Ellin speaks at the Jewish Genealogical Society/Jewish Public Library on Monday Nov. 5, 2018 @ 7:30 p.m.

Canadian author and journalist Ellin Bessner will discuss the methods which she used to research for her new book, “Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II.”  Six years of research led to her documenting the experiences of more than 17,000 Canadian Jews who donned a uniform in WWII.  Until now, Canada hasn’t properly acknowledged the unique experience of this group of servicemen and women, and their important contribution to the Allied victory in the Second World War.  They fought from Dunkirk to D-Day and beyond, with a double reason to enlist: they weren’t only fighting for freedom and democracy but also, to save their own people from Hitler’s Final Solution, and at great personal risk to themselves, should they be captured and their Jewish identities discovered.