Interview with Julie Elizabeth 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. Julie (she/her) is a queer Jewish woman, born in Toronto and residing in Victoria, B.C. Julie shares about her parents’ lives in Toronto and family origins based in Russia. She talks about various childhood memories including the close relationships with her father and sister, but also the struggles of family members living with mental illness. Julie talks about rediscovering her father’s family connections in Montreal, leading her back to family history in France. Julie talks about discovering her bisexuality and being discouraged from coming out to her mother. She also talks about her journey with Judaism: as a child alienated from upper class Jewish kids in Toronto, to having a bat mitzvah on her 65th birthday after feeling acceptance and belonging on Salt Spring Island with her partner Reva. Julie talks about her education and career changes over her life. She talks about living with Reva and being accepted by her family. She closes with advice to ‘follow ones bliss’ and anecdotes about trying other religions like Wicca to find herself, and ultimately her way back to Judaism.
Oral Interview with Miriam Aroeste for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Daniella Givon. Miriam was born in Mexico City in 1961 and she explains how her family ended up in Mexico from Poland prior to WWII. She discusses her immediate family, and how her and her husband resettled in Vancouver in 1990. Miriam talks about her career in the film industry and how she transitioned to visual arts with inspiration from her father and the need to balance her career with parenthood. She speaks about having little interest in arts, besides dance, growing up, but that changed when she lived in Europe for almost a decade during her 20s. Miriam describes her art style as more abstract than figurative and discusses her love of bright colours and the necessity of knowing what you want from an art career. She talks about curating art for Vancouver’s 2010 Olympics, selling her work, and the kinds of commissions she enjoys. Lastly Miriam discusses her time in art galleries as an artist, curator and art consultant and what she had learned about art collectors and art institutions along the way.
Oral Interview with Anna Lutsky for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Helen Aqua. Anna was born in Tunis in 1952. She describes her family history, mostly situated within Tunisia, where her artistic influences came from her mother and sister. She recalls going to a strict French school in Tunis until the age of 16, when her family moved to a diverse kibbutz in Israel. She discusses the beginning of her art career as a young mother at the age of 22. Anna describes how her artwork acted as diaries for the places she lived throughout her life, including France, Italy and Cyprus, where the landscapes were the common sources of inspiration. She talks about how her art evolved into a mixed-media style that included painting on objects like furniture or clothing to repurpose their form and function, but one of her largest reoccurring themes remains nature. Anna tells of her most prominent memories of galleries and exhibitions where her art has been shown; this includes turning her home into a gallery, but also participating in World Expos abroad and being commissioned to represent France and Canada with her pieces. She further discusses how her art is more secular than reflective of Jewish connections.
Oral History Interview with Mia Weinberg for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Bill Gruenthal. Mia was born in London, England in 1958. She describes her life as a child of German-Jewish refugees post-WWII, growing up in England and the role this had on her life, including her art work. She discusses her transition from a materials technologist in England to an immigrant in Vancouver, going to art school in her 30s and becoming an independent working artist. Mia is known for working with unconventional materials in her works, most often sculpture and installations.
Interview with Claire Ann Kramer. Interviewed by Cindy Rozen. Ann talks about her family's history, the Apartheid, her childhood, and her career as an interpreter. She speaks in detail about her family's experience in Germany just before World War II, and the political state of South Africa which led to the decision to immigrate to Canada.
Interview with Lolita Aaron. Interviewed by Irene Dodeck. Lolita talks about her family's history, her mother's involvement with Zionism, life under the Apartheid, and her career as an early childhood educator. She discusses her family's decision to immigrate to Vancouver, life in the city, and her volunteer work at the hospice.
Oral interview with Ralph Levy. Interviewed by Molly Kumar for SLAIS Oral History class. Ralph Levy was born in February, 1934 in Istanbul, Turkey. He is the youngest of four. He describes the language Ladino, which he speaks fluently. He lived in England as a child, where he witnessed the Blitzkrieg and attended post secondary there in Lester. He served in the British Military and was stationed in Egypt for two years. He met his wife in Lester and they were wed in 1957. After closing his marketplace business in England, he lived in the south of France till a storm struck. In 1968, he immigrated to Canada. He initially settled in Melfort, Saskatchewan, then went to Calgary, Fort McMurray and then moved to Victoria where he resided for thirty years before retiring in Vancouver.
Oral history interview with Ernest ("Smoky") Smith who was born in British Columbia in 1914. Ernest fought in Italy during the Second World War under the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, earning a Victoria Cross for his actions on the Po river. Noteworthy for how he received his cross.
Oral history interview with Robert A. Wenner, born in 1923 in Alberta. He speaks of his Great-Grandfather, Grandfather on his father's side as well as his mother's side of the family who were from Russia and moved to France. Bob's own father served as an artillerymen and sharpshooter during the First World War. Bob planned to go into Medicine but there were no medical programs on the West Coast and so took Optometry in California.
Oral history interview with Elena Bregman. Born in Kraslava, Latvia. She discusses what it meant to be Jewish openly in the Soviet Union. Graduated from Leningrad University after studying finance. She met her future husband in Murmansk. Immigrated to Vancouver in 1991. She describes how the Jewish community in Vancouver aided her in settling in and her job change to cosmetology.
