History - Jewish Canadian service in the Second World War

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Victory, sacrifice and legacy 

The Second World War came to an end in Europe on May 8, 1945 (V-E Day), while victory over Japan came some three months later on August 15, 1945 (V-J Day). It was a bloody conflict that would take tens of millions of lives, including those of more than 45,000 Canadians in uniform. Nearly 450 Jewish Canadians were among those who died in the effort to defeat the forces of tyranny that had invaded and occupied much of Europe and East Asia.

Some Jewish Canadians experienced an extremely profound chapter of their military service as the fighting in Europe approached its end. From Italy and France to Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, Canada’s Jewish chaplains and servicemen aided the survivors of the Holocaust as they were liberated after years of harsh persecution, reuniting broken families and helping restore desecrated synagogues. Jack Marcovitch of Montréal, for example, helped arrest Josef Kramer—the infamous commandant of the Bergen-Belsen camp who was also known as the Beast of Belsen—in April 1945. He also helped liberate the Vught concentration camp in Holland, finding a prayer book belonging to a murdered Jewish Dutch family and reverently preserving it for the rest of his life. As his son, Don, later related when talking about his father’s desire to save this piece of heritage from amongst all that had been left behind by the persecuted Jews of the Netherlands, “He couldn’t take them all.” Other men, like Michael “Moe” Resin, a photographer serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force in reconnaissance, gave chocolates and candy to female survivors at Bergen-Belsen. He also helped them write to relatives around the world. Sol Goldberg of Hamilton dipped into the army’s large stock of supplies to help desperate local Jewish civilians, with the tacit encouragement of his commanding officer.

The story of the Jews who helped the Allies win the war is a proud one. In the end, at least 10 percent of Canada’s Jewish community, including 39 percent of all eligible men, would serve in uniform. The conclusion of the conflict was not the end of their story of military service, however. Men and women from the Jewish community have continued to serve in our country’s military over the decades, from the Korean War, international peace support efforts and Cold War duties to defending Canada’s borders and fighting on the arid plains of Afghanistan. An estimated 680 Jews currently serve in the regular Canadian Armed Forces, making up 1 percent of its total number, and more serve in the reserves. To the brave Jewish Canadians who served and died in the defence of peace and freedom over the years, let us say, “May their souls be bound up in the bonds of eternal life.”