Zichron Kedoshim

1965 - present
5215 Westbury

(Traduction à venir)

Historic outline - Anshei Ukraina

This congregation was unique in that what bound its members was not only the commonality of a place, Ukraine, but also the memory of an event, the Ukrainian pogroms. When the congregation was established in 1924, the charter of the shul was registered under the name of “Anshei Ukraina, in memory of the holy ones who were martyred in the Ukraine.” An article, written in 1940, provides emotional testament to the commitment to this memory:

"Having lived through the storm that swept across the length and breadth of the Ukraine, when entire Jewish communities and settlements were murdered and destroyed, we, together with other members of broken families in search of a place to save and reestablish a life after this bloody nightmare, wandered over many roads and borders to finally reach a place where we might have the opportunity to settle on new ground. The less fortunate could not flee along with us and had to stay under the murderous hand of the wild hooliganism that reigned in that time.

"As fate had it, we settled in Montreal where daily life, with its “Ho-Ha,” was ready to swallow us together with our memories and obligations to our brothers and sisters. Eventually, some of us, who understood the danger of the situation, undertook to initiate the organization of an administrative body empowered to organize the newly arrived refugees with the goal of helping one another in the time of need as well as to support friends and acquaintances overseas.

"A meeting was called of all the victims of the Ukrainian pogrom where many questions were debated and it was decided to establish a shul that would give us the opportunity to keep together and at the same time it was decided that the shul would forever carry the memory of the untimely martyrs of the bloody Ukraine."

The old congregation’s commitment to memorialization is maintained to this day. When the community moved, it was the officers of the Anshei Ukraina who initiated the purchase of a lot and construction of a new building at 5212 Westbury. The new synagogue, an amalgamation of four congregations (Anshei Ukraina, Beth Israel and Samuel, Beth Matesyohu, and Beth Moishe) was dedicated in 1965 and took on the name Zichron Kedoshim, In Memory of the Holy (martyred) Ones. Handwritten scrolls, inscribed with the names of victims of the pogroms and of the Holocaust, were incased in copper tubes and buried in the walls on either side of the door. Hilda Golick, whose husband was instrumental in the building of the new synagogue, relates that her husband instructed his youngest son to remove these scrolls should the building ever be sold for use other than a synagogue.

Historic Outline - Beth Israel and Samuel

Beth Israel and Samuel was incorporated in 1925 and, like many of the smaller immigrant congregations, residential units were simply converted to serve as a synagogue. Its earliest location was at 3732 De Bullion. Following its members as they moved somewhat northward, the synagogue was re-established at 5424 Jeanne Mance before 1954. Beth Israel and Samuel was the last of four congregations to form the Zichron Kedoshim congregation on 5212 Westbury after 1965.

Written by Sara Tauben

Links

Liens

Traces of the Past

Sources

Tauben, Sara Ferdman. "Aspirations and Adaptations: Immigrant Synagogues of Montreal, 1880s-1945." Masters Thesis. Concordia University, 2004.

Tauben, Sara Ferdman. Traces of the Past: Montreal's Early Synagogues. Montréal: Véhicule Press, 2011.

*Images courtesy of David Kaufman, Sara Tauben, and the Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives

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