History of Left Wing Jewish Societies in Toronto

Secular Yiddishkait: Left Politics, Culture, and Community by Ester Reiter

From the introduction (edited):

This paper explores the history of the Canadian pro-Soviet-socialist-Jewish-left.

I use interviews, archival materials, and a literature review focussing on the 1920s to the 1950s.

Several themes emerge:
- Jewish identity as a contested terrain
- the formation of a non-religious, socialist, Jewish identity
- why people were attracted to this community
- a history emphasizing the shules, the camp, and the chorus
- factors leading to the decline of this milieu
- comments on its legacy.

See also: Raising Reds: The Young Pioneers, Radical Summer Camps, and Communist Political Culture in the United States by Paul Mishler
IWO
Camp Naivelt
Camp Naivelt and the Daughters of the Jewish Left