Interview with Lil Cohen

itemDecember 4, 2000O0045

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Held by: Ottawa Jewish Archives via Canadian Jewish Heritage Network (incl. Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives)
Dates: December 4, 2000 (indexed as 2000)
Level: item
Extent: 2 tapes
Scope & content: Subject: Lil Cohen Interviewer: Joe Murray Date: Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: Tape 1 62:58 Tape 2 25:29 -Lil’s family came to Canada circa 1920, their ship docked in Halifax and they then travelled to Ottawa. -They were immigrating from Bessarabia; they decided to leave once the Soviet Union began the pogroms and anti semitism became prevalent. -The family lived at 156 George Street when they first got to Ottawa and Lil’s father worked at the Loeb (?) families candy factory on sussex. -In 1938 her father opened his own confectionary store and factory at 305 Dalhousie. Lil discusses how the war quickly broke out and sugar was rationed, because of this she remembers the giant lines at Christmas and Easter. The factory sold both hard candy and chocolates. -Lil recalls a woman with the last name Finkelstein who hand made all of the chocolates and would let Lil eat the discarded chocolate. -Lil began working in the store at the age of 13 or 14 and she has fond memories of the very loyal staff. -Lil then talks about her route to and from her house and the murray street shul. She mentions the names of family homes she remembers walking past and who she remembers socializing with. Some of the people she spent the most time with include the Saslov twins, the Slones, the Steinberg's, and the Edelsons. -She touches on her memories of York Street Public School and recalls some of her teachers; Ms. Eardly, Mr. Westwater, Ms. Eckart, Ms. Watts, Mr. Seymour, Mr. Sutherland, Mr. Marks, and Ms. Mitchel. -She has fond memories as a child of spending her saturdays doing foot races with the Saslov twins at the baseball field. -She then attended the School of Commerce. She recalls socializing at Sherman’s and Snyder’s both of which were across the street from the school. SHe excelled at sports and gymnastics at school and did not enjoy home economics. -Lil recalls attending Fader on George street for a year before quitting because she did not enjoy the classes. -She was a member of B’nai Brith in Ottawa as well as the girl guides. She also founded a club with her girlfriends called Select Teens. She recalls spending her teen years socializing and dancing at the Wise families store. -Lil touches on her memories of her sister marrying young and her brother being a fantastic dancer and wearing zoot suits. -Her father purchased a cottage in Britannia opposite the train tracks. Lil spent most of her summers there with the Saslov’s, Bookerman’s, and Blostein’s. She has fond memories of swimming and diving at the beach. -Lil spent most of her social time at Britannia either at Lakeside Gardens listening to the music or Clancy’s. -She recalls the tea dances that were held in the basement of the King Edward synagogue. -Her family then moved to 92 Charlotte street where she would sit on the stairs and watch her brother and his friends play poker. This is how she learnt to play cards. -In her teen years she wrote a gossip column for B’nai Brith, this evolved into her becoming a secretary at the Hadassah because she was very fast and good at taking notes. -Lil then speaks about the Cohen side of her family. -She met George Cohen on a blind tennis date at Tel Aviv Tennis Club and they were married for 27 years before separating. They had 2 children and 4 grandchildren. -it was George who encouraged her to return to work in the mid 60’s. She began as a casual employee for the government. She speaks about taking the entrance exams for the government and of experiencing anti-semitism in the office. -Lil is a very confident woman and speaks of her time in the office; she tells funny stories about paying her boss back from card games and practicing her golf in the office hallways. -In April of 1968 Lil received a request to interview at the Israeli embassy as Arie Eshel’s secretary. Lil interviewed and wagered her job offer against her job to get better benefits. END OF TAPE 1 -Lil ended up starting work at the Israeli Embassy for ambassador Arie Eshel in May of 1968. -Lil worked with 8 ambassadors from 1968-1996. Lil loved the job and talks about her role in the embassy, her responsibilities, and the difficulties she would have with guest lists to events. -Lil discusses her trips to Israel. She discusses the people she stayed with, the perks of travelling with the embassy, and her experiences in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. -She discusses Israeli food and all the politicians she got to meet. -At the time of the interview Lil has been retired for 4 years. She is now a secretary for the Canada Israel Cultural Foundation as well as the secretary for her apartment building. She also has plans to volunteer with teenagers. END OF TAPE 2
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Genre / form: sound recording
Format: Audio
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