I was born in Vancouver and am proud and thankful to be a first generation Canadian.
I want to share some reasons why I do not take it for granted to be here in Canada….
This week, I read for the first time, a speech written and delivered by my maternal grandmother, Anna Aszkanazy, at a meeting convened by the International Women’s League for Peace and Freedom, in Geneva in 1930 on “The Problem of Statelessness”. ( I hope to post this speech at some point). She herself did have an Austrian passport, but spent about 10 years of her life during the interwar period, as a political activist working for the rights of the stateless thousands caused by the breakup of the Austro- Hungarian Empire after WWI ended as well as for other political causes with a feminist approach towards world peace and freedom.
In March 1938, she herself became a refugee.
I am here in Canada ( and exist at all!) because my wise maternal grandmother did not wait around but, along with her teenage daughters- my mother Lore (16) and my Aunt Lisl(18) – fled Vienna by train to Switzerland the morning after the Nazis marched in and annexed Austria (Anschluss, March 12, 1938).
Below is an excerpt from my Granny’s memoirs; on the train, March 13th, 1938.
Wolf, her husband (my grandfather), did not make it out. They received a telegram from him on March 16th; he was already in police custody and asked for a large sum of money to be sent; the next telegram from the Nazis told of his death on March 18th, and asked them to return to Vienna, which, of course, they did not do. They journeyed on to England, but were not welcome to stay there. They fortunately had funds to buy a return ticket by ship to North America (though planning one way only), and they landed in Quebec City on October 8, 1938, eventually moving to British Columbia.
Below is a photo of them, along with my great- grandmother Malvine, while they were still waiting in Switzerland. (Anna, Malvine, Lisl, Lore).
In July 1938, the Evian Conference had been held in France; during that conference, Canada, along with most countries, shamefully declined to take more than a small number of Jews. I don’t know the details, but I think her finances and political connections helped their case.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Évian_Conference
Below is the first page from the final book of my Granny’s memoirs ( written when she was 75 years old, a year before her death), where she begins by reminiscing about their sweet welcome in Quebec City, Canada in October 1938.
( Btw, even as a child, I was aware that my Granny had an intense case of Trudeaumania back in the late 60’s when Pierre Elliot was voted in! She liked his liberal policies. I think she would approve of Justin as well 🙂
So, here am I, the daughter of a Jewish refugee, one of the very few who were accepted into Canada during the WWII period, now living in a country blessed presently by peace and inclusiveness and a very open policy towards refugees.
I do not take my life for granted; I do not take this glorious and free country for granted.
Our world today is more full than ever of refugees and stateless peoples, people without basic human rights and food, while tyrants and injustice abound…..how am I called to be helpfully involved at this age and stage of my life?
And how about you….?
JenniEliz 