Double Threat

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

Background

Ellin Bessner, the Canadian journalist and author who wrote Double Threat, was inspired to explore the role of Canadian Jews in the war effort by the words: "He died so Jewry should suffer no more" on a Jewish Canadian soldier's tombstone in Normandy.^[1]

Overview

Double Threat focuses on the 17,000 Canadian Jews who enlisted in the Canadian military during World War II, of whom 450 did not survive the war.^[2]

The soldiers faced a "double threat"– they were not only fighting against Fascism, but for the survival of the Jewish people. At the same time, they encountered widespread antisemitism and the danger of being identified as Jews if captured in combat. The title of the book comes from a letter written by Canada's Prime Minister during the war, William Lyon MacKenzie King, 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 people.^[3]

In conducting background research for Double Threat , the author conducted hundreds of interviews and performed extensive archival research to paint a picture of the historical complexities of the participation of Canadian Jews in World War II.

Reception

After its publication in 2019, Double Threat was featured in the Montreal Gazette;^[2] highly praised in the Hamilton Jewish News;^[4] called ‘excellent’ by a University of Western Ontario women's studies professor;^[5] compared to the classics None Is Too Many (Irving Abella-Harold Troper) and Canada’s Jews: A People’s Journey, (Gerald J. J. Tulchinsky) by the Canadian Jewish News;^[6] and described as "Heroes from north of the border!" in both the Long Island Jewish World and the Manhattan Jewish Sentinel.^[7] The work was also reviewed by Jennifer Shaw in the journal Canadian Jewish Studies.^[5]

About the author

Ellin Bessner was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. She used to skate at Mount Royal before heading to Ottawa to study.^[8] She graduated with a degree in journalism and political science from Carleton University. As a journalist, she worked for CTV News and CBC News, which took her not only in Canada but around the world,^[9] as well as stringing for the Globe and Mail and The Canadian Press. During the 1990s, Ms. Bessner covered several civil wars in Africa.^[10][11] She has conducted interviews with, among others, Prince Philip and the Dalai Lama.^[10][12] In addition to her work as a journalist and author, Ms. Bessner taught journalism at Centennial College in Toronto for almost 20 years.^[13]

Bibliography

• Ellin Bessner, Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II, (Toronto: New Jewish Press, 2018), 358 pp., ISBN 978-1988326047.

See also

• Canada in World War II
• None Is Too Many

References

1. Bessner, Ellin (2019-01-24). Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1-4875-3362-5.
2. "Author fights to honour Jews who fought for Canada in WWII". montrealgazette. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
3. "Canadian writer recounts contribution Canadian Jewish Community made during Second World War". Canadian Military Family Magazine. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
4. "Book Review: Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military and World War II | Hamilton Jewish News". hamiltonjewishnews.com. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
5. Shaw, Jennifer (2018). "REVIEW: Ellin Bessner, "Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II" and Peter Usher, "Joey Jacobson's War: A Jewish-Canadian Airman in the Second World War"". Canadian Jewish Studies. 26. doi:10.25071/1916-0925.40082. ISSN 1916-0925.
6. Gladstone, Bill (2018-04-12). "The role of Jewish Canadian soldiers in the Second World War". The Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
7. "Review of Ellin's book in two New York State Jewish papers". Ellin Bessner. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
8. "Ellin Bessner". www.centennialcollege.ca. Centennial College. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
9. "Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military and World War II | The Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre". www.holocaustcentre.com. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
10. "Author and foreign news journalist, Ellin Bessner". Faster Than Normal. 2020-03-04. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
11. "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
12. Ellin Bessner - Author and Professor. The Rotary Club of Toronto
13. The CJN Daily (August 18, 2023). "The Canadian Jewish News". The Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved August 18, 2023.