Local News
JCFS and Gwen Secter Centre continue to provide key supports during pandemic
By BERNIE BELLAN
Ever since the COVID pandemic first began to have a major impact in our community I’ve been reporting on how various agencies have been meeting the needs of those sectors of our community that have been most affected by COVID – whether that’s in the form of regular meal deliveries, grocery shopping, psychological counseling, or simply keeping in touch with isolated individuals.
In our June 10 issue, for instance, I reported how both the Gwen Secter Centre and Jewish Child and Family Service had stepped up their efforts in response to the needs of members of our community, especially seniors. (The JCFS typically serves between 500-600 seniors a year, JCFS Executive Director Al Bennaroch noted at that time.)
In that June 10 issue, I referred to a conversation I had with Cheryl Hirsh Katz, Manager, Adult Services at JCFS, in which I asked Cheryl whether she had seen a marked increase in the agency’s seniors caseload.
Cheryl indicated that had indeed been the case – which, at that time, she explained, was primarily as a result of the Jewish Federation’s having enlisted volunteers to call seniors (and other individuals in the community who found themselves in particularly unfortunate circumstances as a result of the pandemic). Many seniors had been referred to JCFS as a result of those phone calls, Cheryl noted.
“We’ve identified those of our clients who are most in need,” Cheryl said.
“We have capacity to take on more clients,” Cheryl added then, and 20 more clients were, in fact, added to JCFS’s caseload to that point in June.
While JCFS does maintain an “emergency food pantry” to help individuals or families in urgent need of groceries, “there hasn’t, as yet, been an increase in demand”, Cheryl observed back then.
What there has been though, is “an increase in demand for emotional support,” Cheryl said.
“Individuals who have had illnesses” have found themselves isolated and, one other agonizing aspect of the isolation they’d been enduring – and has continued to be an awful predicament for anyone who may have lost a loved one during the pandemic, has been the inability to grieve normally.
“We have our friendly volunteer phone callers; also our own workers are regularly calling clients”, Cheryl said at the time, but for those seniors who could use some emotional support or would like to be added to Gwen Secter’s food delivery program, the JCFS welcomes your call -a nd many more calls requesting support have come in since then.
That was only three months into the pandemic in what, in hindsight, seems like a relatively safe period – in comparison with the past two months, which have seen COVID rage almost without control no matter what restrictions the province might have imposed (or at least attempt to impose).
And, while JCFS was attending to – and has been continuing to attend to the psychological needs of individuals who were particularly hard hit by the isolation caused by the pandemic, Gwen Secter’s two marvelous cooks, Galina Melenevska and Cathy Koltowski, have been steadily increasing the number of meals that they have been turning out – not only for isolated seniors in our community, but for others who were anxious to receive regular cooked meals for a variety of reasons.
Here’s what I wrote in June about how Gwen Secter had stepped into the breach left when Meals on Wheels stopped taking new clients at the end of March due to the huge increase in requests for that service as a result of the first province-wide lockdown, which was imposed March 14: “Gwen Secter has gone from producing 60 meals the week of March 30-April 3 to 286 meals for 73 different individuals in late May. This past week, according to Becky Chisick, Executive Director of the Gwen Secter Centre, 340 meals went out to seniors.”
In our July 10 issue I reported that Gwen Secter was now up to delivering 400 meals a week. As well, in conjunction with JCFS, Gwen Secter had just launched a new initiative: “The Medical Transportation for Seniors Hotline”. In that issue I wrote: “According to Becky Chisick, ‘This program is available for seniors & those with limited mobility. Call the hotline at 204-899-1696 and we will arrange safe one on one, door to door transportation to medical appointments for a subsidized rate.’
In our September issue I reported on the hiring of Danielle Tabacznik to fill the position of “Senior Concierge” at JCFS. Danielle described her duties this way: “I’ll be reaching out to seniors in the Jewish community who may or may not be isolated and who may not be connected to services. I’ll be checking in with them to make sure they’re doing okay…to see whether they do need referrals to services. I’ll also be asking them whether they’re feeling isolated, what programs or services might help them.”
The months of November and December, however, have seen a horrendous increase in the daily number of COVID cases being reported – not just here in Manitoba, but it seems throughout the globe as well (with few exceptions). And, although I’ve been in fairly regular contact with Becky Chisick, it’s been some time since I had asked her how many meals the Gwen Secter kitchen was now turning out.
When I spoke with Becky on Tuesday, December 15, she told me that Galia and Cathy (who now have a part-time assistant to help them) had turned out an astounding 606 meals the previous week. So – in nine short months, the Gwen Secter kitchen has gone from producing 60 meals a week for delivery to over 600 meals a week!
I suppose it’s easy to get distracted by the numbers: Gwen Secter now producing over 600 meals a week for delivery; 195 additional cases for JCFS. But let’s remember: Those numbers represent members of our community who are most in need of assistance. We’re extremely fortunate that our Jewish community has developed a sophisticated infrastructure capable of meeting the needs of those less fortunate – and that the organizations primarily tasked with funding the organizations that are attending to the needs of those most in need of help have also risen to the challenge, especially the Jewish Foundation and the Jewish Federation – together with so many members of our community who have stepped up with increased financial support.
Given that we’re nearing the end of 2020, however, I thought it appropriate to speak with someone who has found himself coordinating a very important component of our community’s response to the COVID pandemic: Al Bennaroch, Executive Director of Jewish Child and Family Service.
Al took some time from his very busy schedule to discuss the pressures he’s witnessed in his job since the end of March – and how JCFS has been handling the increased workload that’s come with having to attend to the terrible psychological toll that COVID has exacted on so many of us.
I said to Al that the last time I had spoken with him was in the spring. I wondered whether there “has been much of an increase in JCFS’s client load?”
He responded: “It depends on the program.” As we were talking, he said he was going to run a program on his computer to give some comparative figures.
“Let’s go back to April 1st,” he said. “I’ll run it from April 1st to today (Dec. 18) and we’ll take a look at what our caseload numbers look like in terms of new intakes.”
After running the program Al offered the following information: “We’ve had 195 new cases in all areas. Typically we might see on average five new cases a month. (The 195 new cases represent an average of over 20 new cases a month.) “Most of those have been in areas that require emotional support.
“Our counselling program, for example, has seen 45 new cases. We’ve seen 33 older adult new cases…nine Holocaust survivors”- who weren’t previously clients, have been added to JCFS’s client list…Addictions – we’ve had four new cases.
“Our aging mental health program – which is seniors living with a mental health issue – we’ve had six new cases in that area.”
“We’ve had seven people who have approached us for financial assistance,” Al noted, but then he added this observation: “My counterparts across the country (in other Jewish family service agencies) have not seen a huge increase in requests for financial support – other than the homeless situation in Toronto. They have a big Jewish homeless situation.
“I think that our federal government has done just enough – with programs like CERB, that have been enough to tide people over.
“A lot of American agencies are saying that they have seen an increase (in requests for financial assistance).” Al suggested that’s a reflection of the different American political system.
“Our employment support program has seen 25 new cases – that’s for newcomers mostly, although it also includes some people who have been laid off during the pandemic,” he noted.
There are also newcomers to the city – who have been continuing to arrive (even during the pandemic – something we noted in our Dec. 9 issue when we quoted Elaine Goldstine, CEO of the Jewish Federation, as saying that 27 new families had arrived in Winnipeg since the start of the pandemic).
I turned the subject to the high number of deaths that we’ve been witnessing in the Jewish community, especially in the past two months – as well as the community at large. While certainly a significant number of deaths are attributable to COVID (11 at the Simkin Centre, for instance, although one of those deaths occurred in a hospital, not in the centre itself), looking at Chesed Shel Emes’s database, there have already been 146 deaths as of the beginning of January – and not all Jews who pass away are taken to Chesed Shel Emes.
I wondered whether social isolation has been a contributing factor in some of those deaths, especially in personal care homes such as the Simkin Centre.
While Al suggested that the analysis hasn’t been done yet as to whether depression resulting from isolation has been a significant factor in the number of deaths, he did say that “We’ve been working with Simkin. We’re going to offer supports to families that have lost someone at Simkin due to COVID. We want to see whether they want to avail themselves of it.”
Al added that one of the responsibilities of JCFS is to offer help to the entire community, including other Jewish agencies. “That could mean supporting the staff of organizations that are stressed at this time.”
On that point I wondered whether JCFS still has a full complement of staff.
“We’ve had to reduce the hours of some people…there was a fledgling executive assistant – she was a student. We laid her off; she was fine with that.
“Essentially we’ve been ramping up some of our staff” (including the senior concierge position referenced earlier.)
“A lot of our older adult cases have come to us through the senior concierge position,” Al explained.
He noted, as well, that plans are afoot to send students into the community in January, wearing full Personal Protective Equipment, to help train seniors in the use of iPads. “We just put out an order for an additional 10-15 iPads that we’re going to get out into the community,” Al said.
“I have a plan where we can expand our volunteer coordination components so that we can take on more volunteers and perform more outreach to people,” Al observed.
I asked how many phone caller volunteers there are right now?
“Right now I think we have 15-17 active phone caller volunteers,” Al answered. “If that’s something we can expand beyond the walls of JCFS clientele – I’m going to explore that. In this day and age phone calls are the best we can do – until we can reinstate face to face visits.
“Of course, we’re prioritizing like we did in the spring,” Al continued. “We’re prioritizing the most vulnerable, the most at risk. Those are: the elderly, clients living with mental health issues, and clients living with addiction issues.”
Speaking of addiction issues, Al noted that “we’re no different than the rest of the world. We’re seeing a rise in opiate use – because that’s the drug that’s available. We’re seeing a rise in alcohol use.
“Anecdotally, we’re seeing a rise in domestic violence…A lot of other Jewish communities, for instance Hamilton, have seen a sharp rise in domestic violence – directly proportional to the degree of lockdown… We’re seeing more tensions rising with parenting issues,” he also observed.
Something else that I suggested to Al I had found when I wrote my article in June about how JCFS was helping various members of the community was that some of the individuals with whom I spoke back then might be described as being “on the periphery of the community”. Some of them had recently moved back to Winnipeg after being away for years, others had never really been involved much with the Jewish community, per se. I said that, while each of the individuals with whom I spoke back then was quite appreciative of the assistance rendered by JCFS, I wondered whether it was Al’s impression that more individuals who might also be considered on the periphery of the community had been availing themselves of the various forms of assistance rendered by JCFS?
Al responded that “the Jewish Federation has a pretty robust data base. Unlike a city like Toronto – it’s hard to hide in Winnipeg if you’re Jewish – someone knows someone who knows someone.
“Look, as of today we have 2262 cases at JCFS. We’re looking at 5900 people altogether. We’re talking 40% of our community that somehow gets impacted by our work. If we’re helping mum and dad, and they have three kids at home, the kids are being impacted by the help.”
I asked about newcomers to our community, saying that many of them wouldn’t have the family support networks that long-established members of our community would have – that could provide both financial and emotional support. I wondered whether JCFS had seen any sort of an increase in requests for assistance from newcomers as a result?
“I don’t know,” Al answered. “I’d have to dig deeper in the statistics.”
“Are they aware of the services you provide?” I asked.
“Oh yes. We have ramped up outreach to clients in every area, including our newcomer area.
He added this observation: “The pandemic has created new problems, but the old problems don’t go away either.
“But, the beauty of our community is that we’ve received many calls from people saying: ‘I’m really worried about so and so. Can you do anything to help?’ And we reach out to those people.
“Sure, there are some people who fall through the cracks, but our goal is to catch as many of them as we can before they fall too far.”
“Is it predominantly seniors we’re talking about here?” I asked.
“So far, yes,” Al said. “When I look at our numbers our highest areas of growth have been in counseling – but that’s open to all members of the community. But our senior program has had 33 new cases since April.”
Yet, other areas within JCFS’s mandate have commanded more attention as well. For instance, Al noted that “we had our clients in the mental health program not attending doctor’s appointments. We were trying to get to the bottom of why. The theme that kept running through was ‘We’re too anxious to take the bus – even with precautions’. So, they were actually avoiding doctors’ appointments and, in turn, getting bloodwork done, getting new prescriptions – which, in turn, was further destabilizing.
“So, we were able to get some money through a directed gift through the (Jewish) Foundation to cover off on cab rides for people to get to their appointments.”
“If there’s a will, there’s a way, and we want to get people through these challenging times and get them the service that they require.”
Finally, I asked whether there’s anything new to report on finding a second location for JCFS – a project which has been ongoing for more than a year. While Al did say that they’re “continuing to press forward on feasibility and costs,” there won’t likely be anything more to report on the subject until the spring.”
If you would like to contact either JCFS or the Gwen Secter Centre to find out more about help they are able to provide, the JCFS phone number is 204-477-7430, while the Gwen Secter Centre’s phone number is 204-339-1701.
Local News
Nakba exhbit at CMHR – you can see it right here and make your own assessment
By BERNIE BELLAN (Posted June 26, updated July 19) The Nakba exhibit at the Canadian Exhibit for Human Rights opened to the public June 27. The morning before the exhibit was set to open to the public, (it had a private opening for invited guests the evening of June 26) we received a press release from the CMHR. That press release gave a very detailed description of what was in the exhibit, along with photos (supplied by Annie Kierans of the CMHR).
There is also a link right at the beginning of the press release that will allow you to watch the same videos that anyone attending the exhibit can watch. We reprinted what was sent to us without making one edit. We leave it to you to form your own opinion as to whether the exhibit is fair in its presentation, and whether it is lacking “context” – which is an accusation that has been levelled at the exhibit’s organizers by some representatives of Jewish organizations.
We have received many emails in reaction to the exhibit. If you have an opinion and would like to see it published on this website, you can send it to jewishp@mymts.net, but please indicate whether you would be willing to have it published on this website.
Here is what we received the morning of June 26:
Winnipeg, MB — June 26, 2026 — The Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) will open a new exhibit tomorrow that explores human rights violations related to the ongoing forced displacement of Palestinian Canadians.
Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present will be on display in the Rights Today gallery on Level 5 until 2028. Featuring personal stories told through artifacts and video testimonies, the exhibit presents Palestinian Canadians reflecting on their ongoing struggle for human rights. The small exhibit reveals enduring patterns of loss and resilience, helping visitors understand more about this contemporary human rights story.
Palestinian Canadian stories are now included alongside many other stories of forced displacement and human rights violations featured in the Museum’s galleries. Each of these stories contribute to our visitors understanding of human rights and help the Museum fulfill its mandate to foster reflection and dialogue.
Exhibition highlights
Personal stories and artifacts: Experience firsthand accounts from Palestinian Canadians sharing their journeys of displacement and memory through a series of five artifacts. Cases display artifacts like property deeds, house keys, and a traditional Palestinian embroidered dress, accompanied by short videos that deepen understanding of the impacts of displacement.
Powerful artworks: In her painting Bound Together in Gaza, Malak Mattar, a Gazan artist, captures the struggles and resilience of her generation shaped by conflict. Her work pays homage to Guernica, Picasso’s powerful masterpiece depicting civilian suffering during war.
Curfews and Closures, by Rajie Cook, bears witness to life under military occupation during the 2000–2005 Palestinian uprising, when curfews and closures were expanded and further limited basic rights and freedoms.
Cultural heritage: Discover traditional Palestinian embroidery called tatreez. Tatreez motifs and colours are tied to place, family history and regional identity. Patterns are associated with particular towns, villages or areas of Palestine. In this way, tatreez is a form of storytelling: a way of preserving memory, sustaining identity and expressing resilience across displacement and exile.
Poetry and reflection: Engage with Mahmoud Darwish’s evocative verses, inspiring personal reflection on exile, voice, and responsibility. Visitors can take a card containing Darwish’s poem and add a personal note, fostering ongoing dialogue beyond the exhibit.
Contemporary context: Witness striking images of current events in Gaza and the West Bank, connecting past displacement to ongoing struggles.
Quotes:
“No force can silence the truth we carry. Growing up in Canada, my children lived the Nakba through our stories. And now we watch it happen again, live, on our phones. When I see the images coming out of Gaza, I am not watching the news. I am watching my history repeat itself.” -Fouad Sahyoun, a Palestinian Canadian featured in the exhibit
“We developed this exhibit with a clear awareness that Palestinian Canadian voices have too often been marginalized, silenced or spoken over — and that anti-Palestinian racism affects whose stories are heard and whose suffering is recognized. That is why we intentionally centred Palestinian Canadian voices throughout the exhibit.” -Isabelle Masson, Curator of Palestine Uprooted
“Human rights matter precisely when they are inconvenient, when the question of who deserves the dignity of having their rights recognized is genuinely contested. These are the moments where having a national museum for human rights is most important.
There are people who believe this exhibit should not exist in its current form. There are people who believe it should have existed sooner. There are people who will visit this exhibit and feel that it does not say enough, and others who will feel it says too much.
We have listened to every one of these voices. We have reflected. And we have renewed our resolve to continue the difficult, sometimes contested, and often controversial work of building understanding about human rights. We are a museum grounded in Canada’s human rights framework, whose mandate requires us to bear witness to the full complexity of the human story. We are proud to open this exhibit because the story it tells will help achieve that mandate, and because this story belongs in the collective memory of Canadians.”
- – Isha Khan, CEO
Local News
New GrowWinnipeg “Grow Together” highlights diverse origins of our growing Jewish community
By MYRON LOVE On Monday, June 11, about 120 younger Jewish Winnipeggers from diverse backgrounds came together at the Asper Campus for an evening of food and music, games and prizes and, most important, the opportunity to socialize with their peers from a growing community that reflects the long term success of our community’s 26-year-old GrowWinnipeg initiative.
“We are gathered here to celebrate your and your parents’ decisions to come to Winnipeg, build families and raise families here,” noted Dalia Szpiro, GrowWinnipeg’s director, in addressing the young adults in attendance.
To summarize, the GrowWinnipeg Initiative arose when our past community’s leadership recognized that our Jewish population was an aging and shrinking community with aging infrastructure.
The first stage was the planning and construction of the Asper Campus, which brought our major institutions and organizations under one roof in an attractive new building.
The next challenge was to attract more people to our community. GrowWinnipeg was created to take on the challenge. The initiative, which was officially launched in 2000, is unique in its efforts to reach out to young Jewish families throughout the Western world.
The first outreach efforts were directed at Argentina’s sizeable Jewish community at a time when the South American country’s economy was going through a very difficult period. Several of our community leaders visited the Jewish community in Buenos Aires and a website was established. Arrangements were made for local families to host Jewish Argentinians here on exploratory visits and the community helped the prospective immigrants navigate the then new Provincial Nominee Program, find jobs and establish themselves here.
Since then, many young families – from Argentina, as well as a great number of other countries – have chosen to make Winnipeg their new home. The young people at the recent GrowWinnipeg evening were reflective of the diversity of our growing community. During the course of the evening, I had the opportunity to speak with not only Israeli-born participants, also young people from Russia and Ukraine, Turkey and Uruguay – and a young lady who grew up in Ottawa.
Naomi Kirshenblatt Palansky originally came here from Ottawa to go to university. She met and married local entrepreneur Noah Palansky in 2023. (We wrote about Noah in the December 19, 2025 issue). That same year, the former competitive swimmer who competed in the Maccabiah Games in 2009 and 2013 served as manager of the Canadian Junior swimming team participating in the games. She is currently the director of operations and strategy for a company called CoinFlip.
Although born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Yael Borovich grew up in Winnipeg. She is the daughter of Dalia Szpiro and Eduardo Borovich (and younger sister of Vanessa) all of whom moved here in 2002. She is a graduate of the Asper School of Business and works as a senior client relationship manager for Scotia Bank’s commercial branch.
Siblings Igal and Edem Avimelek arrived here from Turkey six years ago with their parents, Etel and Moris. Edem is in her second year at the University of Manitoba while Igal is studying engineering at UBC.
They report that their father, Moris, has established the Upperwear Textile Agency – marketing textile products online – while their mother Etel, is senior IT Director, software development and data analytics and enterprise architecture at Standard Aero.
“Our parents were looking to move to a new country and came across the GrowWinnipeg webpage,” Edem says. “GrowWinnipeg has been really supportive of us in helping us move here and become established.”
More recent arrivals Alex Tsmokaliuk and Jane Hin are from Ukraine and Russia respectively and have been together since 2022. “We were looking for a peaceful place to start a family,”: Alex says. “We heard about GrowWinnpeg and here we are.”
Alex is a fitness trainer while Jane is working for WRE Development as a property manager.
Dora Bronstein, who is originally from Beersheva, is also a recent arrival to our community. “I came to Winnipeg because I wanted to get away from war – and I heard about GrowWinnipeg,” she says.
She is currently working for L.C. Taylor Licensed Insolvency Trustee as an estate manager.
Erele Tzidon and Daniel Mejnov
Last October, GrowWinnipeg introduced its new Youth Ambassadors program.
“Since October, we have been working to create an organized system and opportunities to help young newcomers find their people within our community,” wrote Youth Ambassador Erele Tzidon on Facebook.
“Our mission is to help young immigrants find a sense of home in Winnipeg and support a smooth and welcoming transition.
We are excited to help bring our young Jewish community together.
As reported in the Jewish Post about 18 months ago, Tzidon is originally from Moshav Ginaton in central Israel. She came to Winnipeg in 2018 with her parents Ofer – formerly regional manager for a car rental agency in Israel and now an RBC branch manager – and Sharon – an emotional therapist in Israel who is currently working as an educational assistant at Gray Academy – and three younger brothers.
The 20-year Gray Academy graduate has recently completed her third year in Science at the University of Manitoba. For the past three years, she has also been a member of Dr. Inna Rabinovich-Nikitin’s research team at the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences (ICS), researching the link between pregnancy complications and the risk for heart disease.
In November, 2024, Tzidon was presented with the Dr. James S. McGoey Student Award – based on the quality of her cardiovascular research at the ICS, which operates out of the St. Boniface Hospital campus’s Albrechchtsen Research Centre.
Tzidon’s fellow Youth Ambassador is Daniel Mejnov. He was born in Beersheva but moved to Winnipeg with his parents, Dennis and Victoria (and younger brother Alon) 14 years ago. He is currently enrolled in an IT program at the University of Winnipeg.
Mejnov welcomed all those in attendance at the celebration and thanked the volunteers who helped him and Tzidon organize the event.
“It has been great being able to bring so many people together,” he said. “This is a good way to unite our community.
Two other individuals of particular note that I spoke with at the event were Orit Agabayev and Alina Plis, partners in three year old A and O Event Décor, who provided the balloon arches and walls, table settings and centre pieces for the evening.
Agabayev is originally from Netanya and Plis is from Yeruham (in southern Israel). The latter has been here for 18 years and operates a daycare. The former came 16 years. Her principal career is working in the field of animal nutrition.
In an Instagram PosI from four years ago, Plis noted that “I have always been passionate about planning parties and events. I started out with planning big surprise birthday parties for my kids. Eventually I began planning and decorating events for family and friends. Now I am taking the next step with my friend, Orit, who shares the same level enthusiasm as me. What drives me to go above and beyond is simply the excitement my creations bring to those who see my work.
On Facebook, Agabayev added that “Alina and I are so excited to start A&O event decor. We both love decorating and planning different events. We hope that you can put your trust in us to create or decorate an event for you. We do Birthday parties, anniversaries, bachelor/bachelorette parties, proposals, weddings and more..
“Message us with your ideas to get a free quote and you’re one step closer to having an unforgettable event.”
Local News
Hungarian Holocaust survivor focus of new documentary co-produced by Winnipeggers Liam Karp and Jamie Michaels
By MYRON LOVE “I Draw Things the Best I Can,” a new documentary co-produced by Winnipegger Liam Karp and former Winnipegger Jamie Michaels premiered June 8 at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival.
The 40-minute film focuses on the life of Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor Adam Policzer from his childhood hiding with neighbours in Miskolc in 1944, his postwar immigration to Chile to reunite with his father (who came to Chile just before the war but was unable to bring his family out), his imprisonment in Chile for over a year under the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinoche following the coup in 1972, his subsequent immigration with his wife and family to Vancouver, and his successful career as an architect.
Earlier this year, Policzer unveiled a new side of himself. He wrote and drew all the illustrations for “The House Across the Street,” the story of his struggle for survival – a memorial he had published in the form of a graphic novel. The book was published by Jamie Michaels’ “Dirty Water Comics” in June.
According to its webpage, Dirty Water Comics is “a boutique publishing house that specializes in literary comics that showcase a unique voice and a talent for storytelling. We publish a selective catalogue, create immersive readings, and pride ourselves on championing the work we curate”.
Michaels co-founded the company in 2016 in order to publish his own first graphic comic –an account of his ambitious journey some years before – along with a couple of high school friends – to travel by canoe down the Red and Mississippi Rivers to the Gulf of Mexico. The launch of that graphic novel was reported in a story that previously appeared in The Jewish Post & News.
The son of John Michaels and Karen Stern then published a second graphic novel recounting the 1933 Christie Pitts riot, which pitted younger members of Toronto’s Jewish community and their supporters against Nazi-inspired thugs.
“The House across the Street” is Dirty Water Comics’ fourth publication. (“The Harrowing Tales of La Coriveau” – the third publication – “is a graphic novel retelling the legend and history of Marie-Josephte Corriveau, a Quebecois woman whom the English executed in 1763 for the murder of her second husband. Following her death, Corriveau was hanged from a tree outside of Quebec City in an iron cage. In the centuries that followed, her story was transformed. She became a caged witch who haunted lone travellers, a reviled murderess, and a victim of circumstance”.)
“I first met Adam Policzer a couple of years ago when he approached me about his book,” recalls Michaels, who recently earned his Ph.D from the University of Calgary, where he currently teaches. (His dissertation was on the evolution of Jewish and Arab nationalism during World War I.) “I reached out to Liam and he and I both thought it was a beautiful story and thAt we should make a documentary about Adam.”
Karp and Michaels have been friends since high school (Grant Park). Over the past ten years, the son of Marcia and Morris Karp has built a successful career as the go-to guy for visual effects for movies and television series being shot in and around Winnipeg. He is currently providing his expertise for the remake of the popualtr TV series “Little House on the Prairie,” which is being shot in and around Winnipeg.
In filming the documentary, Karp and Michaels spent time with Policzer and his family in Vancouver. They also filmed on location in Budapest and visited Miskolc to interview members of the family that hid him during the Holocaust.
Karp and Michaels express their appreciation to the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba and Manitoba Film and Music, which provided funding for the project.
Michaels reports that the partners have secured several screenings of the documentary throughout North America. “We hope to show Adam’s story at the Winnipeg Jewish Film Festival next year,” he says.
While Karp and Michaels don’t currently have any plans to collaborate again as yet, they both say that they would like to work together again.
