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Vilnius, Vilnius City Municipality, Lithuania

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Vilnius, Vilnius City Municipality, Lithuania

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Vilnius, Vilnius City Municipality, Lithuania

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My Zaide lived in Podbrodj, which was near Vilnius. This used to be in Russia, but now it is in Lithuania, and his family moved to Canada to get away from/escape communism and Pogroms against jews. He went from boat to Canada instead of an airplane and the name of the boat was Batory and this was a very very famous boat back then.

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My amazing grandfather's name is Stephen Holland and he is my grandfather or as he is called my Opa.
Stephen was born in Asuncion Paraguay on August 25 1949.
When he was 2,1/2 years old he moved to Santiago Chile because his father needed a better climate and he lived there till he was 21 then in May of 1971 Stephen emigrated to Toronto Canada and have been here ever since.
I work in the dental industry selling equipment and materials to Dentists. Whenever I get the chance to see my grandfather it is so much fun. Whether we are watching sports, going swimming or really doing anything it is so fun to be with my grandtaher Stephen

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My Gigi was born in Canada because both of her parents were born in Hungary, and they were in the middle of the war when they were born, and they didn't want the same for their kid, so then they moved to Canada and gave birth to my Gigi.

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My Zaide was born in Toronto because this is where his parents live, and his entire family lived in Toronto, so My Zaide's parents decided to give birth to him in Toronto as well.

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My grandma moved from Israel to Canada by plane because she said that her Dad didn't want any more war, and he was tired of the wars that were going on during that time, including World War II and the war of independence, and the Suez Crisis during her dad's time.

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canada

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My Zaidy Syd Cargman was born on March 14 1937. He started to work for the federal government. His first Job for the federal government was Canada Post which is the mail and then he worked in Canada Customs which is when people buy things from different countries and have to pay taxes. After that, he met my bubbie Marsha and later on got married. One of his achievements in life is that when he retired from the government he got a badge. Some of his challenges were that his dad passed away when still young and he ended up leaving school a year early to pay fro stuff and help his family. He unfortunately passed away in 2013

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My savta Maya was born in 1961 at Dagestan Russia. She had five siblings and 2 loving parents. In 1970 my savta and her family immigrated to Israel where she stayed there for a while and where she met her husband now my saba shurik and they grew up in the same neighborhood, in my savtas high school she studied cosmetology because she wanted to become a hair dresser. After my savta started a hair salon and had one of the most successful hair salons in her town. In 1981 my savta had my mom Beti and in 1985 my savta had my aunt Yafa. When my mom was 9 which was 1990 my savta, my mom, my aunt and my saba all immigrated to Toronto Canada leaving most of their family behind. They had to learn english since they diddnt know it before, my mom and my aunt had to go to an english public school, it was really hard but eventually they started to learn and understand the language. my savta re-opend a new hair salon close to her house, and in 1993 my savta had my uncle leor and till this day my savta is succsesful and happy.

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My maternal grandfather's name is Stanley Brochstein. He was born in Pittsburgh, PA n 1937 to parents that immigrated from Poland before WWII. He is the eldest sibling and has 2 younger sisters. Stanley moved to Israel after college and met my grandmother in Beer-Sheba. They married and had my aunt Nathalie. After she was born, they moved to Montreal for my grandfather's chemical engineering studies. Once he graduated they moved to New England to be closer to his sisters and my mother was born in Connecticut. In 1984, they made aliyah and have lived in Rehovot ever since.

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Mercedes keslassy

My grandmother was born February 4, 1952 in Tangier Morocco  and moved to Canada when she was just 6 years old. She attended school while living with her parents.  A story my grandmother remembers is that one day she was walking  down the street with her parents, and they stopped suddenly because someone threw a glass from their balcony and it hit her in the head.  She moved from Morocco to Canada because it was not safe because it was an Arab country. Both her parents worked. Her mother was a seamstress and her father worked in a store that sold flour and wheat.

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My Dads Side,

My Grandfather is from Morocco and he later than moved to Canada along with my Grandmother.

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Samuel Davidovits

He was born in 1923. He had 7 brothers and sisters. He was the youngest. One of his brothers died before the war due to sickness and one of his other brothers died in WWII. His father ran a company that supplied shingles to people building homes. He survived Auschwitz went to a displaced person camp and he tried to get into Israel. The people there asked him to recruit people from DP camps come to Israel. Every night he would smuggle people from Germany to Italy then would bring them to Israel. He later moved to France for a couple year and then he came to Canada. He soon started a Farm which supplied kosher milk to the community. He then started another business they bought and sold goods from all over the world. He died in 2004.

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Goldie Davidovits

She is my paternal great-grandmother. She was born in Toronto and grew up there. She was born in the early thirties. Her family owned one of the first chicken stores in Toronto. One of the many challenges of living in this time is that if they would not work on shabbat they would get fired. She worked at the JCC when it first opened at Spadina. Many of her friends became nonreligious due to this.

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My great- grandfather (on my moms side), Leo Goldstein was born on May 15, 1918, and was born in Rzezawa, Poland. originally his name was Abraham Leib. He along with I believe his three brothers, two sisters, and mom, were captured during WWII. Sadly only him and one or both of his sisters survived. After WWII my dads family (who were in Winnipeg) sponsored Leo in 1948 to come to Winnipeg. His job was a tailor.

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Serenity Morrell

Nanny Sandra Cromwell was born in Southville Nova Scotia On March 24, 1945 - she was the 5th of 7 children - Her Parents Joice and Warren Cromwell were members of a black and indigenous community as many of their family had integrated from many communities in Nova Scotia - There were no hospitals in the area in 1945 so it was very common for children to be born at home. Her family were farmers, foresters, soldiers, paper mill workers, mink ranchers and fishermen.

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my father was born on February, 20th 1970

My Dads struggles and goals moving to Canada and living in the Soviet Union. In the late 1980s the borders started to open and my dad left the Soviet Union with his family because of antisemitism in Uzbekistan mostly everywhere in the Soviet Union, people in the Soviet Union did not get paid very well , if you were getting more money than you were supposed to the government would take the money and throw you in jail so there was no possible way to be rich and it they found out that you do have a lot of money they could try and kill you ,in school my dad studied Russian and German as a foreign language. So he had no English knowledge whatsoever when he came to Canada. So the struggles were language and money he came with parents and two siblings ( older brother and younger sister) [my aunts name is Lena and my uncles name is Arsen.] My dads family has a very tight bond and they took turns working and studying my dad and my uncle helped pay the bills when they came to Canada my dad worked at a leather company in Canada and my Uncle worked as a mechanic . My Father wanted to understand how economy and finance work in Canada so he got himself enrolled in Toronto School of Business. Took insurance brokers courses, income tax, accounting and Certified Financial Planner courses as well. Right now he has his own practice of doing exactly that. Being an Accountant.

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Serenity Morrell

My Grandpa Leslie Frohlinger was born in 1947 in Hungary.

His parents and two older siblings survived the Holocaust then had him and his younger brother. When is Israel became a state in 1948 they hired guards and in the middle of the night they snuck out of Hungary by foot and escaped into Czechoslovakia. They had to give sleeping medication to my grandpa’s baby brother because if he cried, they would’ve been shot.

from there, they took a bus into Italy and then took a ship to Israel where they lived for a few years. In The early 1950s they moved into a small farming town in Ontario Canada called Scotland. They only knew Hebrew and Hungarian and didn’t know any English. They lived and worked on the farm for many years. He moved to Hamilton Ontario and worked at Stelco steel. He went to University for accounting. He married my grandmother

Then they had my mother.

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My Safta Tova was born in December 13, 1950. She lived in Ramat Gan, Israel, with her parents, Doris Rivka and Yitzhak. She had a happy childhood and even had a little dog named Dobby, who became part of their family when she was only four years old. When she got older in high school, the six day war started. It was a difficult time in Israel, but Safta and her classmates were very brave. Even though they were still students, they wanted to help. So they worked with the army to collect and send supplies making sure the soldiers had what they needed. In 1969 my Safta and her parents moved to Toronto a while later June 26 1972 Safta and my Grandfather Michael Markowhich got married. Just 3 years later in July 26 1975 my Safta had my Mom. And August 8 1980 my Safta gave birth to my uncle Dov.

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Serenity Morrell

My Bubbie Celia Louthood was born in 1949 at Mount Sinai Hospital. She lived downtown until she was 3 in a little house on Clinton street, in a community where many Jewish families who immigrated from Europe lived. She moved north to the Bathurst and Willson area where many other Young Jewish families lived. She lived there until she was 22 when she got married and started her teaching career. She taught at Ernest Public School, Arbor Glen Public School when she had my mom, Dublin Heights middle school where she started teaching grade 7 & 8 then she was promoted to vice principal and Woodbine Junior High which had students in grade 7 8 & 9. Finally she became principal at St. Andrew’s Junior high school were she retired after 5 years to spend time with her family. 10 years later I was born and 2 years later my brother was born.she became a busy and happy bubbie! Her last name was Tucker, Frohlinger, then Louthood

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My grandmother and grandfather Nava and Yitzchak were born in Mosul Iraq and in 1951 they immigrant to Israel and got married in Israel

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Moshe was born in 1976 and his parents are immigrants to Israel from Iraq. Now he lives in Canada and he is a car dealer

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My father was born in 1976. His name is Moshe. He has a lot of friends and he has a good life! He is very nice and kind to everyone. He is the best father in the world!

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My grandmother is Helen. She was born in 1946. She had a good life.

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My mothers name is Marina. She was born in 1973 and she has a great life! She traveled around the world and she knows many languages. To be specific, she knows 9 languages. She is the best mother in the world!

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My bubbie Marsha Cargman was born in Toronto, Canada on November 22 1943. Her most recent Job was at a Sporting Goods Store called Trimark as an Accounts Payable. This meant that she would call people if they didn't pay on time and now she is retired . One of her accomplishments in life was raising a family.

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My Sabba from my moms side is named Gavriel I call him sabba Gavriel .He has 5 kids 4 girls 1 boy. He moved to Isreal and got married. He lives in Tirat Hacarmel. After he moved to Israel he got married. My mom is the only one that moved out of Israel. His job was to travel and teach people Torah. He is very big in the community in Tirat Hacarmel. He now lives with his wife and likes to take care of his grandchildren and watch Israel news. He served in the Russian air force and fell of a plane and had to get stitches all over the side of his head. He is care free and lets Hashem make decessions for example when ever there is a siren he just stays on the couch and says if Hashem wants me to die now I will die now.

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My grandpa moving from Hamilton to Toronto

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Stan Howard Raphael was my grandpa . He was 51 years old when he passed away. He was born in Hamilton moved to Toronto when he got married to my Grandma.

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Elaine was born in Porto Algre in south Brazil. She spent her younger years here. She later moved to a Kibbutz in Jerusalem. She lived there for some years and in those years she met her future husband David in the same Kibbutz. They both move to Toronto and have to children.

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My grandpa moved from Hamilton to Toronto

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Stan Howard Raphael was my grandpa . He was 51 years old when he passed away. He moved to Toronto when he got married to my Grandma.

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My Sabba from my dads side was born in Baku. His name is Eliav. He was very poor and struggled to help his mom and family. He is 77 years old. He moved to Isarel lived there for a long time and then they moved to Canada. He like to watch the Israeli news and lobby channel in there building He is Kavkazi.

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My great grandma and all of her 10 kids were in Russia, They decided to move to Israel. My grandma brought all of her 10 kids to Israel with her.

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My GG Frances was born in Toronto but her parents were born in Russia.

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My GG William came from Poland to Canada when he was 8 in 1928 with his parents and three siblings.

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My GG Jack came to Canada from Poland in October 1929 with his mother and 4 siblings. His father died when he was 5. His mother had $80 when she came. My grandparents found out this information in Halifax in the log book from Pier 21, from the boat he came over on.

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My GG Zita moved to Canada from Romania by boat in 1924 when she was 2. Her father had just passed away.

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My bubbie (Debbie)

My bubbie is from South Africa along with my dad. My bubbie moved to Canada when my dad was a teenager with her two daughter and husband.

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Joshua Samuel:

My grand mother was born there in April of 1954. My great grandparents were holocaust survivors and they lived there until 1967, when they moved to Toronto

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I will tell you about my amazing grandmother Theresa Elkabas. Her parents were born in Mogador in Morocco.
She came to Canada in 1969. She worked for a bank head office in the credit cards approval department. She worked there for over 25 years. She enjoyed also her work and had good colleagues. My grandmother Theresa Elkabas is always so fun to be around and it is always so fun when I go to her house. That is my grandmothers story.

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My Abuelo (grandfather) Joseph Benchimol was born in 1946, but later moved to Israel and fought in the 6 day war. He moved to Canada where he met my grandmother in 1973.

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My Abuela (grandmother) is from Tangier. She was born in 1954 and moved to Toronto, Canada is 1963

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My Great grandfather was born on May,17, 1926. He was an engineer and was considered "well educated" for that time. He and my great grandmother lived in Romania until they moved to Israel in 1963. There they lived till 1972 at which point they moved again to Canada.

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My Great Grandmother, Savta Lea was born in Deva, Romania in 1937 before World War 2. She met my Great Grandfather when she was 17 and got married when she was just 18. They lived in Romania for several years and had two sons. Avi, my great-uncle and my Grandfather.

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My grandfather Peter Israel (or Grampy) was 11 when he moved to Israel from Hungary after WW2 then 3 years later he moved to Toronto. His parents did not make a lot of money so he hustled pool as a teenager and made more money than his parents did. When my mom was a teenager she traveled to Hungary with her dad (my Grampy) and her grand parents (my great grand parents) and saw the village where they were born. It was called Baie-Mare and the villagers still remembered my great grandfather because he used to run the town mill.

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Blima Ida Dreezer

My Bubbe Blima was born in Heidenheim, Germany in 1948 in a D.P. (displaced persons) camp. Her parents were Holocaust survivors. They were from Parczew, Poland, a small town near Warsaw. Her father Abraham survived the war as a partisan in the forest. Her mother Ester was in several concentration camps including Auschwitz-Birkenau. My Bubbe came to Canada with her parents in 1949 when she was a year old, on a ship called the S.S. Samaria. They landed in Halifax at pier 21 and took a train to Montreal.

My Bubbe grew up in Montreal. Her father was a taxi driver, her mother worked in a bakery. Bubbe's twin brothers Harvey and Sid were born in 1950 on February 22, the same birthday as me!

My Bubbe's first language was Yiddish. She learned English from the kids she played with on the street. She went to afternoon Hebrew school after public school. She graduated from McGill university with a degree in English. Her first job was as a copywriter at Eaton's department store where she wrote the ads. She worked at an advertising agency and then as an Editor at Sun Life Insurance company, were her magazine won an award

In 1980 Bubbe moved to Toronto because of the political situation when Quebec wanted to separate from Canada. in Toronto she got a job as creative manager at ward air. Then she worked as a communications officer at the Ontario ministry of health where she met my Zaide. They got married in 1983 and had three kids, my mom Harriet, Charles and Rebbeca.

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My Great Grandmother Magda with her husband (My Great Grandfather) Frank. 

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My Great Grandmother Magda Fleischmann was born May 28, 1924 in Komarno Czechoslovakia near the border with Hungary.

Magda her two sisters, Olga and Marta and her mother Josephine, survived Auschwitz, except her father Adolph, sadly perished in a concentration camp.

After the Holocaust Magda returned to Hungary were she met her husband Frank. Magda her family and Frank immigrated to Canada to start a new life.

Magda had three children including my Grandmother Judy.

My Great Grandmother Magda was an amazing seamstress she made lots of dresses and other things. Magda was very flexible and even in her 60s she could do a cartwheel and handstand. She also met all of her Great Grandchildren including me.

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My Great Grandmother Magda Fleischmann was born May 28, 1924 in Komarno Czechoslovakia near the border with Hungary.

Magda her two sisters, Olga and Marta and her mother Josephine, survived Auschwitz, except her father Adolph, sadly perished in a concentration camp.

After the Holocaust Magda returned to Hungary were she met her husband Frank. Magda her family and Frank immigrated to Canada to start a new life.

Magda had three children including my Grandmother Judy.

My Great Grandmother Magda was an amazing seamstress she made lots of dresses and other things. Magda was very flexible and even in her 60s she could do a cartwheel and handstand. She also met all of her Great Grandchildren including me.

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This is my Papa. His name is Harold Cipin. He was born in 1950. He grew up for most of his childhood in Calgary but, as an adult, he moved back in forth from Calgary and Toronto. His first wife's name was Dara and he had two daughters my mom Casey and my aunt Laura. Ten years after his first marriage he divorced and married my grandmother Lynn. She had three daughters, my aunts Rachel, Alex and Becky. Harold worked many different jobs. He worked at the JCC as the director for 6 years. Then he ended up moving to Toronto and became one of the directors of the JCC here for many years. Finally he worked in property management for a long time. Harold is a very hard worker who always gets the job done and more. He has a lot of perseverance and grit. He has always loved to be involved in making the Jewish community better and has never stopped.

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My Oma with her husband and two children in Holland wearing traditional  Dutch clothing. 

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Oma means Grandmother in Dutch.

My Oma, Ruth Rottenburg was born in Poland in 1921 into a Jewish family of six as the eldest child. She had three siblings, a brother and two sisters. My Oma was 18 when World War II started. A few years later when she was in her early twenties, in the midst of the war, she escaped a death march, and survived by pretending to be a gentile on a farm. This was located near the prisoner of war camp my Opa was in.

During the chaos near the end of World War II, my Oma and Opa met in the countryside close to the farm and fled back to Holland, where they got married and had two children including my grandfather, Bernard Verbeeten.

Later on they moved to Indonesia where they had their second child. Then after 8-11 years they immigrated to Canada - Nova Scotia by taking two boats. One back to Holland then Nova Scotia.

The gold necklace with the ten commandment pendant, belonged to my Oma, who bravely kept the necklace throughout the war as an important family heirloom connecting her to her past.

My middle name was named after my Oma Ruth Rottenburg.

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My Oma Ruth Rottenburg holding her son (my grandfather) Bernard Verbeeten.

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Oma means Grandmother in Dutch.

My Oma, Ruth Rottenburg was born in Poland in 1921 into a Jewish family of six as the eldest child. She had three siblings, a brother and two sisters. My Oma was 18 when World War II started. A few years later when she was in her early twenties, in the midst of the war, she escaped a death march, and survived by pretending to be a gentile on a farm. This was located near the prisoner of war camp my Opa was in.

During the chaos near the end of World War II, my Oma and Opa met in the countryside close to the farm and fled back to Holland, where they got married and had two children including my grandfather, Bernard Verbeeten.

Later on they moved to Indonesia where they had their second child. Then after 8-11 years they immigrated to Canada - Nova Scotia by taking two boats. One back to Holland then Nova Scotia.

The gold necklace with the ten commandment pendant, belonged to my Oma, who bravely kept the necklace throughout the war as an important family heirloom connecting her to her past.

My middle name was named after my Oma Ruth Rottenburg.

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My Oma Ruth Rottenburg holding her first Great grandson (My cousin) Conner Adam. 

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Oma means Grandmother in Dutch.

My Oma, Ruth Rottenburg was born in Poland in 1921 into a Jewish family of six as the eldest child. She had three siblings, a brother and two sisters. My Oma was 18 when World War II started. A few years later when she was in her early twenties, in the midst of the war, she escaped a death march, and survived by pretending to be a gentile on a farm. This was located near the prisoner of war camp my Opa was in.

During the chaos near the end of World War II, my Oma and Opa met in the countryside close to the farm and fled back to Holland, where they got married and had two children including my grandfather, Bernard Verbeeten.

Later on they moved to Indonesia where they had their second child. Then after 8-11 years they immigrated to Canada - Nova Scotia by taking two boats. One back to Holland then Nova Scotia.

The gold necklace with the ten commandment pendant, belonged to my Oma, who bravely kept the necklace throughout the war as an important family heirloom connecting her to her past.

My middle name was named after my Oma Ruth Rottenburg.

Oma means Grandmother in Dutch

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Bubbie Sharon, Great Grandfather Abraham, and Great Grandmother Dora 

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My paternal great grandfather, Abraham Mandel, was born in Poland January 6 1906.

Abraham was born into a family of 7 to Harry and Kayla Mandel and was one of 5 siblings.

They owned a farm in Poland with animals and crops, except it wasn't that successful as the Russians would burn their crops whenever they grew because my great grandfather was Jewish. The Russians didn't want Jews to be successful or own their own business.

Because of that he and his family were persecuted from Poland and immigrated to Toronto, in 1912.

Abraham lived downtown where they opened a successful family dairy business. Soon he married a woman named Dora. They had 5 children including my Bubbie Sharon Weisbrod, except sadly one of their children passed soon after they were born. Eventually Abraham left the dairy business and became a landlord.

Abraham was a hard worker and provided a lot for his family

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My paternal great grandfather, Abraham Mandel, was born in Poland January 6 1906.

Abraham was born into a family of 7 to Harry and Kayla Mandel and was one of 5 siblings.

They owned a farm in Poland with animals and crops, except it wasn't that successful as the Russians would burn their crops whenever they grew because my great grandfather was Jewish. The Russians didn't want Jews to be successful or own their own business.

Because of that he and his family were persecuted from Poland and immigrated to Toronto, in 1912.

Abraham lived downtown where they opened a successful family dairy business. Soon he married a woman named Dora. They had 5 children including my Bubbie Sharon Weisbrod, except sadly one of their children passed soon after they were born. Eventually Abraham left the dairy business and became a landlord.

Abraham was a hard worker and provided a lot for his family

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Markus luft. Ronald Swirsky. My grandpa’s name is Ronald Swirsky but I call him Zadi. He was born in corner brook newfound land on august 17 1935. Ron had 1 brother and two parents his brother,s name is Melvin and his parents' names were Bertha and Ernest. Ron had a wife named Susan and a daughter who is my mom. He worked at Ryerson University and he was a
Director and Professor. Ronald died in 2019 at the age 84 due to cancer and was buried in Pardes Shalom Cemetery.

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Stephen Dreezer

My Zaide was born in 1943 in Hatfield England. His father was a watchmaker and his mother was a housewife. He has one younger sister who is five years younger than him. Later his father bought a confectionery and tobacco shop in Wembley. They moved into the apartment upstairs. My Zaide would work at the shop after school and on the weekends. Before he finished secondary school, he had a career advice interview, and decided to become a chartered accountant Because the description made it sound like the James Bond of the financial world. His father introduced him to the accountants who did his business taxes and he signed an apprenticeship agreement for five years. He studied after work with a correspondence course. After he qualified and became a chartered accountant. he left that firm and joined Deloittes but left after one year, because he got bored. In a pub one night with a friend, he talked about coming to North America. They immigrated to Canada and lived in Toronto. he worked for the government of Ontario and in 1978 was assigned to the national defense college of Canada for one year. He traveled across Canada, the United States, central and south America, the far east, middle east and Europe. He chaired the ministry of Heath's united way campaign where he was introduced to Blima Milech (my bubby) through a colleague. the married in 1983 and had three children, Harriet, my mother, Charles and Rebecca.

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Markus Luft. Susan Swirsky. Susan or bubby as we call her was born in ottawa in 1949 to parents alexnder and edis cohen where she spent her childhood. After school she moved to Toronto for universty. there she married my grandpa zadi ronald swirsky. Once in toronto she was a she had many jobs but for the most of her life she was a stay at home mom incharge of my mom untill. After her husband and my Grandpa died. She sold the house and moved into an apartment building. she has one kid named karen who is my mom. She had 3 sibling named David, Chuck and Carole.

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My grandfather Joseph Elkabas was born in Casablanca Morocco on October 20, 1940. He came to Canada on October 20, 1963. Coïncidence date his parents were married on October 20, 1920. 3 times October 20. He came to Toronto by plane from Casablanca to Paris and then to Toronto on worked in Toronto as an accountant and soon after he worked for the federal government as a federal tax auditor. When he was hired he was asked to swear an oath on a Christian Bible but he told them he was Jewish the they gave me the Old Testament to swear the oath. I worked there for 35 years and retired after. His job was very interesting as he was always meeting people during the audits of the companies. He still see some colleagues once in a while.  Both his parents were born in a city called Mogador in Morocco. That is the amazing story of my grandfather Joseph Elkabas.

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Stephan

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blima

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test

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My name is Dalia Anidjar. Both of my mom's parents were born in Toronto, Canada. Both of my grandparents were born and raised in Toronto with many siblings. My grandfather has a younger brother and my grandmother has an older brother, younger brother, and a younger sister. They both grew up exposed to the jewish religion. My grandmother, Heather Traves, was born on April 14, 1955. My grandfather, Alfred Stein, was born January 2, 1952. Heather was a book keeper but in her 40's she went back to school to get certified as a makeup artist which was her passion. Alfred is an accountant.

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My name is Ellie lavi. My great - great grandmother came from Belarus. She immigrated to Canada. When she arrived, the only things she had were a couple dollars, and a water boiler made from gold. She started a life from absolutely nothing.

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My great-great grandmother, came from here to Canada with only a water boiler made of gold. She started a life from nothing.

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Eva Saperia was a girl raised in Toronto by holocaust survivors. she loved art as a child and as she got older she married my grandfather in Toronto and had my mother. Eva was a psychologist and owned many properties the she rented the were given to her by her mom. then my mom had me and she became my bubby.

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This is a picture of my great grandmother on my moms side. Her name to my family is Gram. Gram is Sephardi who's family fled from Spain in the middle of the golden age just before the inquisition which turned out to be a very good move. Gram was born and married in Istanbul were her family lived after their journey and then moved to Israel when it was under British mandate when the rise of antisemitism was high in Turkey. She then had three kids in Palestine (Israel), Yosi, Lina and Ada Behar. When my Safta Ada was 18 she and her family moved to Toronto and made the family I know today.

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my grandfather was born right after the holocaust and once born quickly moved to Israel. he, his sister, and his parents lived in Israel for multiple years and then moved to Toronto.

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My grandmother Berenice (Bee) Braude. She was born in Cape Town South Africa . My grandmother lived in Israel for 3 years. Then she spent 5 months traveling through Europe then returned to South Africa by boat. She moved to Canada in 1986.

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My paternal great, great grandfather, Haskel, and his best friend, George, tredged across all of Europe, leaving their families behind, never to meet again. They wanted to go to Winnipeg, but missed their train, and ended up in Sudbury. They met twin sisters, and each married one, and lived happily ever after

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My grand father, Alan Berk was born in Jerusalem, Israel in the year 1943. My great grandmother, left Lithuania in 1939 to escape from the Holocaust and she came to. My great grandfather left Poland in 1939 as well, for the same reason. They both met and got married in Israel, which is why my grandfather was born inside Israel.

When my grandfather was five years old, he saw Israel become a country and it was the happiest moment in his life. Though, when he turned six years old, with his mom and dad, he moved to Canada to have a better life. My grandpa went to many countries before he went to Canada. (Such as Turkey which was the country he spent the longest time in. He was in Turkey for ten days!) Though, soon he was able to get inside Canada. The first couple of weeks he was in Canada, he spent time in a refugee camp. Though, right before his family was cleared to live in Canada the Canaidian government told his family that their last name was too complicated. They told my grandpa's family that if they were to live in Canada, their last name will change from Berkavitch to Berkavicky to make it less complicated. Though, my grandpa and his family did not like the sound of that name, so they told the Canaidian government that instead of our last name be Berkavicky, if we can change our last name to just Berk.

To make it short and quick, the government agreed. This is how I got my current last name of Berk.

When my grandfather arrived in Canada he did not know any English, so instead of being in third grade in the time, like he was supposed to, he was put in first grade. Though, my grandpa was able to learn the English language very quickly. He claimed that by the fourth day of school he could understand all of the English words. I thought that this was very cool of my grandpa and I really admire him for that.

When my grandpa was eight years old he got a little brother named David, who my grandpa loved very much, but sadly since of their age difference they did not get to close.

Later in my grandfather's life he became a lawyer and went to college. Though he met my grandmother in 1965 and he married in 1967, she was his true love. Three years later in the year 1970 he became a dad, when my grandma gave birth to my father. Also, in 1974 he had his second child. My aunt Heather. He loved his children very much and my dad claimed that he was a fantastic dad. My Grandfather took my dad on many road trips around the United states, so my dad bonded with my grandfather very much.

In 1995, when the Raptors franchise began, my grandfather was a huge fan and my father claimed that my grandfather loved watching the Raptors, though in 1997 everything changed. My grandfather was diagnosed with cancer, so he was taken to the hospital and he lost a lot of weight. He still had the same personality though now he was much more in pain and hurt. Sadly, in March,2004 my grandpa died due to his cancer and my entire family was really sad.

My grandpa was a kind and gentill man, who was smart and funny forever his legacy will be recognized in my family and I will tell my kids his story

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My Pepe Michael Benchimol was born in Casablanca Morocco. He was born in 1946. He left Morocco at an early age and came to Canada because of Muslims taking over the country. He moved to Montreal. He Already knew french from Morocco so he did not have to learn a new language other than English. He got married and had two kids. One of them was my mom. She was born on April 10th 1979. Then when my mom was only 9, the family moved to Toronto. My Pepe was a business man and worked for Mazda. He moved up the ranks until he was the president of Mazda Canada. He retired and now he lives in a condo downtown. His wife (my Baba) died in 2019 and now he lives alone.

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Mike Benchimol - Amric Holding Inc. | LinkedIn

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Experience: Amric Holding Inc. · Education: Concordia University · Location: Markham · 115 connections on LinkedIn. View Mike Benchimol’s profile on LinkedIn, a professional community of 1 billion members.

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My great grandfather Aaron on my moms side was born on August 19 1918 and grew up in Opatow, Poland. He grew up with his parents, 2 brothers and 3 sisters. When he was 21 he was put in a concentration and escaped the camp, he ran into the woods hoping he would find shelter and luckily he did. After the holocaust in 1948 Aaron got married to my great grandmother Pola and they moved to Toronto together. When the moved to Toronto he had 3 daughters with Pola and he opened up a clothing store with Pola.

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my grand father is named Saba Yacov he is from algeria and then moved to Israel for work when he was there he went to the army and defused bombs in the army he has tons of crazy storys when he was there he had my mom there and then he moved to Canada and stayed there for a long time and then retired and moved back to Israel and stayed there.

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My dyedah Felix Zilnik was born in Russia but is now known as Ukraine. He did not have a great because he was not able to leave. later he left for Israel where he had my aunt. years later he moved to South Africa where my dad and uncle were born. a decade in a bit later he and his family moved to Canada for work and he has lived in Canada ever since.

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My faternal great-grandparents, Liam Clarfield

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My faternal great-grandparents, Liam Clarfield

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My great-grandparents lived in Danzig, Poland and they found out that they were going to be attacked in Poland because this was in WWll they ran and fled from Poland and flew to Canada and that is how I live in Canada to this date and they were one of the WWll survivors.

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Yair Sharon. This is where my Great Grandmother Savta Chana Rand was born in 1929. When World War II started, the whole family was moved to France. Her parents were taken to Auschwitz and she lived in monasteries and with farmers in France and moved from place to place alone. When the war ended, she stayed with a family that collected Jewish children left alone in France in Paris. In 1947 she immigrated to Israel and arrived at Kibbutz Ein HaNtzi'ev, where she met my great Grandfather Menachem Rand. They married in 1950

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My Oma Ruth Rottenburg wearing her necklace. 

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Oma means Grandmother in Dutch.

My Oma, Ruth Rottenburg was born in Poland in 1921 into a Jewish family of six as the eldest child. She had three siblings, a brother and two sisters. My Oma was 18 when World War II started. A few years later when she was in her early twenties, in the midst of the war, she escaped a death march, and survived by pretending to be a gentile on a farm. This was located near the prisoner of war camp my Opa was in.

During the chaos near the end of World War II, my Oma and Opa met in the countryside close to the farm and fled back to Holland, where they got married and had two children including my grandfather, Bernard Verbeeten.

Later on they moved to Indonesia where they had their second child. Then after 8-11 years they immigrated to Canada - Nova Scotia by taking two boats. One back to Holland then Nova Scotia.

The gold necklace with the ten commandment pendant, belonged to my Oma, who bravely kept the necklace throughout the war as an important family heirloom connecting her to her past.

My middle name was named after my Oma Ruth Rottenburg.

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My grandmother from my dad's side name was Aviva Frisch. She was born in 1940 in Toronto. Her family was from Poland. She married Ron Heller who sadly died when my dad was 13 years old. She was a single mother for the rest of her life and was a math teacher at CHAT. She has an award named after her at CHAT. She had three kids, Susan Heller, Jay Heller and Hart Heller (my dad). I sadly never had the chance to meet her because she died before I was born.

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Mania Green.

This is my great-grandmother. Her maiden name is Miengarten. She was born on January 1st, 1925. After World War 2 she went travelling. In 1946 she met her husband in Weiden Germany. They joined a kibbutz in Flossemberg Germany. Their plan was to then move to Israel but Mania got sick and the Kibbutz in Israel refused to accept her because it would be an unsafe journey. So instead they ended up moving to Canada. Manias' husband Abram got a job as a tailor in Canada because the government was welcoming people with special skills.

She moved to Canada when she was 23 years old. When she moved to Canada neither she nor her husband knew any English. She had nowhere to go. She was an incredibly hard worker and became one of the best workers at a shoe company called Bata. She then had two children Shel and Helene. She was beyond sweet and generous. She treated everyone with love and kindness. She worked super hard and created an amazing family.

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my Bubby and zaidy moved to Toronto and continued there lives here.

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My great-grandmother from my dad's side name was Bessie Frisch. She was born in 1902. She married Harry Frisch and moved to Toronto where they had two kids. MY grandmother, Aviva Frisch and my great aunt, Rhoda Frisch.

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my bubby Hilda and Zaidy Michele moved here for a few years.

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Yair Sharon. This is where my Great Grandparents, Savta Chana and Saba Menachem moved too. This is also where they met

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Yair Sharon. This is where my Great Grandfather on my dad's mom's side was born in 1924. His name was Menachem Rand. Yes, both of my Great grandfathers on my dad's side were named Menachem. At the age of 15, he immigrated to Israel alone on the youth board and arrived at the Mikvah Yisrael. After a few years, he was among the founders of Kibbutz Ein Hantz'ev in Emek Beit Shan. Kibbutz Ein Hantz'ev was where he met my Great Grandmother later on, and they got married in 1950.

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My Maternal Great-Grandfather, Harry, was one of 9 siblings. He was in the military, and during the Holocaust he tried and was not able to save his family. None survived. He left and joined a guerilla freedom fighter group, and later met Lily in synogauge years later.

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My great-grandmother from my moms side Florrie's Family was from Kirkuk, Iraq. She was born in 1898 and when she married my great-grandfather Emanuel, she moved to Bombay, India. They started a family and had 6 children. in 1966, she moved her family to Israel, then later moved to Toronto where she died.