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How Canada’s Jewish women helped win the Second World War, at home and at the front

Virtual JCC

Journalist Ellin Bessner and Women Studies scholar Jennifer Shaw will discuss the significant roles Jewish women played in the Second World War. This neglected history illuminates not only the status of women in Canada but also the challenges Jews faced during this time and how Canadian Jewish identity was shaped by this war-time experience. While Bessner will focus on Jewish women who served in the military, Shaw Lander will explore the stories of women who developed ground-breaking programs at home to support the troops and their families. Both scholars did extensive research at the Ontario Jewish Archives and will highlight these records in their talk. The conversation will be moderated by Caryn Lieberman, Senior Broadcast Journalist with Global News.

Co-presented by the Ontario Jewish Archives, the Virtual J, and the National Council of Jewish Women, Toronto.

Free

Hidden Heroes: Canadian Jewish airmen who saved England in the Battle of Britain. August 14 lecture

Royal Air Force Museum, London

Hidden Heroes: Canadian Jewish Airmen in the Battle of Britain.

For the 80th anniversary of the August 1940 Luftwaffe attacks on Adler Day (Eagle Day), join journalist Ellin Bessner via ZOOM on Friday August 14, 2020. Bessner speaks to the Royal Air Force Museum and RAF Association. She brings you the untold­­ story of the Jewish Canadians who were among “The Few”: the brave RAF pilots who fended off those deadly bombing raids during the Battle of Britain.

Bessner is the author of “Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military and WWII”, published by the University of Toronto Press.

Her lively presentation will highlight these Jewish volunteers in the RAF (and also the RCAF) who served at great personal risk, should they be captured and their faith be discovered by the Nazis. They came to England for King and Country, and also to save their own people from Hitler’s Final Solution.

You will learn about Canada’s top Spitfire Ace, F/L William Henry Nelson, DFC. Ellin will show you why his name is on both the Battle of Britain Memorial in London, and at Capel-le-Ferne. Stay tuned for a surprise special guest.

Free

Hidden Heroines: How Canada’s Jewish Women Helped Win WWII

Dorshei Emet Synagogue 18 Cleve Road, Hampstead, Quebec, Canada

Join author and journalist Ellin Bessner for a talk on The Untold Story of Jewish Women in the Second World War. She will take a fascinating look at the Jewish heroines, at home and at the front, who helped Canada win WWII, and whose contributions to history have never been recognized. Meet Cpl. Daisy Lazare, Sgt. Miriam Freedman, S/O Rose Goodman and Pvt. Esther (Bubis) Thorley, as well as the legions of Jewish women volunteers who raised funds, packed boxes, made sandwiches and even built the bombs.

Ellin speaks about the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII at ‘Spotlight on Speakers’ Series Oct. 20 in Toronto

Governor's Hill Condos 3600-3800 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

As the world prepares to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII, Toronto author and journalist Ellin Bessner takes us back in time to the days when Canadian troops began cleaning out the remnants of Nazi Germany’s occupation forces across Europe. During the spring of 1945, the troops were met with a joyous welcome 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 Nazi concentration camps like Vught and Westerbork, and also, the notorious Bergen-Belsen.

For the 75th anniversary of the End of WWII: Guelph’s contribution. Ellin speaks to the Royal City Men’s Club

via Zoom

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. Journalist and author Ellin Bessner's book "Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military and WWII", published by the University of Toronto Press, tells the story of the 17,000 Canadians of Jewish faith who served in WWII, helped defeat Hitler, and rescued the survivors of the Holocaust. As the world marks the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII, Bessner will introduce you to some of the Canadians of Jewish faith who were among the liberators.

Remembrance Day event at the Probus Club of Milton, Ontario with Ellin Bessner Nov. 4, 2020

Milton Probus Club ontaro, Canada

As the world commemorates the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, and Holocaust Education Week, Canadian author and journalist Ellin Bessner comes to the Probus Club of Milton to say we still have work to do to fight the rise of antisemitism in our time.

Bessner is the author of “Double Threat”, published by the University of Toronto Press, about the contribution of Canada’s tiny wartime Jewish community to defeating the Nazis. When the prime minister of the day, Mackenzie King, called the Second World War a “double threat” for Canadian Jews,  he meant that not only was freedom and democracy at risk but, so was the survival of the Jewish race from Hitler’s Final Solution. Canada’s wartime Jewish community sent over 17, 000 men and women to defeat Hitler and rescue survivors of the Holocaust.

Bessner has spent nine years researching and interviewing the veterans and their families, to piece the untold stories together.  Her message to audiences is that “Remembrance is an active verb” and we must carry the torch of those who fought for our freedom.

Copyright © Ellin Bessner