When most people think about Jews and the Second World War, they think about the victims of the Holocaust. But…
My Uncle Al, an American who lived in Pennsylvania, never talked much about his service in the Second World War,…
Esther Thorley (nee Bubis) of Toronto enlisted in the Canadian Army in the Second World War after her brother Meyer…
Fresh back from her voyage to Normandy, France to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day, Canadian author and journalist Ellin…
Edmonton's Jewish community is about to mark a solemn anniversary: the 81st anniversary of "Kristallnacht", the Nazis' "Night of Broken…
Grave of Muni Erlich, high profile Canadian Jewish communist leader from Montreal, killed during WWII in Normandy, in late August,…
As the world prepares to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, and the 75th anniversary of the…
As the world prepares to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Canadian author and journalist Ellin Bessner…
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.
Although the Second World War was a man’s war, and 17,000 Canadian Jewish men served, a tiny but important group of 270 Canadian Jewish women dared to overcome their family and community’s disapproval, the lower pay, and sexual harassment, and joined the Canadian forces after 1941. That is when the government allowed women to enlist. They served in many jobs at home, and behind the front lines, overseas.
