Introducing the CJCCC National Archives

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The Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives was established in 1934. The general mandate of the CJCCC National Archives is to collect and preserve documentation of the Jewish presence in Quebec and Canada. The focus of the collection developed under the direction of archivist/historian David Rome.

All aspects of the concerns of the Jewish community are reflected in the collection: immigration, integration into Canadian society, community organization, discrimination, Zionism, oppressed Jewry in other countries, education, literature, genealogy and much more. The total size of the collection is approximately 1410 linear metres. Automated cataloguing was begun in the early 1980s, with the majority of the collection now accessible via computer search.

Since January 1, 1992, this Archives has benefited from the status of “Service agréé d’archives privées,” a program of the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.

Housed in the same building as the Concordia University Chair in Canadian Jewish Studies, the Archives has many programmatic ties to this department and serves on its Community Advisory Board. We also work in collaboration with the Association of Jewish Libraries, Montreal Chapter, and are active in the Groupe des Archivistes de la Région de Montréal (GARM) and the Association of Canadian Jewish Studies.

The CJCCC National Archives publishes and distributes a monograph series, Canadian Jewish Archives, new series, compiled by David Rome. Some of the collection finding aids are also available for purchase. Prices for the Canadian Jewish Archives New Series can be found on our Publications list.

An added feature available through the CJCCC Archives is our Interpretive Guide to the United Restitution Organization Claims Files, a series of web pages designed to assist historians, survivors, and family members of survivors to understand the complex documents generated in attempts to obtain compensation from the German government after World War II. This project was funded by a grant from The Rabbi Israel Miller Fund for Shoah Research, Documentation and Education of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

A frequently evolving addition to this web site is our database of Canadian Jewish Casualties in the Canadian Armed Forces. This is a detailed list containing the date of death and place of burial for Canadian Jewish servicemen who died serving in the Canadian Armed Forces in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. It draws on information synthesized from multiple sources both within and outside the CJCCC National Archives.

Our holdings include:

CANADIAN JEWISH CONGRESS RECORDS - These records comprise approximately 20% of the total archives holdings. They include a wealth of information on minority and human-rights issues, immigration and demographics, and the political and social impact of Jews in Canada.

OTHER ORGANIZATIONS - Includes philanthropic, social service, Zionist, religious, and cultural organizations. Major collections, each measuring over 30 metres, include the Jewish Colonization Association (JCA/ICA), the Jewish Immigrant Aid Services (JIAS), the United Jewish Relief Agencies (UJRA), and the United Restitution Organization (URO). Other large collections are those of the National Council of Jewish Women, the Labour Zionist Alliance, and the Va’ad Ha’ir of Montreal.

INDIVIDUALS - Includes Jewish community leaders, politicians, Holocaust survivors, artists and writers, and family papers. Some examples: S.W. Jacobs, Rabbi Abraham de Sola, Clarence and Meldola de Sola, Saul Hayes, and Ken Hertz. Over 10,000 Personalia clipping files pertaining to Jewish individuals throughout Canada are indexed on the Archives database. These files often contain obituaries or other family history information.

PHOTOGRAPHS - The archives houses tens of thousands of photographs and over 100,000 negatives, originating from organizational and personal collections. Subjects include immigration, family life, city life, small communities across Canada, Jewish organizations, business, and religion. A computerized index assists in their consultation.

SOUND RECORDINGS AND FILM - Includes over 4000 hours of computer-inventoried cassette, videotape and reel-to-reel recordings of community meetings, interviews, survivor testimonies, family, community, and other oral histories. The collection also includes a small number of films and disk recordings.

ART AND ARTIFACTS - Includes ceremonial and secular Jewish objects, prints, posters, and paintings Some of these items are on loan to museums, while a few can be seen on display at the archives.

REFERENCE LIBRARY - The CJCCC National Archives maintains a non-circulating library of reference books, periodicals and research papers of Canadian Jewish interest. The collection includes sizable holdings of major Canadian Jewish newspapers of the past, such as The Canadian Jewish Times, and the Canader Adler, (both also available on microfilm). An extensive bibliography of Jewish Canadiana, compiled by David Rome, is available for consultation on microfiche.

GENEALOGY RESOURCES - As a general rule, we do not house birth, death and marriage records. In addition to files about Jews in Canada, we can provide some information about other current and past Jewish communities. A summary of our family history resources can be found on our genealogy page. Our Genealogy Resource Timeline helps narrow down which collection can be of most help in your search.

Contacts:
Dr. Norma Joseph, CJCCC National Archives Chair
Janice Rosen, Director of CJCCC National Archives archives@cjccc.ca