- Ottawa Jewish Archives
- Ottawa Jewish Historical Society fonds
- Interview with Gustave Solman
Interview with Gustave Solman
Description only — contact the archiveO0045
- Held by
- Ottawa Jewish Archives via Canadian Jewish Heritage Network (incl. Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives)
- Dates
- October 24, 2000 (indexed as 2000)
- Level
- item
- Scope & content
- Subject: Gustav Soloman Interviewer: Adele Sydney Date: October 24, 2000 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 1:51:14 Audio begins mid sentence of the interviewer and then cuts. Blank audio- until 37 seconds in Adele Sydney interviewing her 87 year old “uncle Gus” for the Ottawa Jewish Archives Oral History project. Gus’s parents came from Romania in 1900, after they had married. Adele’s grandparents came over in 1921. Gus’ eldest sister, Annie was born in Europe, and came to Canada as a baby. Everyone else was born in Quebec, around Drummondville area. In Drummondville, his dad had a clothing store. Later on Gus’ older brother Charlie also had a clothing store in Montreal. There were 7 kids; 4 sons, and 3 daughters. Gus’ paternal uncles came over before his father, followed by his aunts. Gus traveled to Israel after WWII. His family came to Canada after the Wiener family, who helped them. When Gus was 6 they moved to Montreal. His uncles settled in Quebec, in the fur trade and clothing industry. His parents learned French and English while living in Drummondville. Gus makes a comparison between the Quebec independence movement and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Gus was in Montreal for about 9 years, and then his family moved to Winnipeg. Gus considers himself well educated, because he went to school in both Quebec and Manitoba. In 1939, he moved to Ottawa after his father had passed away in Winnipeg, for employment opportunities. After his father’s death, his mother spent time in Vancouver and in Montreal with her daughter Tilly. He worked at Le Roche? On Rideau Street during the Great Depression, which used to belong to Joe Wienburg, who was a first cousin of Gus’ mother. Started government job in 1940. Pay grade was decided by education. There was an entrance exam to get into the government. The hours of his job were 9-5 with half day saturdays. He found there was no prejudice or racism in the government, being a young Jewish man. When his parents immigrated they were the only Jewish people in Drummondville. Gus discuss Jewish restrictions living in Germany, and says that conditions in Drummondville were alright Gus started in the government during the war, and he was in the RCAF department as a civilian. Moved to finance, and the new post office building. He was also in the Air Force Training plan. There were some other Jews in the government during that time. There was Harry Chricalski? who is also a member of Gus’ shul. Harry was not fit for service so he was in charge of personnel for the defence department they were working in. Gus was a member of the Civil Service Recreational Association (RA) on Rideau street. They used to hold events for government workers. Gus met Miriam Dubrow, his wife’s sister before he met his wife Esther Ester and Gus got married in December 1941. Gus enlisted in the army when he had to, previously having been in the militia, when he was called up in August 1942. He wasn’t set over right away, as he joined the supply corps of the army. His brother Morris was unemployed and also enlisted. Privates only made $1.30 a day. Gus and Esther first lived with her parents, before buying a home with her sister on Percy St, then Notting Hill, then South Gate. He was sent to Kingston for training in 1942, at the Barryfield army camp. Gus’ son Ronnie was born in July 1943, and was about 11 months old when Gus was sent overseas. Gus was sent to the Borden army camp in south England, before going to Lancaster in the north. He also went to Aldershot army camp. He was then sent to Yent (Belgium) before going to the front. His brother Morris went over in the summer of 1940, with some of the first Canadians sent over. Near the end of the war, the Canadian troops were running across the Rhine. Gus was lightly wounded in the leg during a battle. The major in that group was killed however in that battle. And there was another man in his platoon that was killed on the last day of the war. Gus was wounded and was sent down to Holland, where he had stayed for a couple of weeks to recover. He was given penicillin, which was new. Gus was sent home at the end of December 1945. Returning home he passed through New York. Going to war he went through Halifax. Audio cuts 31:57- 32:08 When he came back from the war he was unemployed. Esther worked at Friedmans as a sales lady when Gus returned home. There were a few Jewish girls working as sales women at Friedmans, but being bilingual was important, because there were a lot of French customers Gus makes comments about the importance of bilingualism, and the Quebec independence movement. Gus and Esther moved onto Percy Street c. 1966 Miriam, Esther and their Mother would go to the James Street Shul every saturday. Esther eventually became president of the sisterhood and Gus became financial secretary of the shul, and a member of the Hebrew Benevolent society Esther was the social type, and was interested in plants, and knitting. Gus used to go to the Capital to see theatre productions and movies before it was torn down When Gus was on leave in the army during the war, he visited London, Edinborough, Brighton, York, and Cardiff, Paris, Amsterdam, The Hague, Brussels. Gus donates to the Legion and the Salvation Army for their services during the war. Esther and Gus travelled to Montreal, Toronto, and the United States often. Esther has cousins in Brooklyn. Saul, Esther’s brother, was living in Montreal, but passed away after his marriage failed. In Ottawa, the Jewish community is growing because of the new community centre and old folks home, but the Jewish community has sustained itself in Ottawa for a long time. The Friedmans were a prominent Jewish family in Ottawa, and were involved during and after the war. There was not a lot of Jewish schooling when he was growing up, but a Rabbi used to visit to teach, because Gus’s family lived and worked in the French area of Montreal. They lived on Ontario St, and then Mount Royal in Montreal. Audio Cuts: 1:03:26- 1:51:14
- Location
- rue Rideau · street · confidence 50% · street · found as “Rideau Street”
Where
More details
- Extent
- 2 tapes
- Genre / form
- sound recording
- Format
- Audio
- Harvested
- 2026-10-17T20:12:50Z · source datestamp n/a · cjhn