Woven into Winnipeg’s history
Hundreds of Holocaust survivors settled in Winnipeg in the late 1940s and 1950s, with around 1,000 making the city their home by the late 1950s. Testimonies from 48 survivors, including Freda Shiel and Philip Weiss, provide a nuanced account of their experiences in Winnipeg.
In 1948, Freda Shiel and her parents arrived in Winnipeg by train from Halifax, with no relatives to greet them. Freda was 10 years old at the time and recalled the moment as heartbreaking. Between 1945 and the late 1950s, around 1,000 Holocaust survivors settled in Winnipeg, making up more than five per cent of the city's Jewish population. The testimonies of 48 survivors, recorded in 1988 and 1989, are now held at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Philip Weiss, who arrived in Winnipeg in 1948, survived ghettos, labour camps, and the Nazi concentration camp Mauthausen. Winnipeg did not simply welcome these newcomers; instead, they were admitted on terms they would spend decades reshaping.
This content was automatically generated and/or translated by AI. It may contain inaccuracies. Please refer to the original sources for verification.