The untold story of how Canada’s wartime Jewish community helped win the Second World War

As the world prepares to commemorate Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 17, Canadian author and journalist Ellin Bessner says it is important to remember the 6 million victims, but also the liberators: the Canadian soldiers, airmen and sailors who put on a uniform, went to fight Hitler and also rescued the surviving Jews of Europe from the Holocaust.

About 17,000 Canadians of Jewish faith were among those who helped their comrades win WWII, as Bessner writes in her book “Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military & WWII“, published by the University of Toronto Press (2019). Yet these brave Jewish Canadian fighters also had to overcome widespread antisemitism at home and on the battlefield, plus grave personal danger should they fall into enemy hands and their Jewish religion be discovered.

Ellin is a broadcaster and the host of The CJN Daily podcast.

She will be the keynote speaker at the Alliston Probus Club on Tuesday morning March 14, 2023. Please feel free to bring your own family’s war memorabilia with you to share with the audience.

Ellin’s book will be available for sale and signing at the event. Or order them in advance here.