Anshei Ukraina

1938 - 1965
5116 St. Urbain

Historic outline

This congregation was unique in that what bound its members was not only the commonality of a place, Ukraine, but also the memory of an event, the Ukrainian pogroms. When the congregation was established in 1924, the charter of the shul was registered under the name of “Anshei Ukraina, in memory of the holy ones who were martyred in the Ukraine.” An article, written in 1940, provides emotional testament to the commitment to this memory:

"Having lived through the storm that swept across the length and breadth of the Ukraine, when entire Jewish communities and settlements were murdered and destroyed, we, together with other members of broken families in search of a place to save and reestablish a life after this bloody nightmare, wandered over many roads and borders to finally reach a place where we might have the opportunity to settle on new ground. The less fortunate could not flee along with us and had to stay under the murderous hand of the wild hooliganism that reigned in that time.

"As fate had it, we settled in Montreal where daily life, with its “Ho-Ha,” was ready to swallow us together with our memories and obligations to our brothers and sisters. Eventually, some of us, who understood the danger of the situation, undertook to initiate the organization of an administrative body empowered to organize the newly arrived refugees with the goal of helping one another in the time of need as well as to support friends and acquaintances overseas.

"A meeting was called of all the victims of the Ukrainian pogrom where many questions were debated and it was decided to establish a shul that would give us the opportunity to keep together and at the same time it was decided that the shul would forever carry the memory of the untimely martyrs of the bloody Ukraine."

The old congregation’s commitment to memorialization is maintained to this day. When the community moved, it was the officers of the Anshei Ukraina who initiated the purchase of a lot and construction of a new building at 5212 Westbury. The new synagogue, an amalgamation of four congregations (Anshei Ukraina, Beth Israel and Samuel, Beth Matesyohu, and Beth Moishe) was dedicated in 1965 and took on the name Zichron Kedoshim, In Memory of the Holy (martyred) Ones. Handwritten scrolls, inscribed with the names of victims of the pogroms and of the Holocaust, were incased in copper tubes and buried in the walls on either side of the door. Hilda Golick, whose husband was instrumental in the building of the new synagogue, relates that her husband instructed his youngest son to remove these scrolls should the building ever be sold for use other than a synagogue.

Witness to History

Thus it was around memory and connection to place, that the Anshie Ukraina formed a particularly closely bound community. The members of the congregation formed an extended social group and the shul was the focal point of the community on any given Saturday. “If you needed anyone for anything important during Shabbos,” Olive Golick Brumer relates, “you would go to the synagogue,” Informal discussions and gatherings continued after services and on Sundays. In these discussions, apparently, the women were not only present but, though perched in the upper gallery, they were as active as the men. As a young girl, Mrs. Brumer remembers that her parents would continue the heated discussions at home. Her mother insisted “that women were equal [to men] in understanding what was going on.” Though some of the meetings were on issues of finance, often a newcomer would be invited to speak, as the members were anxious to hear news from home. “If it was heard that an immigrant came from the Ukraine they would be encouraged to come to the shul. One told the other. It was something that would attach them to home. And they would have an understanding of what it meant to escape from a pogrom.” (Olive Brumer)

Physical description

Still bearing visible markings of its original purpose, a small Ukrainian Evangelical Pentecostal Church, occupies the building of the former Anshei Ukraina synagogue at 5116 St. Urbain. Some of the Hebrew letters, indicating the name of the congregation, engraved in a stone above the doorway, are still visible. Cornerstone plaques, dating the building to 1940, recognize not only the officers but, unique to this building, also acknowledge the contributions of the Ladies Auxiliary. “They too volunteered and contributed to the construction of this building.” A metal plaque with a cut out cross covers the stained glass rosette through which the Star of David is still visible. Tablets of the Ten Commandments, still evident in an arch over the window were originally inset in the arch over the door as well. The façade is peaked by a triangular pediment with a frieze of brick arches. This simple decorative devise, common to both churches and synagogues of the era, lends a bit of architectural distinction. The interior of the former synagogue is stripped of any original decoration except for the murals which covered the balustrade of the former women’s gallery. The murals depict buildings, biblical or holy land sites, of which two, Rachel’s tomb and the Western Wall, are easily recognizable and are clearly of Jewish origin. The Pastor of the church confirmed that the paintings were created by the synagogue and that, as the church too accepts the teachings of the Old Testament, the murals were conserved. Strangely enough, former women worshipers insist that these murals were never part of the synagogue.

Written by Sara Tauben

Links

Liens

Traces of the Past

Sources

Tauben, Sara Ferdman. "Aspirations and Adaptations: Immigrant Synagogues of Montreal, 1880s-1945." Masters Thesis. Concordia University, 2004.

Tauben, Sara Ferdman. Traces of the Past: Montreal's Early Synagogues. Montréal: Véhicule Press, 2011.

*Images courtesy of David Kaufman and Sara Tauben.

Media

Media