Southern Alberta Jewish Veterans of World War I & II

Resources

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Adler, Rev. Michael. British Jewry Book of Honour. London: 1922. Compiled to honour all Jewish servicemen in World War I. Searchable online, but the full record can only be accessed through paid membership. http://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/Collections/Info/3/British-Jewry-Book-of-Honour-1922

Bookman, Max. “Canadian Jews in Uniform.” in Gottesman, Eli. Canadian Jewish Reference Book and Directory. Toronto: Jewish Institute of Higher Research of the Central Rabbinical Seminary of Canada, 1963: 111-128.

Canadian Jewish Congress. Jewish War Heroes. 1944. This is series of comics about outstanding Jewish servicemen. Max Abramson is featured on page 8:

Calgary Chapter 31 Aleph Zadik Aleph of B’nai Brith. The AZA Chinook. Calgary: May 1942. This 1942 yearbook of the Calgary chapter of the AZA youth group contains a list of Calgary youth who were serving in the armed forces and profiles AZA members, some of whom subsequently also served.

Canadian Jewish War Memorial Association. Canadian Jewish War Memorial Book of Remembrance. Toronto: Canadian Jewish War Memorial Association, 2004. Only 50 copies were made of this memorial book listing Canadian Jewish servicemen. The information is based largely on the records created by Canadian Jewish chaplains and archived at Canadian Jewish Congress.

Jewish Historical Society of Southern Alberta. A Joyful Harvest: Celebrating the Jewish Contribution to Southern Alberta Life 1889-2005. Calgary: Jewish Historical Society of Southern Alberta, 2007

Jewish Historical Society of Southern Alberta. Discovery. Calgary: 1991 – . The JHSSA journal was published originally four, and currently three, times per year since 1991. Back issues from 2004 onward are available online at https://jhssa.org/publications/

Jewish Historical Society of Southern Alberta. Land of Promise: The Jewish Experience in Southern Alberta. Calgary: Jewish Historical Society of Southern Alberta, 1996. Available online at https://jhssa.org/publications/

Jewish Western Bulletin. Vancouver. All the issues of this weekly have been digitized and are available at https://newspapers.lib.sfu.ca/jwb-collection

Historical Society of Alberta. Alberta History. Calgary. Back issues of this quarterly publication are also available online at http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/index.html

Morris, Henry & Sugarman, Martin. We Will Remember Them: A Record of the Jews Who Died in the Armed Forces of the Crown from 1939. Edgeware: Vallentine Mitchell & Co Ltd; 2nd Revised edition (2009).

Raber, Manny. Manny Goes to War: The War Memoir of Manuel Raber. Medicine Hat: M. Raber, 1999. A copy is available at the JHSSA office.

Rome, David/Canadian Jewish Congress. Canadian Jews in World War II. Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress, 1947. Part I Decorations. Part II Casualties. (Partly) digitized at http://www.billgladstone.ca/?p=9497

Switzer, Jack. “Southern Alberta Jews in the Great War”. Unpublished 2012 article in the JHSSA military file.

Trafford, Tyler. Memories on the March: Personal Stories of the Jewish Military Veterans of Southern Alberta. Calgary: Jewish War Veterans of Canada Post Number 2, 2001.  Work is available online through University of Calgary Digital Collections.  Search for “Memories on the March” using the quotation marks

For general genealogy searches

Ancestry ancestry.ca/search/category.aspx?cat=39
This site may also be useful for Ancestry.ca’s military records, found in the right-hand side bar. Free initial trial, but after 2 weeks is subscription-based.

Jewish Gen http://www.jewishgen.org/
This is a comprehensive site for general Jewish genealogical research. Basic searches of many of the databases can be done for free, but registration is required.

See also the Links provided at https://jhssa.org/links/ for other Canadian Jewish historical societies and resources.

Online

Calgary Herald obituaries – https://calgaryherald.remembering.ca/obituaries/obituaries/search

Canadian Military Oral History Collection http://contentdm.library.uvic.ca/cdm/landingpage/collection/collection13

Canadian Virtual War Memorial
http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/collections/virtualmem
Graves and memorials of people who died in service. Search by name.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission
http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx
Search by name or regiment.

Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre – Archives, Medicine Hat Alberta
http://archives.esplanade.ca/
Material about many Jewish (former) residents of Medicine Hat.

Glenbow Archives
https://glenbow.ucalgary.ca
Information on some local individuals who served in the military. The Abraham I. Shumiatcher fonds (M1107 – 48-57) contains the correspondence of the local Calgary branch of Canadian Jewish Congress, including lists of local servicemen.

Library of Congress; Experiencing the War: Jewish Veterans of World War II
http://www.loc.gov/vets/stories/ex-war-jewishveterans.html
(for veterans of American Armed Forces only; site is not easy to navigate)

The Last Post
http://legionmagazine.com/en/index.php/last-post –
Death notices from Legion Magazine. Searches can be done by name or geographic region.

Library and Archives Canada
For a general overview of military information available online see:
https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng/collection/research-help/military-heritage/pages/military-heritage.aspx

a) Soldiers of the First World War
https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/personnel-records/Pages/search.aspx
Search by name to access attestation records.

b) Second World War Service Files

https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/help/kial

c) Medals, Honours and Awards

https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/military-medals-1812-1969/Pages/search.aspx

d) The Memory Project Digital Archive
http://www.thememoryproject.com/stories/WWII
This site is sponsored by the Dominion Institute. Best results if searched by name.

Military Casualties (Canadian Jewish Heritage Network ) –  https://www.cjhn.ca/en/gallery?q=setName%3A%28Canadian%20Jewish%20Military%20Casualties%29&sort=title_sort+asc&p=1&ps=20
http://www.cjhn.ca/en/family-history.aspx . See also images in Portraits of Canadian Jewish Military Casualties in the Canadian Armed Forces.

The Military Museums of Calgary
http://www.themilitarymuseums.ca
Library and Archives: http://library.ucalgary.ca/militarymuseums
The mural in this museum complex contains images of a number of Jewish Albertan veterans. Many local WWI vets indicated they enlisted in the 103 regiment in Calgary Rifles.

Museum of the Jewish Soldier in World War II
http://www.jwmww2.org/show_item.asp?levelId=65021
Click ‘The Fighters’ at the top left; search by name or by country (choose from drop down menu in ‘Armed Forces’).

National Archives (U.S.A.) (for veterans of the American armed forces only)
http://aad.archives.gov/aad/index.jsp

Royal Canadian Air Force
http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/en/history-heritage/index.page

U of C Digital Collections (for local histories of towns in Alberta) https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/

Veterans Affairs Canada, Jewish Canadian Service in the Second World War
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/those-who-served/jewish-canadian-service
Web feature including general information and specific profiles.

Veterans Affairs Canada, Second World War Historical Booklet
http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/second-world-war#booklets General history of World War II.