Upcoming Events

"He wanted to take them all: How Canadian soldiers in WWII Rescued the Survivors of the Holocaust" As Canada, and indeed the world, marked the Liberation of Holland and V-E Day in the spring of 1945, thousands of Canadian military personnel were still hard at work overseas, but some, in particular those of Jewish faith, had a new, humanitarian mission: rescuing the survivors of the Hitler's Final Solution. From helping to restore Jewish places of worship in freed Dutch cities…

On the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII, and the Liberation of Holland and other parts of occupied Europe, Ellin Bessner will share stories of how Canada’s fighting Jewish men in uniform acted with great compassion to rescue the survivors as the soldiers came face to face with the truth about the horrors of the Final Solution

As the world prepares to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII, and the liberation of Europe and Asia from the Nazi-Axis forces, author and journalist Ellin Bessner visits the Air Crew Association of Ontario meeting in Toronto, to share a little known fact about how the Allied air force helped win the war. Among the Canadians who volunteered, were 6,000 Jewish personnel who served in the RCAF and RAF. They served at great personal risk, should they…

When the Canadian troops began cleaning out the remnants of Nazi Germany’s occupation forces across Holland in the spring and summer of 1945, they were met with joyous welcomes by the Dutch people who had endured starvation and brutality under Hitler’s forces. But the Canadians also came face to face with the truth about the fate of Europe’s Jewish community, as they liberated concentration camps and Nazi death camps from the defeated German guards. As the world prepares to mark…

As the world prepares to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII, Ellin Bessner will introduce you to some of the Canadians of Jewish faith who were among the liberators. When the Canadian troops began cleaning out the remnants of Nazi Germany’s occupation forces across Holland in the spring and summer of 1945, they were met with joyous welcomes by the Dutch people who had endured starvation and brutality under Hitler’s forces. But the Canadians also came face…

When most people think about Jews and the Second World War, they think about the victims of the Holocaust. But now a new book by Canadian journalist Ellin Bessner tells the untold story of how and why more than 17,000 Canadian Jews put on a uniform and served in the war, as the liberators. And how Canada’s tiny Jewish community mobilized men, money, and equipment to win the war. These soldiers, airmen and sailers faced widespread anti-Semitism at home, and…

As the world commemorates the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, author and journalist Ellin Bessner brings her new book “Double Threat” to the Scugog Shores Museum Village and Archives. As Canada, and indeed the world, marked the end of the fighting in the spring of 1945, hundreds of Canadian airmen and soldiers were still hard at work overseas with a new humanitarian mission: rescuing the survivors of the Holocaust,  including in Germany at the site of the notorious Nazi death camp Bergen-Belsen.