Through the Eyes of the Eagle: The Early Montreal Yiddish Press (1907-1916)

Introduction

The output of the Yiddish press published in Montreal, starting in 1907, sheds a bright light on the mass migration of East European Jews to the city at the beginning of the twentieth century. In the period approximately ten years following the appearance of the first Yiddish paper, Der Keneder Odler (The Canadian Eagle), Montreal Jews developed a dense network of religious, cultural and benevolent institutions. The number of Yiddish speakers at that time was increasing very rapidly in certain neighbourhoods in the city, and for the first time, one could speak of a visible Jewish community.

Translated into English for the first time by historian David Rome (1910-1996), and edited by Pierre Anctil, these selections from the early Montreal Yiddish press offer a rare glimpse of the forces at play in the community during its formative period. They also afford the reader a sense of the intense emotions that the Jewish newcomers grappled with. Writing in Der Keneder Odler, Yiddish-speaking immigrants reflected on their situation, made plans for the future, and even laughed at themselves in a unique and humorous vein. The Montreal Yiddish press at the time also contained exceptional descriptions of important strikes in the garment business, Yiddish theatre at the Monument National and even French Canada as seen through Jewish eyes.

David Rome was the Director of the Jewish Public Library from 1953 to 1972. He became the National Archivist and then historian of the Canadian Jewish Congress until his death in 1996. His last years were devoted to the compilation and translation of articles from Yiddish sources.

Pierre Anctil has translated from Yiddish into French the memoirs of Israel Medres, Simon Belkin, and Hirsch Wolofsky. He is currently President of the Institut québécois d’études sur la culture juive and Associate Professor in the Department of History at the Université du Québec à Montréal.

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