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By Bernie M. Farber

November in Canada can be dreary and cold. It somehow seems fitting that this is the time that we recall the sacrifices undertaken on our behalf by ordinary yet exceptional Canadians: young men and women who served their country in the face of war. Many didn’t return. Many were wounded and had their lives irrevocably changed. Many suffered emotional trauma that we now know as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. And many served showing outstanding courage in the face of inestimable odds. One such soldier was a young Canadian Jew by the name of Michael De Vries.

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I note his faith because it is little known that during the Second World War 16,883 Canadian Jews enlisted, almost 40 per cent of the Jewish male population eligible for service and 10 per cent of the entire Canadian Jewish population. This is the highest of any Canadian faith or ethnic group per capita at the time.

Indeed, a report from the RCMP in December 1940 claimed that “…The Jewish community as such has subscribed generously, away out of proportion not because they consider it a ‘Jewish’ war, but because they understand the clear cut policy of decency versus brute force much better than people who take their freedom for granted.”