Oral history interview with Louis Eisman in preparation for the 2015 Scribe on Jewish clothiers. Louis speaks on his family history, his grandparents having moved to South Africa from both Russia and Lithuania, as well as his upbringing in Cape Town. In South Africa, Louis began working as a traveling salesman after six months of university, before going on to have an agency and manufacturing plant. In 1977 he moved to Toronto, Canada, where he was successful in his work for a few years. In 1979, he was offered a position in Vancouver, and after spending a weekend there, he and his wife prepared to move there in the following year. He also speaks about his involvement with the Jewish community, and his life and success in Vancouver since moving.

Interview with Jack Huberman 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. Jack (he/him) is a gay Jewish man born in Calgary, Alberta. Jack talks about his family’s origins in Poland and his parents’ livelihoods as grocers and property owners upon immigrating to Canada. Jack shares he realized he was gay very late in life, and how little dialogue about being queer and Jewish at the time made him reluctant to ‘come out’ within his Jewish community in Vancouver. He discusses the writing and mentorship of Rabbi Gil Steinlauf as a catalyst for understanding his sexuality within a Jewish context, though shares how ‘coming out’ did not make him feel welcomed across all parts of his Jewish community, including his own congregation. Jack talks about his desire to foster a greater awareness and acceptance for queer Jews. He discusses his experiences through school, including how he eventually became lawyer, and volunteering throughout the Jewish community in Vancouver. Jack closes by talking about his immediate family, including his husband, children, and grandchildren, and the importance of treating others equally and maintaining good relationships with those around you.

Oral history interview with Irma Schneider, interviewed by Cindy Rozen. Irma speaks on her family’s history as well as her early life and adolescence in East London, South Africa. Irma also discusses her childhood education in a Catholic convent and her experience with camp and Habonim. When she was married, she lived in Cape Town, where her children were also born, and in 1980, she immigrated to Vancouver, Canada. She details her family’s and her own experience with immigrating to Canada and speaks about her marriage and her children’s families.