''Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II'' is a 2018 book by Ellin Bessner.

Background

Bessner was inspired to explore the role of

Canadian Jews Canadian citizens who follow Judaism as their religion and/or are ethnically Jewish are a part of the greater Jewish diaspora and form the third largest Jewish community in the world, exceeded only by those in Israel and in the United States ...

in the war effort by the words: "He died so Jewry should suffer no more" on a Canadian Jewish soldier's tombstone in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

Overview

It focuses particularly on the 17,000 Canadian Jew that enlisted, of whom 450 did not survive the war. The soldiers faced a "double threat"– they were not only fighting against Fascism but for Jewish survival. At the same time, they encountered widespread

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

and the danger of being identified as Jews if captured. The title of the book comes from a letter written by Canada's Prime Minister during the war,

William Lyon MacKenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Li ...

, thanking the Jewish community for their efforts during the War and how they faced a "double threat" of both Nazi aggression and the survival of the Jewish nation. The author conducted hundreds of interviews and extensive archival research to paint a complex picture.

Reception

It was featured in the

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

; highly praised in the Hamilton Jewish News; called ‘excellent’ by

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

women's studies professor; the

Canadian Jewish News The Canadian Jewish News is a non-profit, national, English-language digital-first media organization that serves Canada‘s Jewish community. A national edition of the newspaper was published for 60 years in Toronto. A weekly Montreal edition in ...

compared it to classics: '' None Is Too Many'' (Irving Abella-Harold Troper) and ''Canada’s Jews: A People’s Journey,'' (Gerald J. J. Tulchinsky); and titled "Heroes from north of the border!" in both the

Long Island Jewish World ''Long Island Jewish World'' is a weekly, subscription based publication that covers local, domestic and international events for the Jewish communities of the metropolitan New York City area. The publication is a wholly owned subsidiary of Empi ...

and the ''

Manhattan Jewish Sentinel Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

''. It was also reviewed by Jennifer Shaw in the journal ''Canadian Jewish Studies''.

About the author

Ellin Bessner was born and raised in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Canada. She used to skate at Mount Royal before heading to Ottawa to study. She graduated with a degree in journalism and political science from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

. As a journalist, she worked for

CTV News CTV News is the news division of the CTV Television Network in Canada. The name ''CTV News'' is also applied as the title of local and regional newscasts on the network's owned-and-operated stations (O&Os), which are closely tied to the national ...

and

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...

, which took her not only in Canada but around the world, as well as stringing for the

Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

, The

Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; french: La Presse canadienne, ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for the time's Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Pre ...

at al. In the 1990s Ellin also covered several civil wars in Africa."Famine Crisis." By Ellin Bessner in Monrovia. ''Africa Recovery,'' UN, (1991)
p.6
''Africa Renewal,'' 5-7, United Nations Department of Public Information, (1991)
p.6
/ref> Among personalities she interviewed,

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

and the

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...

.Ellin Bessner - Author and Professor. The Rotary Club of Toronto
/ref>

Bibliography

* Ellin Bessner, ''Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II'', (Toronto: New Jewish Press, 2018), 358 pp., .

References