Double Threat

Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II

Ellin Bessner

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Paperback

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English

New Jewish Press
26 April 2019

Social & cultural history; Military history; Second World War

""He died so Jewry should suffer no more."" These words on a Canadian Jewish soldier's tombstone in Normandy inspired the author to explore the role of Canadian Jews in the war effort. As PM Mackenzie King wrote in 1947, Jewish servicemen 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. Bessner conducted hundreds of interviews and extensive archival research to paint a complex picture of the 17,000 Canadian Jews - about 10 per cent of the Jewish population in wartime Canada - who chose to enlist, including future Cabinet minister Barney Danson, future game-show host Monty Hall, and comedians Wayne and Shuster. Added to this fascinating account are Jews who were among the so-called ""Zombies"" - Canadians who were drafted, but chose to serve at home - the various perspectives of the Jewish community, and the participation of Canadian Jewish women.

By: Ellin Bessner
Imprint: New Jewish Press
Country of Publication: Canada
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 23mm
Weight: 600g
ISBN: 9781988326047
ISBN 10: 1988326044
Pages: 358
Publication Date: 26 April 2019
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Fighting Amalek 2. Signing Up 3. Jewish Communists in Uniform 4. The Battle of Hong Kong 5. Dieppe 6. Jews in the Air Force 7. The Navy and Merchant Navy 8. Jewish Women in Uniform 9. Life in the Barracks 10. Off-Duty Activities 11. Jewish Heroes 12. Keeping the Faith 13. Liberation 14. Coming Home 15. Kaddish for D-Day Notes References Photographs Index

Ellin Bessner is a journalist and a professor of journalism at Centennial College in Toronto.

Reviews for Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II

That we now have a treasure trove of information to which we have never before been privy is beyond important and will help us to fill out our understanding of Canada's and the Jewish community's war experience. -- Jennifer Shaw * Canadian Jewish Studies * One of the first books to be released by the Toronto-based New Jewish Press may turn out to be one of its most impressive. Double Threat by Ellin Bessner leaves no stones unturned in its telling of the full-blooded saga of the heroic participation of Jewish men and women in the Canadian military during the Second World War. It's a worthy topic, and one that, surprisingly, has never been covered in such depth before. For that reason, the book has the feel of a popular Canadian Jewish classic, comparable, say, to None Is Too Many or Canada's Jews: A People's Journey. -- Bill Gladstone * Canadian Jewish News * Bessner has written a very readable and engaging story on the challenges and obstacles (not the least of which was antisemitism) confronted by the serviceman and servicewoman at home and in the battlefields. -- Sonia Smith, McGill University * AJL Reviews * This book is the first study that delves into the lives of these men and women: who they were, their hopes for the future, and why they volunteered. It's also about the daily anti-semitism they confronted and the dangersvthey faced if they were captured by the Nazis...Thoroughly researched, the book is replete with anecdotes Bessner picked up from the more than 200 interviews she conducted...[This book is] a worthy and long awaited celebration of the bravery and sacrifice of a generation of Canadian Jewry. -- Irving Abella, York University * The Canadian Historical Review * Ellin Bessner's Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II makes a compelling contribution to our understanding of how this country's diverse Jewish population responded to the cataclysms of the Second World War and the genocide of European Jewry. -- Andrew Theobald * Canadian Military History *