Oral interview with Bernard Victor who was born in Gomel, Russia in 1893 and came to Vancouver, on April 15, 1923, from Winnipeg. Bernard was involved with Talmud Torah, B'nai B'rith, and the Jewish Literary Club. He describes living through two pogroms in Russia. He served in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces in Europe from 1916 until 1919. His father worked for the Russian Vital Statistics Department and noticed large numbers of Jews leaving, encouraged Bernard and Bernard's brother to leave.

Oral history interview with Betty Averbach who was born in Romania in 1921. Her family moved to Canada when she was 3 years old, the Council of Jewish Women met them and helped them get settled. Talks about growing up in Vancouver and the Jewish community here. Her father was a junk peddler when they first arrived. Talks about raising her family in Vancouver and her family's active relationship with the Schara Tzedeck synagogue. Speaks of the importance of the Jewish Community Centre in the life of the community when she was young, the support and confidence it generated amongst Betty and her friends.

Oral history interview with Deb Bockner who was born in St. Louis in 1951.

An interview with Ernest Brotman whose interview covers Woodcarving, Canadian Army, Dental Corps, Menorah Society, Congregation Schara Tzedeck, Aldermen, Playhouse Theatre, Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Queen's Council.

Oral history interview with Josephine Lancaster and Daisy Minchin, cousins, both were born in Victoria, in 1893 and 1892 respectively. The cousins recall the communities reaction, demolishing a number of Jewish businesses, to the sinking of the Lusitania in May 1915; because Victoria's Jewish community consisted of mainly Germans and Englishmen, when they found out that Lieutenant James Dunsmuir, Jr., Robert Dunsmuir's son, has perished. Josephine is a member of the Victoria Chapter Hadassah while Daisy is associated with B'nai B'rith Auxiliary in San Francisco, in L.A. divisional president of Council of Jewish Women; Florence past president of B'nai B'rith.

Oral history interview with Judy Zaitzow who was born in Vancouver. Her Grandfather William Seidelman was a postmaster and a shochet. Judy discusses her family history in detail through her Grandparents, parents, brother and sisters. Judy volunteers time with the Beth Israel school board, Hadassah, was door-to-door volunteer for Mothers March (forerunner of United Way), and for Heart & Stroke fund.

Interview with Marsha Ablowitz regarding her uncle Max Dexall for On The Record: The BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project in collaboration with JQT Vancouver. Interviewed by Carmel Tanaka via remote Zoom video call. Marsha recalls what she knows of Max (he/him) and his family who originated as farmers in and around Antopol, Belarus. He immigrated from Belarus to Vancouver with siblings in attempt to avoid Russian pogroms. Marsha describes how Max was well connected in the gay and Jewish communities, including stories of meeting gay men at gender-segregated synagogue meetings and how the community had hoped to make a Jewish gay synagogue in Vancouver similar to San Francisco. Marsha also discusses how Max continued in the family shoe store business where he was very successful and offered a safe space for the queer community including gay men and drag queens. Marsha shares the story of how Max would meet his life-long partner George at the store and discusses their relationship dynamic, including caring for the queer community in Vancouver. Marsha goes on to relish stories Max had shared about his time as a drag queen, different men he encountered and how he would get recognized wherever they went based on his reputation from his shoe store.

Oral history interview with Moe Cohen who was born in 1896 in Montreal.

Oral interview with Nancy Halpern. Interviewed by Samantha Stokell for SLAIS Oral History class.

Nancy's father's family moved to Vancouver in 1906, when her father Norman Brown was less than six months old. She has stories of her own life in the Vancouver Jewish community and those of her grandparents and parents. She was involved in drama and theatre in the Vancouver and Spokane, WA areas, and worked as a librarian in Vancouver. She was also involved in creating the West Vancouver Jewish Community Association.

Nancy mentions her cousin's daughter, Barbara Liskov (née Huberman) from the States, a professor at MIT who was the first woman to graduate in Computer Science in the U.S., and who is a winner of the Turing Award.

Interview with Nancy Rosenblum for On The Record: The BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project in collaboration with JQT Vancouver. Interviewed by Carmel Tanaka via remote Zoom video call. Nancy (she/her) is Jewish lesbian born in Los Angeles, California and currently residing in Nelson, BC. Nancy reflects on her parents’ lives in LA and her family’s origins in the Eastern Europe. She talks about her family’s entrepreneurship in the American fashion industry. Nancy talks about finding family in the Jewish lesbian community and how she realized she was a lesbian in her early 20s. Nancy talks about discovering filmmaking in high school and eventually going to California Institute of Arts for photography and filmmaking. She talks about two prominent art shows she did: one in protest of mainstream media’s normalized portrayal of violence against women; and one photographing the lesbian community of 1980s LA. Nancy talks about her partner of 36 years who is also a professional photographer and how they ended up in Nelson, BC. Nancy compares her experience being a Jewish lesbian in LA to Nelson. Nancy talks about the changing acceptance and assimilation of the lesbian identity, where the trans community experiences the most backlash today.