Frida Levenheck is a Holocaust survivor from France. Born in the Alsace region, Frida was a child when the war began, and her survival can be attributed to her parents – and to luck and circumstance. The family lived in the Strasbourg region, right across the Rhine River from Germany, and they were forcibly evacuated […]
Andrew Tylman was born in November 1933, and he grew up in the town of Sochaczew, Poland. His early life took place in a largely Jewish milieu,and the family was prosperous, vacationing in Glowno and prominent in the community. The onset of the war changed the situation dramatically; as violence in his small town began […]
Norman Baker was born September 1, 1916 in the west end of Toronto, where he attended Runnymede Collegiate. Norm’s parents hailed from Riegate, England and had emigrated to Canada before the Great War, and Norm and his two brothers were raised in the British tradition. And they were fortunate not to be impacted by the […]
Jim Warford was in the Canadian army during World War Two. Born in England in 1922, Jim grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, against the backdrop of the Great Depression, attending school and very active in sports. Jim and a friend joined the militia before the war, knowing that war was on the way. When his […]
Norm Gogo grew up in Toronto and Michigan, as the family moved when his father was transferred and began work in the Motor City. But the good economic times did not last, and as the Depression worsened the family returned to Canada along Hwy. 5. Back in Toronto Norm went to school in the city’s […]
Bob Chartre grew up in prewar Quebec, one son in a very large family. He remembers well the difficulties of the Great Depression, and even recalls that his father was happy when he and two of his brothers were called up for the war as that meant fewer mouths to feed! When Bob went into […]
Peter Castellan was born in Toronto in 1918, making him one of the centenarians that we have interviewed for the Crestwood Oral History Project. Peter grew up in the east end of Toronto, in the Gerrard/Broadview neighbourhood, where he remembers days spent at the YMCA and the local firehall, as well as the many local […]
Ardwell Eyres served in the Canadian Army during the Second World War. Born in Cameron, Ontario, Ardwell grew up against the backdrop of the Great Depression. His father was a farmer, so Ardwell remembered that they always had food to eat, but he was aware of the economic circumstance that befell others. Ardwell did go […]
Gord Allen served in the Canadian Army during the Second World War. He was born October 2, 2022 and grew up in prewar Toronto, where he remembers the tough times of the Great Depression; Gord recalls his father being out of work, and he remembers that he and his friends used to bring food to […]
Harry Preston served in the Canadian army during World War Two. He grew up in western Canada, in and around Winnipeg, where Harry and his family experienced the realities of the Depression. Harry kept himself busy though, and with friends, he got involved in the militia and the Sea Cadets, where he was able to […]
Nathan Rosenberg is a survivor of the Second World War and the Shoah. While so many Jews were caught up in that terrible period of history, Nathan and his family were fortunate to escape, and what makes their story different is that they escaped to the east, into the heart of the USSR. When their […]
Joe Warner is a Canadian who joined the fighting in Israel in 1948 because he felt “it won’t be worth being a Jew elsewhere if Israel did not survive.” Joe had graduated high school in Toronto in the midst of WW2, and he had enlisted in the RCAF, and began training in different parts of […]
During the second week of March Break, when many Crestwood students were sunning themselves on tropical beaches, Coach Hawkins and the members of the Varsity Boys Curling team travelled north to compete in the OFSAA provincial curling championships. This year’s tournament was held in Fort Frances, Ontario- located approximately 1,700 KM northwest of Toronto, close […]
Read More… from Crestwood Varsity Boys’ Curling Team Competes at OFSAA
Larry Bunston was born March 25, 1923 in Saskatoon, but early in his life his father made the decision to take the family to Ontario, hopefully to make a better life for his family. Larry grew up in different parts of Ontario, notably Oshawa and Brantford, where he and his four brothers played sports and […]
Gerry Grossmann was born May 8, 1925 in Dusseldorf, Germany, into a prosperous Jewish family. Gerry remembers his childhood in fond terms, as his parents created a home where he and his brother had so many opportunities. 1933 saw a dramatic change though; with the election of Hitler, things changed for the Grossmanns and for […]
Norm Short served in the Canadian Army during the Second World War. Born in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, the young Norm moved to Quebec along with his family when they settled in Shawinigan Falls. When the war came, Norm joined up in Montreal, as part of the Essex Scottish Regiment. he completed his basic training and waited […]
Jack Boeki’s World War Two story is a unique one. Born May 31, 1924 in Rotterdam, Jack grew up with fond memories of the city and its people, and of his family and childhood. All of it was shattered in May 1940, when the German blitzkrieg turned west towards the Netherlands, and Jack’s city came […]
John Hall was born in the Canadian West in the early 1920s. He grew up against the backdrop of the Great Depression, though he said he was lucky to have been sheltered from the toughest times. With his brother he made his way to western Ontario, riding the rails and working the ports of Lake […]
Edith Gelbard was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1932. She lived with her parents, sister and grandmother. After the Nazis annexed Austria in 1938, her family fled to Belgium and then to France. In 1942, her father was murdered in Auschwitz. Edith and her brother were hidden in an orphanage. She was liberated in 1945 and […]
Lili Friedman is a child survivor from the Holocaust and a longtime supporter of our program here at Crestwood. Born in Poland at the outset of the war, Lili grew up in the Lodz ghetto, from where she remembers snippets of her childhood. She and her family were deported to Auschwitz with the liquidation of the […]
Tom Bradley is an American veteran of the Second World War, having served with the 29th Infantry Division in Europe. Tom hails from New Jersey, where he grew up during the Great Depression. When the war came, he was in school in Massachusetts, expecting to go on to college. But the government had other ideas, […]
Noelle Meyer was born in Paris to parents of Ukrainian Jewish ancestry. She was 2 and a half years old at the time of the Nazi occupation of France, and for one and a half years, until ‘44, we do not know who took care of her. She was then taken in by the orphanage, […]
Renee Fiszman is a child survivor of the Shoah from France. Her father joined the French military at the war’s outset, and this would prove to be a crucial decision for the rest of the family; he was taken as a POW early in the war, and would not rejoin the family until 1945. When […]
Raffaella DeSimone was born in Italy in 1943, in the midst of the Second World War. As her parents were farmers, and there was no work, the family relocated to France, and then to Canada. The family arrived in Halifax, at Pier 21, and they began to adapt to their new country, reaching out to family […]
Berthe Cygelfarb is a Holocaust Survivor with a compelling story to tell, and she tells it beautifully. When Berthe visited Crestwood in December 2015, she spoke to Mme Doherty’s French class, and they were entranced by Berthe’s charm and humour, as were the students in the subsequent interview. Berthe recounted to both groups the horrors […]
The Social Studies Department had some exciting visitors this week, creating great opportunities for students interested in Canada’s military history. On Monday, January 25th, five officers from the Canadian Forces College visited Crestwood, sharing their experiences in Canada’s recent overseas missions, notably Afghanistan. Majors Dennis, Lajeunesse, Harvey, Dias and Barker represented all facets of the military and […]
Phil Harmon is an American veteran of the Second World War from Maine, where he presently lives in the town of Hollis. Originally from the Cape Elizabeth area, Phil grew up against the backdrop of the Great Depression, though his family was fortunate to be spared many of its most negative impacts. By 1939, as […]
Bill King served in the Canadian Forces from 1951-56. Bill grew up in Nova Scotia, against the backdrop of WW2. He remembers well the sacrifices of other family members who served in that conflict, and he considers them the real veterans. Bill’s service coincided with the Korean War, and although he did not go to […]
Salut, my name is Mlle Phardis and I am teaching grade 4 and 5 French this year at Crestwood School. At the junior level I am focusing on increasing student’s ability to communicate in French by building on their ability to speak, write, listen, and read in a second (or even third) language. I motivate […]
LCdr LeFresne enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces as a MARS (Maritime Surface-Subsurface) Officer in June 1997. After 4 Years at the Royal Military College (RMC), he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Military and Strategic Studies and was posted to Victoria, BC to complete bridge officer training. Upon completion of this training, LCdr LeFresne […]