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January 2019
Ellin speaks to the veterans at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto Thursday Jan. 31, 2019
Join Ellin at 3:30 p.m. for a lively, interactive session as she shares the untold stories of some of the 17,000 Canadians of Jewish faith who put on a uniform, helped defeat Hitler and rescue the survivors of the Holocaust, especially the current and former residents of Sunnybrook. Books will be available for sale and signing at the event.
Find out more »February 2019
Ellin Speaks to National Council of Jewish Women Thornhill branch Feb. 6, 2019
Private event. 7:30 p.m.
Find out more »Ellin brings “Double Threat” to the University of Toronto Lecture Series in Oakville Feb. 25, 2019.
The University of Toronto Lecture Series features leading scholars, thinkers and experts who address an eclectic range of topics in an accessible one-hour format. Come hear their thoughtful insights, critical analyses and provocative ideas. A brief question and answer period follows each presentation. The series is offered online, and in Markham, Oakville and at the University of Toronto St. George campus. In-class students at all venues get free access to the St. George lectures online.
Find out more »Ellin brings “Double Threat” to the University of Toronto Lecture Series at St. George Campus Feb. 27, 2019 @ 1 p.m.
The University Lecture Series features leading scholars, thinkers and experts who address an eclectic range of topics in an accessible one-hour format. Come hear their thoughtful insights, critical analyses and provocative ideas. A brief question and answer period follows each presentation. The series is offered online, and in Markham, Oakville and at the University of Toronto St. George campus. In-class students at all venues get free access to the St George lectures online.
Find out more »Ellin brings “Double Threat” to the University of Toronto Lecture Series in Markham Thursday Feb. 28, 2019 at 12:30 pm
The University Lecture Series features leading scholars, thinkers and experts who address an eclectic range of topics in an accessible one-hour format. Come hear their thoughtful insights, critical analyses and provocative ideas. A brief question and answer period follows each presentation. The series is offered online, and in Markham, Oakville and at the University of Toronto St. George campus. In-class students at all venues get free access to the St. George lectures online.
Find out more »March 2019
April 2019
Ellin brings ‘Double Threat’ to the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies in Waterloo
As part of the for the 2018-2019 academic year, Ellin joins the roster of historians for Wilfred Laurier University's Military History Speaker Series. Details to follow TBA. The Laurier Military History Speaker Series has been running for twenty-five years and is part our mandate to make the latest scholarship in Canadian military history available to the public in an accessible format. The Series runs each Fall and Winter, featuring a total of six historians throughout the calendar year. Events are hosted…
Find out more »Ellin brings “Double Threat” to Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, Ontario April 7, 10 a.m.
There is a strong connection with Belleville's Jewish community and WWII, not only because the local Jews welcomed the Jewish personnel who were stationed at CFB Trenton, and nearby bases for services and home hospitality, but also for tragic reasons, with the death of Pilot Officer Tommy Marshall, the brother of Senator Jack Marshall from Nfld.
Find out more »Ellin speaks at the Richmond Hill Historical Society April 15, 2019 7:30 p.m.
Richmond Hill resident and author/journalist Ellin Bessner brings the untold stories of the 17,000 Canadians of Jewish Faith who served in the Second World War. They faced a "double threat" as Mackenzie King told them: not only were they fighting for King and Country, but also for the survival of the Jewish People in the face of Hitler's Final Solution. And they themselves faced great personal danger, should they be captured by the Nazis, and their own Jewish identity be…
Find out more »Ellin brings ‘Double Threat’ to the Thornhill Masonic Temple, April 24, 2019.
During the Second World War, the head of Canadian Jewish Congress, Samuel Bronfman, set up a War Efforts Committee which oversaw efforts by the country's small Jewish minority to throw itself wholeheartedly into the war effort. The aim was to defeat Hitler, and rescue the Jews of Europe. But also, to show loyalty to Canada. Not only was Bronfman an industrialist, and head of Seagram's distillers, but he was also a Mason. Under Bronfman's leadership, more than 17,000 Canadian Jewish…
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