Double Threat

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Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II is a 2018 book by Ellin Bessner.

Background

Bessner was inspired to explore the role of Canadian Jews in the war effort by the words: "He died so Jewry should suffer no more" on a Canadian Jewish soldier's tombstone in Normandy.[1]

Overview

It focuses particularly on the 17,000 Canadian Jew that enlisted, of whom 450 did not survive the war.[2]

The soldiers faced a "double threat"– they were not only fighting against Fascism but for Jewish survival. At the same time, they encountered widespread antisemitism and the danger of being identified as Jews if captured. The title of the book comes from a letter written by Canada's Prime Minister during the war, William Lyon MacKenzie King, thanking the Jewish community for their efforts during the War and how they faced a "double threat" of both Nazi aggression and the survival of the Jewish nation.[3]

The author conducted hundreds of interviews and extensive archival research to paint a complex picture.

Reception

It was featured in the Montreal Gazette;[2] highly praised in the Hamilton Jewish News;[4] called ‘excellent’ by University of Western Ontario women's studies professor;[5] the Canadian Jewish News compared it to classics: None Is Too Many (Irving Abella-Harold Troper) and Canada’s Jews: A People’s Journey, (Gerald J. J. Tulchinsky);[6] and titled "Heroes from north of the border!" in both the Long Island Jewish World and the Manhattan Jewish Sentinel.[7] It was also reviewed by Jennifer Shaw in the journal Canadian Jewish Studies.[5]

About the author

Ellin Bessner was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. She used to skate at Mount Royal before heading to Ottawa to study.[8] She graduated with a degree in journalism and political science from Carleton University. As a journalist, she worked for CTV News and CBC News, which took her not only in Canada but around the world,[9] as well as stringing for the Globe and Mail, The Canadian Press at al. In the 1990s Ellin also covered several civil wars in Africa.[10][11] Among personalities she interviewed, Prince Philip and the Dalai Lama.[10][12]

Bibliography

  • Ellin Bessner, Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II, (Toronto: New Jewish Press, 2018), 358 pp., ISBN 978-1988326047.

See also

References

  1. ^ Bessner, Ellin (2019-01-24). Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1-4875-3362-5.
  2. ^ a b "Author fights to honour Jews who fought for Canada in WWII". montrealgazette. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  3. ^ "Canadian writer recounts contribution Canadian Jewish Community made during Second World War". Canadian Military Family Magazine. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  4. ^ "Book Review: Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military and World War II | Hamilton Jewish News". hamiltonjewishnews.com. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  5. ^ a b Shaw, Jennifer (2018). "REVIEW: Ellin Bessner, "Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II" and Peter Usher, "Joey Jacobson's War: A Jewish-Canadian Airman in the Second World War"". Canadian Jewish Studies. 26. doi:10.25071/1916-0925.40082. ISSN 1916-0925.
  6. ^ Gladstone, Bill (2018-04-12). "The role of Jewish Canadian soldiers in the Second World War". The Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  7. ^ "Review of Ellin's book in two New York State Jewish papers". Ellin Bessner. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  8. ^ "Ellin Bessner". www.centennialcollege.ca. Centennial College. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  9. ^ "Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military and World War II | The Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre". www.holocaustcentre.com. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  10. ^ a b "Author and foreign news journalist, Ellin Bessner". Faster Than Normal. 2020-03-04. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  11. ^ "Famine Crisis." By Ellin Bessner in Monrovia. Africa Recovery, UN, (1991). p.6; Africa Renewal, 5-7, United Nations Department of Public Information, (1991). p.6
  12. ^ Ellin Bessner - Author and Professor. The Rotary Club of Toronto
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