkins but then returned to Ottawa to work for his father peddling and worked as a driver - Met his future wife Leona, who lived at 288 Clarence street, on a sleigh ride, married on March 30th, 1952, moved into an apartment on Chapel Street, went into scrap metal business with his brother until 1957, then joined federal gov. in dept. of transport as auditor for 32 years, retired August 1989 - Had 3 sons, Stephen born 1952, Jeffery 1959, David in 1963, all attended Hillel Academy, then oldest son went to yeshiva in Toronto, then York University in Commerce and works in accounting, Jeffrey also to yeshiva and university in Toronto now works as a lawyer, David did not attend yeshiva but had private lessons with Rebbe, went to Hillcrest High School, then Carleton and now is a travel agency manager - Has 6 grandchildren, Stephen has 4 children; Denile, Dovit (lives in Israel), Benjamin (Toronto), Rina (studies at yeshiva in Jerusalem), Jeffrey has Simcha (yeshiva in Jerusalem), Avi graduating from Yeshiva high school, David not married yet - Extended family all remained religious, many Rabbis in the families - Became involved in Beth Shalom Shul on Rideau St. after marriage, then moved to Machizeki Hadas Shul on Murray Street where he was recruited as a Parnas (trustee), has worked for 50 years there, pivotal in keeping it afloat - His role as Parnas involved administration, helping with finances, organization, maintaining Shul, etc. and originally also ran a junior congregation with 20-40 kids - Parnas a difficult job, but Silver continues to do it out of love for Shul, it has “become his second home,” he also helps new congregants who are not familiar with liturgy - Also worked as a mashgiach to ensure all food at shul events was kosher after he retired from gov. job in 1989, was then asked immediately to work as mashgiach at Hillel Lodge - Was not trained because he knew most of laws from childhood, but to become a mashgiach one must train and keep up to date
Name Access
Joe Murray
Archival / Genealogical
Archival Descriptions
Repository
Ottawa Jewish Archives
Less detail

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
Less detail

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
Less detail

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
Less detail

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
Less detail

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
Less detail

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
Less detail

25 records – page 1 of 2.