Saturday, January 28, 2023

No products in the cart.

  • About
    • Contributors
    • Disclaimers
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Giving back
    • Mission Statement
    • Past Issues
    • Where to Find
    • Call us at 613-935-3763
  • Advertise With Us!
 
 
  • Home
  • News
  • Leisure & Lifestyle
  • Columns
  • LTE
  • Events
  • Contributors
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result

Escape from the Holocaust to Williamstown Ontario in 1939 and 1940

SeekersAdmin by SeekersAdmin
March 28, 2013
in News and Announcements
Reading Time: 2 mins read
32 0
3
SHARES
103
VIEWS

espace-holocaust

For this year’s Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) in Cornwall, Ontario, the focus will be on how an extended Jewish family – the Kaplans – escaped from the Holocaust in Lithuania to come to Williamstown, Ontario some 74 years ago. It is also the story of two heroic men who were instrumental in their escape, and of the warm welcome they received from the local people in Williamstown and Cornwall at a time when Canada was generally not accepting Jewish immigrants or refugees.

You might also like

Five Questions with musician Virginia Dipierro

Five Questions with Juliette Labossière – United Way Executive Director

Second Annual Park Jam needs your help

The children’s book, One More Border, describes the story of one of these families. It shows the role of the Japanese Vice-Consul in Lithuania, Chiune (Sempo) Sugihara, who helped literally thousands of Jews to escape by issuing them transit visas to Japan, against his government’s wishes. Sugihara was subsequently honoured by the Government of Israel as “Righteous Among the Nations” – one of so far more than 24,000 non-Jews recognized as having helped Jews escape from the Holocaust at great personal risk to themselves.

However, not so well known is the role played by Marinus (Mark) Sorensen, the Canadian Pacific Railway’s immigration agent in Denmark. He facilitated the emigration of several thousand farm settlers, including Jews, from Europe to Canada upto 1940 and narrowly escaped capture himself in Denmark after the Germans invaded. Among the Jews Sorensen helped were Sussman and Hinde Kaplan and their four unmarried children. These members of the Kaplan family were able to leave Lithuania just before the
outbreak of World War II, and eventually ended up buying an abandoned farm in Williamstown, near Cornwall, Ontario.

As a result, the other two Kaplan children with their families, had a place to come to in Canada. Even today, there are a few Williamstown residents who have fond memories of the extended Kaplan family, particularly the children – Nomi, Igor and Atid. Two Kaplan family members, Ellayne Kaplan and Ilona Weinstein, from Montreal, will be sharing their family’s story. In addition, Mark Sorenson’s son, Ben (who was with his father in Denmark right up to just before the outbreak of the war), and two of the Kaplan’s children’s former schoolmates from Williamstown are coming as well.

The event will be the first time that some of the Kaplans will be meeting a son of one of the two people who were so instrumental in saving their family from the Holocaust. The Cornwall Interfaith Partnership, which is organizing this year’s event in Cornwall, feels that the Holocaust was a monumental human tragedy that should be revisited periodically in order to make people more aware of the reality of such genocide and its causes. This year’s Yom HaShoah commemoration in Cornwall is being hosted by Knox – St. Paul’s United Church, 800 Twelfth Street East, at 6:45 p.m. on April 7, when everyone is welcome.

Author

  • SeekersAdmin
    SeekersAdmin

    View all posts

Next Post
Photo by Erica McIntosh.

SD&G County Library Board meeting draws 80 from Williamsburg

Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube TikTok
Don't miss anything!

Get notified of all our new news by ringing the bell at the bottom left corner!

Content Safety

HERO

theseeker.ca

Trustworthy

Approved by Sur.ly

2022
The Seeker Newspaper is located at 327 Second Street E., Cornwall, ON K6H 1Y8 -- All rights reserved
The Seeker does not accept responsibility for errors, misprints or inaccuracies published within. The opinions and statements of our columnists are not to be presumed as the statements and opinions of The Seeker, and should not substitute professional or medical advice.
ISSN 2562-1750 (Print)

ISSN 2562-1769 (Online)
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Leisure & Lifestyle
  • Columns
  • LTE
  • Events
  • Contributors

© 2023 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.