Oral history interview with Isaac Messinger. He was born in Poland in 1929. During the war he was moved to Siberia, Russia. Later in the war he became a chauffeur for a General in the Polish Army, he was 16 or 17 at the time. After the war he ended up in Germany and was a pickpocketing. He got sent to an American school in Germany that was teaching children that were going to immigrate to North America, but he couldn’t sit still in class, so they gave him a job in the garage where he learnt English with the Americans that worked there. He came to Canada at age 18 or 19. He got a job as a tin smith, then he got a job as a carnie and made his way to Vancouver where he worked at the PNE. He eventually opened a steak Restaurant and ran it for a while. He talks about Casinos and Las Vegas. He talks about how he met his wife and their life together.
Oral history interview with Flora Bluma Field. She was born in Los Angeles in 1924. She grew up Orthodox. Her father was a tailor and her mother worked with him in the tailor shop they owned. She studied music at UCLA. She moved to Vancouver in 1957 with her husband. They originally come to meet her father-in-law and fell in love with Vancouver. She got involved with the North Shore Jewish Community Association when she moved here. They celebrate holidays and had Bar Mitzvahs there. She has been volunteering with the Peretz Centre for years and been on the programming committee.
Oral history interview with Sally Rogow, who was born in New York, 1930. Sally's grandparents were born somewhere in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Sally's uncle was the first Jewish man to be a Lieutenant Colonel in the Canadian Army, while her mother helped organized women during the Second World War. Sally worked as a teacher, teaching blind and handicap children, eventually advocating for those with Special Needs.
Oral history interview with Barbara Weiser, born in 1946 in Quebec. She worked for Eaton's and a number of other companies as a Buyer, travelling across Canada. She is a prolific writer and researcher, having published 4 books / papers on the Jewish community with focuses on Synagogues and Holocaust memorials.
Oral history interview with Nathan Divinsky who was born 1925 in Winnipeg. Notably Nathan's great grandfather Joe Nathanson acted as buying agent for General Baskakov in Russia. Nathan recieved in PhD in Mathematics in Chicago. He had lunch with Enrico Fermi. He taught at the University of Manitoba and than the University of British Columbia, where he became deeply embedded with the Vancouver community.
Oral history interview with Seymour Levitan who was born in Philadelphia, 1936. Seymour was drafted into the American army in 1961 but missed the Vietnam war, pursuing a Ph.D and teaching English at the University of British Columbia. Seymour helped organize the Jewish Film Festival, helped launch the Chelm Film Series.
