Oral History interview with Leon Broitman. Leon was born in 1922 in the USSR. He talks about the Ukrainian Holocaust and living in the USSR under Stalin. He started studying to become a teacher but was drafted and subsequently wounded during WW2 and never completed his education. After the war he came to Canada and became a cutter (Tailor) in Montreal. He then moved to Ottawa and opened a store. He also started an investment company that was still in business at the time of the interview (2013). He closed is store in Ottawa and moved to BC. He had 4 children with his wife and talks about them and their careers. Much of the interview is about Soviet Union history and talking about WW2 and the Germans.

Oral Interview with Linda Frimer for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Pam Wolfman via remote Zoom call. Linda was born and raised in Wells, BC. She describes her family history within Wells and BC, but also their origins in Eastern Europe. She talks about her family’s livelihoods within Canada, and her marriages and children. She explains early influences for creativity including her and her parents’ love of nature and culture, but also their stories of the Holocaust and loss that were very poignant to her at a young age. Linda discusses her early and mature education, how she has always had the gift of painting which inspired her attending of art school as an adult, and her honorary doctorate from the University of Fraser Valley. Linda talks about her “childlike” fascination with art and nature and how its recognition affirmed her talent for art. She speaks about her early career as a professional painter, how her artistic style is creative rather than belonging to any one genre, and how colour and symbolism are big factors in her pieces. Linda discusses her meaningful collaborations with First Nations artists, her mentorship with Holocaust survivors, and her connection between people and her art. Linda discusses her work in galleries, the Jewish art community in BC, and the relationship between her art and Judaism.

Oral Interview with Lori Goldberg for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Daniella Givon. Lori, born and raised in Vancouver, talks about her family’s history in BC and abroad, her childhood, and early artistic influences in her family. She also discusses how she was introduced to visual arts through attending classes at the Vancouver Jewish Community Centre and her education at Langara and the Ontario College of Art in Toronto. Lori describes how she struggled to find her footing and artistic identity in college and how it affected her mental health, but prompted her to return to Vancouver and get her own art studio on Granville Island. Lori talks about her development as an artist, becoming a teacher at Emily Carr, and continuing art education as a single mother. Lori discusses how travelling to Bali and seeing the country’s spirituality concerning objects inspired her future art projects that addressed meaning and memory in kept things, but also offered her a new outlook on the mundane, like using dryer lint as an art medium. She also talks about being able to do charity in Cambodia through art, and how observing discarded objects influenced the creation of a new exhibit centering environmentalism. She closes with talk about her work with galleries and experiences with commissions.

Oral history interview with Louis Averbach who born in the Ukraine in 1914. In Vancouver Louis worked in the furniture business, eventually setting up his own store 'Belmont Furniture'. Louis strongly advocates the importance of advertising throughout his career and afterwards. Moved into building later in life, first the Kamlo Motel on English Bay and later high rise apartments in the West End.

An Oral history interview with Louis Zagin who was born in Vilna in 1885. He lived in many cities across Canada including: Montreal; Toronto; Brandon, Manitoba; Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan; Trail, BC; and Vancouver. He was a Labour Zionist.