Oral history interview with Louis Sutker who was born in 1943 in Georgia. Louis goes over his education and career as well as his children and Victoria's Jewish scene.
Oral History interview with Adele Vernon. Born in London, England. During the war her mother told her and her siblings “don’t let anyone know we’re Jewish” and leaving the Jewish faith for years. Talks about being sponsored to come to Canada by his father's aunt, arriving at Pier 41, arriving during the Calgary stampede. Went back to school as a mature student in 1973 for performing arts. Started the Shalom Dancers in 1978/79. Took Wednesday night classes with Rabbi Victor Reinstein and returned to the Jewish faith later in life.
Oral History interview with Rita Sitwell. Her family is from Vilna Poland. Her grandmother was a baker and would make all the traditional baked goods for the holidays. Rita talks about growing up in Vilna under communism and antisemitism in the USSR. They move to Israel in 1970, when Rita was 25. She talks about finding freedom in Israel and later Canada. Her family moved to Montreal. Rita worked as a hairdresser, she tried to work with Jewish people so she could switch to Yiddish when she didn’t know the English words. Her mother loved Montreal because it was better for her health than Israel. They all moved to Vancouver in 1974. Her and John got married in 2000 and she moved to Victoria with him.
Oral History interview with John Sitwell. John’s family is from Poland. His grandfather’s house in Poland was a large estate with a registration date of 1136. His family owned a sugar mill and sold bagged sugar. John and Rita went back to Poland and toured around the area his family lived. His parents survived the holocaust and then escaped Uzbekistan. They were on some of the first boats to Israel. In Israel, his grandfather owned a granary. They lived in Israel until John was 8, when they immigrated to Canada. They lived in Regina when they got here. John became a school councillor and moved out to the west coast. His parents followed him after they retired.
