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 History Interview with Olga Campbell for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Bill Gruenthal. Olga Campbell was born in Iraq in 1943 and immigrated to Canada at the age of five in 1948. She explains her family’s experience with both Russian prison camps and the Holocaust during WWII, where they eventually made it safely to Canada. She discusses her journey as a social worker turned arts professional, including her time spent at Emily Carr and Capilano arts schools. As a second generation Holocaust survivor, Olga discusses how being Jewish and the associated inter-generational trauma of Holocaust survivorship has informed her works. Olga is a mixed-media artist, working in digital and traditional mediums, including collage and sculpture. She also published her art in a book focused on her family’s experience of the Holocaust that has fostered connections to her story, shared herein.
Oral History Interview with Mordechai (Robert) Edel for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Daniella Givon. Edel was born in England in 1949, but describes the life stories of him and his family spanning across Europe, North America and within Israel. These stories include his family's experience with the Holocaust and his growing up Jewish; they also detail his many professions before becoming an artist including musician or hazzan, hairdresser, and photographer. Edel's primary medium of art is oil painting which is in the impressionist style, and constantly informed by his Jewish faith and heritage. Edel tells anecdotes of some of the people he's met through his art within Canada and abroad, and his most memorable commissions along the way.
Oral Interview with Hinda Avery for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Bill Gruenthal. Hinda speaks about her family history in Poland, Russia, and immigration to Vancouver before World War II and the beginning of the Holocaust. She discusses her maternal family’s experience in the Holocaust and her immediate family’s livelihoods in Canada. Hinda talks about her childhood in Vancouver where there was little Jewish community and its impact on her and her relationship with her parents. Hinda discusses how her trip to concentration camps and Holocaust memorials in Europe influenced her decision to pursue visual arts as a form of therapy after she retired from teaching. She speaks about her style of mural illustrations of herself and women in her family resisting against perpetrators of violence during the Holocaust. Hinda talks about how she keeps her artwork, and her difficulty showing her work in Jewish institutions. Hinda speaks about artists who inspire her, how her work was translated into a film, and her previous awards and grants. She also discusses her passion for animal rights, her interest in biology, and her outlook on her wisdom in life.
Oral Interview with Suzy Birstein for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Carol Herbert. Suzy was born in Toronto, ON and she describes her family history within Toronto and origins in Eastern Europe. She describes growing up with artistic influences from her parents who liked classical painters and attending art galleries and her aunts who would knit and embroider. It wasn’t until college that Suzy saw herself as an artist; through working as an artist model, she was exposed to various studio spaces and art classes. Suzy speaks about her experience at Emily Carr, in learning hand building pottery, and being a full-time artist while balancing motherhood both in Toronto and in Vancouver. She also talks about her artistic style, including the influences of Kahlo and Picasso and prominent themes including feminism, resilience and expression; These can be seen in her Frida Kahlo inspired exhibition and in her Ladies Not Waiting series. Suzy discusses the highlights of her career including her work for the 2008 Academy Awards and her teaching of workshops at an artist residency in Greece. She also talks about her teaching at Arts Umbrella and within the wider community
Oral Interview with Barbara Heller for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Daniella Givon. Barbara, born in Vancouver Canada, talks about her family’s origins in Poland and immigration to Canada. She speaks about her upbringing in Vancouver and how she was surrounded by art in her childhood, leading her to become a visual person and a creative. Barbara discusses her interest in religious mysticism which inspired her education and later, became a specific influence in her art pieces. She speaks about how at first she wanted to be a printmaker but pregnancy led her to work with tapestry and she never looked back. She speaks about recurring symbols, like dead birds, in her art which provide a greater message to her audience about themes like life and war. Barbara discusses the highlights of her career, like showing art in Poland and working with various art collectives within North America, all with the support of her family.
Interview with Jeff Kushner 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. Jeff (he/him) is a gay Jewish man, born in Winnipeg and residing in Victoria, B.C. with his partner, Randall. Jeff talks about his parents’ lives as children of immigrants in Winnipeg, telling poignant stories of his family members and their influences on his life growing up. Jeff talks about coming out at the age of 30 and how Jewish culture of family and achievement makes a lot of queer Jews come out later as to not disappoint expectations. Jeff talks about the accepting nature of the Jewish community and Victoria of LGBTQ people, which was different from growing up in Winnipeg. Jeff talks about his education, including becoming an engineer out of the University of Manitoba which led him to a career in Alberta’s oil industry. He tells stories of working for different Canadian oil corporations and the experiences he had being a gay Jewish man throughout, which included experiences of antisemitism and homophobia. He closes by talking about finding the dream home in Victoria, where him and his partner both retired early, and he continues to participate in Jewish organizations as a way to build a legacy based on tikkun olam. This includes how he wishes to work on projects for gay and/or Jewish seniors to have old folks’ homes free of prejudice or having to return to ‘the closet’ in old age.
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.
Number: CA JMABC A.1971.001-20.20-07 Name: Zena Simces Interviewer: David Schwartz Date: Unspecified, 2020 Place: Zoom Project: The Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia Oral History Project
Summary: 00:00: David Schwartz introduces himself and then asks Zena Simces, who is being interviewed to introduce herself as well. Both of Simces’ parents were born in Poland. Simces discusses her time growing up in Winnipeg and her parents’ involvement in the Jewish community. 3:05: Simces discusses her establishment of a lecture series with the Atlantic Centre for Human Rights in Fredericton, New Brunswick. She became involved with Canadian Jewish Congress when she moved to Vancouver. She was Chair of the Community Relations Committee as well as Vice-Chair of the board. 5:18: Simces discusses what she believes is the main mission of the CJC. She mentions the large role the CJC played in advocating for Jewish concerns and educating the rest of the community about those concerns and addressing anti-Semitism. 6:48: Simces mentions some of the other groups and organizations that the CJC had strong relationships with including S.U.C.C.E.S.S, other ethnic groups and religious leaders. The CJC was always well-prepared and well-respected. 8:58: Simces recounts the role the CJC played in the Hate Crimes Legislation and Holocaust Remembrance Day. Simces herself was appointed to the Human Rights Advisory Council. 10:35: Schwartz asks Simces what she is most proud of accomplishing during her time at the CJC. She is very proud of the establishment of Holocaust Remembrance Day. But she wishes more members of the Jewish community were involved politically. 11:52: The speakers discuss the benefits and drawbacks of the reorganization of the CJC structure in 2003 and then again in 2011. 17:21: Schwartz asks Simces about her current involvement in Jewish advocacy. Simces speaks of the founding of the Simces and Rabkin Family Dialogue on Human Rights. 21:15: End of interview.
Interview with Longina Dimant. Longina, born as Hinda Wejgman, grew up in Warsaw, Poland. She talks about her life and her family in Poland before the Second World War, which she describes as happy. They lived in Pelcowizna, a neighbourhood in Poland, until the war. In late 1939, Longina and her family fled Poland by train to Siberia. They stopped in Małkinia for a few days before continuing on to Leninogorsk (now Ridder, Kazakhstan) where they lived for the next six and a half years. At 14, Longina began working at a brick factory. It was a difficult life and they were always hungry. After the war, Longina went to Moscow to try and speak to politician Kalinin to ask him if her family should go back to Poland or stay in Russia; he told her to go back to Poland.
