Ellin speaks at the Flamborough Probus Club: How Canada’s Jewish soldiers from the Hamilton area helped defeat Hitler in WWII

The Jewish community of Canada was tiny in 1939, and yet when WWII broke out in September 1939, they were among the first to mobilize for the fight against Hitler. Nearly 17,000 Canadians of Jewish faith served in the military during the Second World War,  which is about 40 % of all eligible men. And they had a double reason to go: they were not only fighting for King and Country but also to try to stop the Nazis’ Final Solution and the murder of Europe’s Jewish people. Sadly, they arrived too late.

Hamilton played an important role in the Second World War effort, with Jewish families such as the Mindens, the Balinsons, the Garshowitzes, the Rosenbergs and more, sending sons and daughters to war.  Author and journalist Ellin Bessner will discuss her new book “Double Threat: Canada’s Jews, the Military, and WWII” at the Probus Club of Flamborough, on Monday Sept. 17, 2018.  Books will be available for sale at the event, or buy one in advance and bring it for Ellin to sign. A Different Drummer bookstore in Burlington, on Locust Street, also carries it.