Collection

Nathan Dlusy and Family

Description Level

Fonds

Material Type

textual record

graphic material

book

object

Physical Description

0.12 textual records. - 84 photographs. - 2 books. - 4 medals. - 8 artefacts. - 1 compact disc (CD-ROM) (photographs) (1 disc containing 76 image files (346 MB)).

Scope and Content

The collection contains portraits and candid snapshots of the Dlusy family and Nathan's RCAF training, service, and gravestone, including 4 oversized framed photographs, 5 framed B&W photographs, 47 B&W photographs, 28 colour photographs, 12 artifacts, 2 cm of oversized certificates, and 10 cm of textual materials including correspondence, and news clippings (about Nathan Dlusy, the Dlusy family's work to obtain posthumous citizenship, family obituaries, WWII veterans), and research materials accumulated by Gerald Rudick from 1942-2017 including photocopies of military service documents, news clippings, photocopies of correspondence, ID card, World War II documents, photographs, 1 disk with digital photographs of the original copies of Nathan Dlusy's military records. There are two reference books, an RCAF flight log, WWII medals, and other artifacts.

Date

ca. 1920-2019.

Fonds No.

P0296

History / Biographical

This collection contains materials related to the life and death of Flight Sergeant Nathan Dlusy, and the personal and professional lives of his parents and brother. Israel and Regina (nee Cynamon) Dlusniewski emigrated from Poland to Germany in 1920. In Berlin Israel worked as a tailor in his own retail shop, establishing a successful men's clothing manufacturing business which sold products in multiple German haberdasheries and department stores. Their sons Nathan (1921-1944) and Jon (1928-2022) were both born in Berlin before the family fled the anti-semitism of Nazi Germany in 1938. The family settled in Montreal where Israel obtained employment in the clothing manufacturing industry, eventually establishing Earl Clothing with a partner. Nathan followed his father into the same business, but decided to enlist in the Canadian armed forces in 1941. Initially turned down due to his lack of Canadian citizenship, Nathan successfully passed the entrance requirement examinations in 1941 and enlisted in the Canadian air force. In 1942 Nathan officially changed his name from Dlusniewski to Dlusy. Once his training was completed, he was sent to Scotland to join a coastal command squadron. While returning from a patrol mission in poor weather conditions, Nathan and the rest of the 10-person crew crashed into a mountain, killing all on board the plane. At the air base, Nathan Dlusy's funeral was organized by a Jewish air force chaplain, who was a rabbi from Glasgow, and the entire Jewish community from the nearby town attended, as documented by various photographs and news clippings in this collection. At the time of his death, Nathan Dlusy was not a Canadian citizen. His brother Jon continued to request a posthumous declaration of Canadian citizenship from the government. Nathan Dlusy's sacrifice was recognized in Quebec's National Assembly, and the House of Commons in Ottawa in 2019. The collection also includes various instances of Nathan Dlusy's name honoured through donations, the Nathan Dlusy Chapter of Hadassah, and the Nathan Dlusy Respiratory Unit at Mount Sinai Hospital in Montreal, Quebec. Jon Dlusy died at 94, in March of 2022.

Custodial History

The collection was donated on March 15, 2023 by Shawn Apel, estate executor for the Dlusy Family collection.

Notes

Alpha-numeric designations: P23/04.

Archival / Genealogical

Archival Descriptions

Repository

Canadian Jewish Archives

Less detail