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SARAH MAYOFF: ENTERPRISING AGAINST THE ODDS
She grew up in The Main in the 1930s – a part of Montreal where the poor Jewish immigrants lived. The Jews had their own shops and cultural centres, and the main language that they spoke was Yiddish. They lived together because they faced discrimination in the non-Jewish world.
But young Sarah Mayoff had dreams of leaving The Main and building a career in mainstream Montreal. In the 1940s and 50s, a time when women were expected to stay at home, Sarah became one of Canada’s pioneering career women, providing a model for generations to come.
Photo: From left to right: Sarah Mayoff, her great neice Stephanie Shiller, and series host Susan Poizner talk about Sarah's history
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Up to the mid 1700s, Jews, like other non-Catholics, were not allowed to settle in New France under the French regime. The first Jews arrived with the British Army in 1759. Some decided to settle there permanently. The Jewish community slowly grew.
But it was the first decade of the 20th century that saw a massive wave of Jewish immigration. These immigrants were escaping poverty and persecution in Russia and Eastern Europe. But they found that settling into their new home was far from easy.
At that time Montreal was made up mainly of the English and the French and the Jews became the largest and most visible minority group in the city. Because they looked different and spoke Yiddish, they were not welcomed in the workplace. Most of the newcomers could only find jobs in Jewish-owned garment factories and sweatshops.
In the 1930s, the Nazi regime was gaining power in Germany and it would within a decade carry out a Holocaust in which over six million innocent Jews were brutally slaughtered. At this time there was also a growing fascist movement in Montreal. They sympathised with the Nazis and organised anti-Jewish marches and propaganda.
Photo: Anti-Jewish propaganda in Montreal published in the 1930s
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“The Main”, now called St-Laurent Street, divides the city into east and west and was once the hub of the Jewish community. Starting from Sherbrooke, walk north on St-Laurent to Mount Royal, looking for the remaining Jewish shops and for converted synagogues. Take a walking tour of now fashionable Mile End, once a poor Jewish neighbourhood. The Montreal Jewish Public Library often organizes guided tours.
The hub of The Main was on St-Laurent between Napoleon and Duluth. There are still strong remnants of this history with Shwartz’s Hebrew Delicatessen (3895 St-Laurent). This popular deli still attracts huge line-ups for those who want to enjoy their signature smoked meat sandwiches. Don’t expect to find a side salad or even any decent desert at Shwartz’s. They are simply famous for their delicious beef.
Thanks to Jewish immigrants, Montreal is now well known for its bagels, baked in wood burning stoves. This traditional Eastern European bread tastes very different from bagels in Toronto and New York. Visit the Fairmount Bagel Bakery (74 Fairmont West near St Laurent) or its competitor the St-Viateur Bagel shop (263 St-Viateur West near Parc). Montrealers are divided as to which shop makes the best bagels. Taste both and decide for yourself!
Another wave of immigrants came to Montreal after the Second World War. Many were Holocaust survivors who had lived through the horror of the Nazi concentration camps. To learn about this history visit the Montreal Holocaust Museum. Visit on Sunday to Friday. The museum is closed every Saturday to honour the Jewish Sabbath.
For a broad overview of Montreal’s rich history, visit The Centre d'histoire de Montréal in the old city. Built in an old fire-station, this is a beautiful interactive museum that explores the people and places that make the city special today. It’s well worth a visit and has a section exploring the history of the Jews and other immigrants to Montreal.
Photograph: Making bagels at St-Viateur Bagel Shop
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JEWISH MONTREAL WALKS
Montreal Jewish Public Library
Telephone: +1 (514) 345 2627
http://www.jewishpubliclibrary.org/events.html
JEWISH SMOKED MEAT
Shwartz's Hebrew Delicatessen
3895 St-Laurent (near Duluth)
Telephone: +1 514 842 4813
JEWISH FILMS
Montréal Jewish Film Festival (May 10-19, 2005)
Telephone: (514) 448-5610
www.mjff.qc.ca
HOLOCAUST HISTORY
The Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre
1 Carré Cummings Square
5151, Côte Ste–Catherine Road
Montréal, Québec H3W 1M6
Metro: Côte Ste-Catherine
Telephone: +1 (514) 345-2605
http://www.mhmc.ca/
MONTREAL HISTORY
Centre d'histoire de Montréal
335, place D'Youville
Vieux-Montréal H2Y 3T1
Métro: Square-Victoria
Telephone: +1 (514) 872-3207
www.ville.montreal.qc.ca/chm
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SCN
Tue, December 5, 2006 @ 8:30 pm (CST)
channel m
Sun, November 12, 2006 @ 11:00 am ()
Mon, November 6, 2006 @ 8:30 am ()
Tue, June 20, 2006 @ 1:00 pm (PST)
Sun, March 26, 2006 @ 9:30 pm (PST)
SCN
Tue, December 6, 2005 @ 10:00 pm (CST)
Canadian Learning Television
Mon, November 21, 2005 @ 9:30 pm (EST)
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1. The first group of Jewish immigrants came to Canada to escape antisemitism in Russia. This historical fact illustrates the long history that anti-Semitism has had in the world. What do you know about the history of antisemitism?
2. In the 1930’s and 1940’s Canadian Jews experienced great difficulty gaining entry into universities, certain professions, and often they could not join recreational clubs. They even faced restrictions at public swimming pools and were not allowed to picnic at public beaches. Such restrictions no longer exist. In fact they are illegal in Canada. What other less obvious forms of antisemitism exists in Canada today?
3. In Germany in the early 1940’s, Hitler and the Nazi party devised a Final Solution to the “Jewish problem” and that was to murder all Jews. This planned genocide; the Holocaust resulted in the death of over 6 million Jews. What do you know about the Holocaust? Who were other victims?
4. When Sarah Mayoff left the Jewish ghetto in Montreal in order to work downtown in an insurance agency, she felt that she faced a double barrier. She felt that she faced discrimination as a woman and as a Jew. What gave her the strength to break through those two barriers?
5. Sarah’s great niece, Stephanie, sees Sarah as a role model. What particular aspect of Sarah’s story does Stephanie find inspirational? Why is the story of Sarah’s success so liberating to her and potentially to all young women who are trying to find their way through society’s expectations of women?
Further Research:
1. Write a short history of anti-Semitism.
2. Read a survivor’s account or a work of literature that describes the experiences of a Holocaust concentration camp inmate.
3. Mordechai Richler immortalized the Jewish ghetto, The Main, in many of his stories and novels. Read a few of his short stories or a novel that deals with Jewish life in that community.
Additional Research Question:
This film tells the story of a woman who is a role model to women in her family, in her community and now, in part because of this film, perhaps to many women throughout Canada. Who, in your life has been a role model? If you would like to share the story about this person with other young people to whom you think this story might act as a beacon, please add it to the website www.mothertongue.ca. Alternately, if you would like to read stories that others have posted, please click on the website and become a part of a dialogue about the importance of role models.
Note:
These starting points for discussion and research questions were written by Dr. Carole Ann Reed, an educational consultant. Dr. Reed has worked as a human rights educator for almost twenty years in the Toronto area and has authored and co-authored many articles, curricula, and educational kits as well as a book. The topics she writes about include issues such as the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, women’s rights and anti-racism. For several years she was the Director of the Holocaust Centre of Toronto.
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This series of educational videos was made possible with funding from
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Mother Tongue: A woman's history of ethnic Canada is a 13-part TV series that documents Canada's multicultural history from a female perspective. Each program tells the story of a notable woman in one of Canada's communities, including a Black fugitive slave, an Acadian mail order bride, and an Icelandic suffragette.
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