Features
Berdina Shorten: Her long and circuitous journey to returning to her Jewish roots
By BERNIE BELLAN Berdina Shorten has lived in Winnipeg since coming here with her family from the Netherlands in 1953. Although Berdina was Jewish by ancestry (going back to her great-grandmother), she hadn’t been raised Jewish. It was only several years after having come to Canada – and having got married, that Berdina – and her late husband, Ken Shorten, both converted to Judaism.
Typically, the stories we publish in this paper about people’s wartime experiences have to do with the Holocaust. Those stories are all certainly horrendous – and almost always riveting, but when I happened to be talking to Berdina about a totally unrelated subject (the renewal of her subscription) and the conversation got around to her wartime experiences, I said to her that I wanted to write about her story.
I should also mention that I had heard Berdina speak at the Shaarey Zedek several years ago, but at that time I didn’t take any notes. (I can’t recall exactly why I was there or how I happened to be in the room when Berdina told her story, but I remember thinking that this would make a great story for the paper some day.)
In any event, here’s a recounting of the first part of Berdina’s story, based on a phone interview that I conducted with her on February .
First, a little history is needed, in order to understand the context for what happened to Berdina and her family.
The German army had invaded Poland in September 1939. After consolidating its gains there, Germany turned its attention to Western Europe in April 1940, first by invading Norway and Denmark, then launching an attack through Belgium into that country, also the Netherlands and Luxembourg (despite those three countries having adopted positions of neutrality).
The German invasion of The Netherlands began on May 10, 1943.
That is where Berdina’s story picks up. But first, a little background on her family history.
Berdina’s father, Theodore (or Theo, as he was known) was a master leather cutter. His “family was Protestant, but his mother was Catholic, so he was raised Catholic,” she said.
As Berdina explained, “his family had come from France in 1610. He used to say the reason his family didn’t go to the New World was ‘no pretty cruise directors, no first class cabins, no air conditioning.’ The real reason was they were Huguenots and they weren’t allowed to go to the New World – unless they went to England and went with the Protestants,” e.g., the Pilgrims on the Mayflower.)
Berdina’s mother (Anna), however, “was born Jewish” but, as Berdina noted, “the family never practiced Judaism. What happened was her mother was born Jewish to a Dutch girl and a German Rhine skipper. Her father died when she was four years old, so her mother went back to Holland, but her family wouldn’t accept her back because she had married someone who was not Jewish. She raised her child (Berdina’s grandmother) with the help of local charities and working in a grocery store.
“When she met my great-grandfather, he was more Catholic than the Pope, so she never practiced her religion and she raised her children as Catholic – but they were actually Jewish – by Jewish law.
“It wasn’t until I was 12 – and I had been sent to Catholic school. I was always challenging the nuns. I wanted to check out Judaism, but I wasn’t allowed.
I asked Berdina whether “she had an awareness that she was Jewish?”
She said she did. “I always knew. My mother knew also, but they hid it.”
I asked then how she knew about her Jewish heritage?
She answered: “My relatives. I heard conversations when I was a child.”
While, Her mother “didn’t practice any religion, her “father did. He’d go to Mass once in a while,” Berdina noted.
When the Germans invaded the Netherlands, Berdina’s father was in the Dutch army, fighting on the “Grebenberg (or the Grebbe line, the main line of Dutch defence)– where they held the Germans back for many days.” (Actually, it wasn’t many days at all – only three. The Dutch were badly equipped and totally outmaneuvered by the Germans.)
Berdina continued her story: “My father was a fantastic shot…But the Queen (Wilhelmina) capitulated. They were bombing the hell out of Rotterdam (May 14, 1940).” The Netherlands surrendered the next day.
Berdina’s father was taken prisoner and sent to work as a forced labourer (in Germany): “So my father was taken and put into a factory. He was a master leather cutter – making shoes.”
Berdina’s family lived very close to the German border with the Netherlands. Thus, even though Theo was forced to work in Germany, it was only a three-hour walk for him to return to his hometown – and his family. It seems somewhat strange to think of someone who’s kept as a forced labourer – which Berdina described as “slave labour”, yet who was allowed to return home on weekends, as she explained:
He was allowed to go home (where mother lived) once a week, Berdina said. “He was given one egg a week, so he would take that egg with him, so my brother (Corey, who was born four years before Berdina) would be able to have at least a little bit of protein in his diet.”
All the while Theodore though, was part of the Dutch underground– meeting with other members of the underground surreptitiously while he was in forced labour for the Germans.
Berdina told this story about one harrowing brush with danger her father had while he was in the resistance: “A story he told was that he was going to a meeting (of the underground) with a friend. They were caught by a young German soldier and the soldier” pointed his rifle at them and “told them to put their hands up. Somehow my father was able to overtake this young soldier.
“His friend said ‘We have to run.’ My father said, ‘No, we can’t. If we run and they find him (the soldier), they’ll kill ten people on this street.“ (That was the retribution the Germans typically exacted, Berdina explained.)
“So my father was able to get a hold of some liquor, put it over the kid’s mouth, then took his guns and papers to the nearest police station, which was controlled by the Germans, and said: ‘One of your soldiers was drunk and we took his guns and papers before he hurt someone.’
“My father was given a pass to go anywhere he wanted that night.”
I asked Berdina if she knew when it was that her father fled the factory for good and ended up going totally “underground” with the Dutch Resistance, but she said she didn’t know exactly when that happened.
When the Canadian army reached Holland in September 1944, anyone who had been in the Dutch army was able to join the Canadian army, Berdina explained, so her father ended up joining the Canadian army.
“When the Dutch army reorganized, he went back to the Dutch army.”
Her father was uncomfortable talking about what he did during the war, Berdina noted, but according to her brother, Theo had once told him that he “had killed at least one German that he knew of (a sniper) and probably more, but he wasn’t sure.”
I asked Berdina whether there were any other memories from the war that she wanted to talk about.
She said there was a young girl – only 14, in her town, “who was the first girl (in Berdina’s home town) to get pregnant by a German soldier.”(That soldier died in a plane crash coming back from North Africa, Berdina added.) “She was also the first girl to get pregnant by a Canadian soldier.
“After the war the people in that community were going to get her and shave her head and send her packing.
“My mother said to my father: ‘That little girl is still only 15 years old. She’s still walking around in Bobby socks and skipping with a skipping rope. Theo (Berdina’s father), could you please do something to stop those people from hurting her?’
“My father went out on to the street and he saw about 50 people coming for the girl. He stopped them.”
In 1953, Berdina, along with her parents and three brothers (two of whom were born after the end of the Second World War), came to Canada.
“My father started to work as leather cutter in the Canada West shoe factory,” Berdina explained.
“Maitland Steinkopf hired him. Eventually my father started to work in St. Boniface Hospital; he’d had a year’s medical training in Edinborough after the war – so he started to work in the hospital, in the x-ray department.
“He worked four hours a night doing piece work for Maitland. He made more money doing that than he did in the hospital.”
I was curious to know more about Maitland Steinkopf and his connection to the shoe business. I knew that Steinkopf was a very successful businessman who also played a leading role in the development of the Centennial Concert Hall, as well as being a prominent Conservative politician and cabinet minister, but other than that I didn’t know much about him.
Berdina said to me that Steinkopf’s success in the shoe manufacturing business was a result of his decision to go to Minneapolis at one point and come back with the Canadian rights to a line of shoes called “Hush Puppies”. That reminded me of another famous decision made by a local Jewish businessman – Samuel Cohen, who decided to begin importing transistor radios made by a company called Sony.
Turning to Berdina’s decision to become Jewish, here is how she explained how that came about:
“My late husband, Ken Shorten (whom I incorrectly referred to as Frank in my previous article), came from an Irish family – that originally came to Canada in 1690, and they farmed in the McCreary area.
“He worked in Eatons – and I worked in Eatons as well. That’s where I met him and we got married.
“Well, he was Protestant and I had been raised in a Catholic environment. We decided that we weren’t going to let the difference in our faiths have a negative effect on us, so we just stuck to ourselves when it came to the religious part.
“But that didn’t work for me and it didn’t work for him and I always knew about my Jewish heritage, so I said to him one day: ‘You know, I’d like to learn more about Judaism; it’s part of my heritage.’ And he said: ‘Me, too.’
“He had some very good Jewish friends at the time (who were all in the NDP). One of them was Cy Gonick, another was Harry Shafransky. He got to know quite a few Jewish politicians. He liked their ethics, liked their values, and so we started to look into Judaism.
“We went to see Rabbi Nesis and (the late) Rabbi Berkal, and we studied with them for two years, and then made the conversion.”
Interestingly, Berdina said that she also spoke with (the late) Rabbi Weizman, who told her that “You can’t convert – you’re already Jewish”.
“But, I said to him, ‘It’s my decision. It’s my journey. I want to do the process.’
“We had two children that we had adopted before we decided to convert – and we brought them in with us.”
I asked when this all happened?
Berdina said the conversion process went from 1973-75.
“We were officially converted in May of ’75,” she said, “and then we were married in the rabbi’s office again.”
“I sang in the Shaarey Zedek choir for 36 years,” Berdina added, “and my son, Theodore, sang in the choir for 20 years…and both kids had their bar and bat mitzvah together.”
“It was the best decision I ever made in my life,” Berdina observed. “It completed me as a human being. I finally fit – because I used to question those nuns. I must have been a real pain in the tuch.”
I asked, “Do you have relatives remaining in Holland?”
Berdina answered: “Yes, I have many.”
I asked, “Are any of them Jewish?”
She answered, “I have one cousin who recognizes himself as Jewish – and that’s it.”
I said to Berdina that what she had told me about her Jewish ancestry and her family’s subsequent conversion to Christianity, it jives with what I had read about how commonplace it was for Jews to have become Christians. I said that I recalled hearing from the late Rabbi Rappaport that only about one-quarter of all Jews in Europe remained Jewish through the years. The rest either converted willingly or by force.
During the course of our conversation, Berdina told me many more stories about her wartime experiences in the Netherlands, all of which were fascinating. Since she was only two years old by war’s end, naturally the stories she tells are one that have been recounted to her by others, but they are all worth retelling.
One that stood out for me in particular was about a Jewish doctor who was kept hidden by his Dutch housekeeper, unbeknownst to anyone else in the town. According to Berdina, when German soldiers came to the house looking for the doctor in 1940, the housekeeper said to them: “I kicked him out long ago when I knew you would be coming. He was miserable to work for and he never paid me enough.”
All through the war that housekeeper was ostracized by her fellow townspeople, as the doctor was universally loved. As Berdina told it, when the town was liberated by Canadian soldiers in 1944, the doctor emerged from the basement – where he had been kept hidden the entire period of occupation by the housekeeper.
Berdina is a great storyteller and when I asked her whether she’d be willing to tell her story to other audiences – as I had heard her do several years ago at the Shaarey Zedek, she readily agreed. If a day comes when Berdina will be able to tell her story to a new audience, I’ll be sure to post something in this paper.
Features
A daughter comes to terms with her father’s Holocaust experience many years later
“How to Share an Egg” by Bonny Reichert
Published by Appetite by Random House, 2025
Book Review by Julie Kirsh, former Sun Media News Research Director
Exclusive to The Jewish Post and News
Bonny Reichert writes with great compassion about her father, a Holocaust survivor. In reviewing children of survivor literature, much has been said about the need to compensate for the suffering of the Holocaust survivor. To upset parents after what they have been through, is to be avoided at all cost.
In my own survivor family, I learned that to ask questions of my parents about what happened during the war and even before the war was to cause pain. I learned not to ask, not to cause pain.
In 2015 Bonny Reichert and her family made a trip to Warsaw. The tomb of an ancestor called out to her father. The author’s great-grandfather was “a pillar of his community and a beloved scholar.” His namesake, the author’s father, was jubilant to find the headstone in the Warsaw cemetery. Afterwards the famished family found a deserted restaurant and revelled in a bowl of borscht garnished with fresh condiments. The description of this delicious meal is the reader’s introduction to the author’s moving memoir about food, love, hunger and survival. The author writes that in her family “food was connected to the meaning of life itself; an understanding woven into our very being.” The dining table was a very important place in the daily life of the family.
At age 5, the author noticed the blue-green numbers on her father’s arm. It was at this time that the father started to talk about his Holocaust experiences. By retelling his stories, the author’s father was reframing the horror into stories of bravery and triumph. In some ways, he was healing himself in the process of telling.
His daughter, the child of the survivor, tests her father’s Holocaust experience by putting a bare foot in the snow or trying to imagine unspeakable hunger. Trauma passed down the intergenerational chain has been explored in the children of the Holocaust survivors’ literature. Bonny Reichert absorbed her father’s trauma without understanding the origin of her own inherent sadness and dark feelings.
My high school years were spent going to movies, shopping and finding out about boys with my best friend, Linda. Her family, unlike my own, was a Canadian Jewish family who came to Toronto before the war. I considered Linda’s family normal and healthy. There were many aunts, uncles, cousins and even grandparents. Similarly, Cathy was the author’s best friend. In Cathy’s home there were no accents and no sad stories about tragedy and loss.
In her twenties, the author takes us through her engagement and marriage to the “right” guy. Turning down an opportunity to go to law school, staying at home with a baby, not dealing with depression was her life which she portrays poignantly in this memoir.
Most unexpectedly, she did not get the support that she needed from her father. He ignored her feelings. He saw her in the role of a traditional wife who had no outside aspirations other than to be a homemaker.
Therapy sessions helped her to take control of her life and become more aware of her authentic self. Her father was able to love her deeply and share the truths that he had learned through his Holocaust experience. However she came to understand that no one can define another person’s path. Taking journalism courses and having her voice published, helped the author’s sense of independence and self-esteem. In her late twenties, after divorcing her first husband, she married Michael, had two more children and balanced motherhood with her job as a magazine editor.
At age forty, the author enrolled in a culinary school. Conquering her unnamed fears, gave her an outlet for the energy trapped within. She learned that “being afraid is no way to live”.
In addition to exploring her personal psyche, the author writes about recreating lost recipes from before the war. The reader learns that Jews have been making cholent for many decades. Putterkuch or butter crumble cake was painstakingly recreated in her modern kitchen and taken to her father for his approval and insight into what he remembered about his mother and his childhood. Food became the trigger for buried memories.
In the final chapters of “How to Share an Egg,” the author goes on a fact finding mission to Berlin and Poland. She visited ghettos and concentration camps with a tour group.
Hedy Bohm is one of the Holocaust’s oldest survivors and was my mother’s best friend. She is the catalyst for persuading the author to conquer her lifelong fear of understanding the Holocaust survivor experience. At age eighty-four, she told her story in a German court of justice. For Hedy, this experience was validating, transforming her entire world view.
The author leaves us with food for thought. Fight the worst that history had to offer the Jews with beauty, happiness and continuation of life. Her father modelled resilience, courage and strength, allowing his daughter to choose her own response to life’s challenges.
Features
Trump Wants to Incorporate Cryptocurrencies into the Strategic Reserve
President Trump intends for digital assets like Bitcoin, Ether, and a select group of other cryptocurrencies to eventually become part of the US strategic reserve. Although the exact process remains uncertain, market trends are already reflecting increased optimism beyond the US, drawing the attention of Canadian crypto adopters. Following Trump’s recent announcement, Bitcoin experienced its highest peak of a long time, a notable recovery from its previous drastic drop just days earlier.
These developments have sparked curiosity among Canadian investors, who could reshape market trends. In initial discussions in financial circles, experts pointed out that if the trend continues on an upward trajectory, this could spur the rise of innovations such as a number of new cryptocurrency. In this context, besides investing in the common Bitcoin and Ether, it would be worth considering investing in other cryptocurrencies. Exploring new cryptocurrency investment opportunities can be challenging, but experts claim that when approached wisely, it has the potential to be highly rewarding.
On Sunday, Trump disclosed for the first time the specific cryptocurrencies that could be integrated into a newly envisioned US crypto reserve. In a statement he posted on social media, he emphasized that leading digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ether should form the core of this reserve, positioning them as essential elements in the nation’s future financial strategy. Following his announcement, President Trump not only emphasized Bitcoin but also identified other lesser-known cryptocurrencies – such as Ripple, Solana, and Cardano – as key components of his envisioned reserve. In his social media post, he declared, “I will make sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World.”
Crypto prices have rallied significantly after Trump’s announcement regarding the inclusion of Bitcoin and other digital currencies in strategic discussions. This announcement has sparked both excitement and skepticism among investors. Industry experts predict that these developments will drive broader institutional acceptance of cryptocurrencies across Canada. This could prove to be an influential factor in comprehensive regulatory reform and increased market stability.
Experts claim that, although vague, Trump’s promises give hope to investors worldwide. In the first few weeks of his presidency, the crypto sector did not receive the anticipated support. However, that initial disappointment seems to have transformed into renewed enthusiasm. Investopedia reports that by Monday morning, Bitcoin – after reaching a peak of about $109,000 in January and dropping last week on Trump’s announcement – had rebounded by over 8% to around $93,000. At the same time, Ether climbed roughly 7%, Solana increased by more than 13%, XRP surged over 16%, and Cardano jumped by over 50%.
Investopedia further reports that Bitcoin’s price encountered obstacles after it was confirmed that the Trump administration would proceed with its intended trade tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Investopedia further explains that investors often see tariffs as a driver of inflation. As a result, the expected interest reductions for the year of 2025 could be effectively offset, increasing pressure on volatile assets such as Bitcoin, which do not generate returns.
Investopedia notes that since 2013 Bitcoin has posted an equal number of gains and losses, making its performance hard to predict. Despite a roughly 5% drop in Bitcoin’s price since the beginning of 2025, Investopedia states that this cryptocurrency remains up approximately 25% compared to its level during the U.S. election period. This upward trend is largely driven by optimism that a Trump-led White House, along with a crypto-friendly Congress, will introduce policies that support the digital asset market.
Canadian crypto advocates see digital currencies as an opportunity to modernize everyday life. Local trading platforms are experiencing rising sales and an increase in user registrations. The recent fluctuations in cryptocurrencies have been accompanied by interest from strategic investors. Experts see the current developments as a potential turning point that could push digital financial solutions further into the spotlight for the public and politicians, which ultimately has long-term implications for Canada’s economic success. One sector that stands to gain significantly is Canada’s online gambling sector, a major contributor to the national economy.
Despite the current peak, financial experts warn of the risks. Cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile, especially when political and economic conditions change rapidly. Investment strategies must therefore adapt to a market that is both promising and unpredictable. Experts advise newcomers to invest cautiously and keep an eye on global trends. Such trends can have a lasting impact on the Canadian market.
Although the exact structure of future reserves remains unclear, the crypto-enthusiast President Trump has taken action by ordering the creation of a digital assets task force. This group is set to determine by July whether the US government should establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Investors are on edge, closely watching the potential ripple effects this development might have on the global trading market. Meanwhile, market observers expect further crypto-focused announcements from Trump in the coming days. The first crypto summit is scheduled to take place at the White House on Friday.
Features
Leading Jewish poker players
From smoky bar-rooms in Texas to high-end casinos on the French Riviera, poker is booming across the world.
From underground games in China to Arctic villages where players bet with their ration supplies, the game has now spread across the planet’s different cultures, adapting to each one.
From online poker to a seat at an opulent casino table, the rules are simple but the strategy is deep… and that’s why it appeals to everyone.
How poker is conquering the world
In the US poker took off in the 19th century, spreading along the Mississippi River on gambling boats.
In China, variations like Dou Dizhu share poker’s competitive spirit. In Europe, poker thrives in plush casinos from London to Monaco.
Hollywood and TV have kept poker in the spotlight. From Casino Royale to Rain Man, big-screen showdowns have made the game even more glamorous.
The arrival of poker online games pushed the game even further. Today anyone with a phone can play against opponents worldwide.
Poker is about skill, risk and reading people. A strong hand isn’t always enough—you need nerve.
That’s why it remains an ultimate test of strategy and psychology. Whether played for pennies or millions, in dimly lit rooms or bright casinos, poker is a global game.
What type of player plays poker?
Poker appeals to no fixed type. Anyone can play.
Over the years, poker champions have come from every background. Old, young, rich, broke.
Men, women. Every nationality and every walk of life.
Doyle Brunson, the grizzled Texas road gambler, played through the Wild West days of poker and lived to write the book on it.
Johnny Chan, the Chinese-born master, dominated the 1980s, with his lucky orange always beside him.
Barbara Enright was the first woman to reach the WSOP Main Event final table. Vanessa Selbst, a Yale-educated lawyer, crushed high-stakes tournaments for years.
Online prodigies like Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom took on the world’s best from his computer screen.
From Arctic truckers playing in frozen outposts to Saudi businessmen gambling behind closed doors, poker appeals to every type.
It’s not about where you’re from or what you look like. It’s about how you play.
That’s why poker remains the most democratic and cosmopolitan game in the world.
The rise of Jewish Poker
Players from the Jewish community have always been a force in poker. The culture values sharp thinking, debate and strategy – perfect skills for the game.
For centuries, Jewish communities have embraced card games, from Eastern Europe to New York’s Lower East Side. The appeal is clear: poker rewards intellect over luck, skill over status.
That’s why some of the greatest players in history have been Jewish.
Take Erik Seidel. A quiet, calculating master, Seidel has nine WSOP bracelets and over $40 million in earnings.
He first made his mark in the 1988 WSOP Main Event, losing heads-up to Johnny Chan in a hand made famous by the movie Rounders. Seidel kept evolving, mastering live and online poker alike.
Stu Ungar was another legend. A fearless, aggressive genius who won three WSOP Main Events.
Ungar was raised in a tough New York neighborhood as a prodigy at gin rummy before switching to poker. His natural talent was stellar but his self-destructive lifestyle cut his career short.
Barry Greenstein, dubbed the ‘The Robin Hood of Poker,’ made millions in high-stakes cash games. Then donated much of his winnings to charity. Greenstein’s calm, disciplined style made him a feared opponent on poker tables everywhere.
Or how about Vanessa Selbst, the highest-earning female player in history? She was a fierce competitor with an aggressive style. Selbst dominated tournaments and made history by winning three WSOP bracelets in her career.
These players and many other success stories show how Jewish culture, with its love of wit, argument and mental agility, has always found a natural home at the poker table.
Poker can be played by everyone
Jewish players like these have left a deep mark on poker.
The game rewards intelligence, strategy, and psychological insight – traits valued in Jewish culture. From Erik Seidel’s quiet precision to Stu Ungar’s raw talent, players from the community have shaped the game at every level.
Whether in smoky backrooms or high-stakes tournaments, they’ve benefited from their sharp minds and fearless play.
But poker belongs to no single group. It thrives in every culture.
In China, card games with poker-like strategy have existed for centuries. In Russia, cold, calculated players dominate the online scene.
In Brazil, an energetic new poker generation is making waves. From Arctic villages to African casinos, the game is adapting to the modern world.
Poker’s appeal is universal. It’s not about where you’re from, but how you play.
Bluffing, reading opponents, taking risks – these are human instincts.
That’s why poker will remain the world’s greatest card game. It speaks a language that everyone understands.
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