Dr. Moses I. Polowin Memorial
Dr. Moses I. Polowin Memorial Library
The library was developed in 1990 and dedicated in 1995 to the memory of Dr. Moses Polowin. Dr. Polowin (1917-1995) was the founding president of the Saint John Jewish Historical Society. He studied medicine at Queens University and moved to Saint John to practice as a general surgeon in 1947.
In 1972, he became the Chief Medical Officer for the Workman’s Compensation Board. He was active in the arts and sports community in Saint John, as the founder and director of the Jewish Community Players theatre group in the 1950s and as coach of the Saint John Wanderers football team in the 1950s . In retirement he became actively involved in preserving Saint John’s Jewish history and took up landscape painting as a hobby.
The Library was created with books collected from the former Shaarei Zedek Library and donations made to the Saint John Jewish Historical Museum by Museum members and others. The collection reflects a broad range of titles related to the wider Jewish experience and written in English, Hebrew and Yiddish.
Books in the library have been arranged into several sections:
- Fiction – including novels, Holocaust fiction, poetry, plays, folklore
- Holocaust – including scholarly works, personal memoirs
- Judaism – including Jewish Holy Days, Customs, and Biblical studies
- Biography
- General Jewish History
- Ancient Jewish History
- Jewish History – Europe, Canada, United States
- Israel – history, geography
- Art and Music
- Cookbooks
- Children’s Books – picture and chapter books, Jewish holy days and customs
- Hebrew language books – primarily prayer books and Biblical interpretations
- Yiddish language books – includes prayer books, Yiddish literature
The library is open year-round by appointment and is open to students and general readers. Comfortable chairs are available for those who wish to spend some time perusing the shelves. Limited borrowing privileges are available for museum members and others.
Donations of books are welcome, dependent on subject matter and availability of shelving space.
In 1996, the Dr. Polowin Library was recognized by the Church and Synagogue Library Association of Portland, Oregon as an Outstanding Congregational Library
Books in the Library
our favorites
The Jewish Book of Why, Alfred J. Kolatch (1981)
This book (and volume 2) answers many of the questions about Judiasm – everything you need to know about holy days, customs – definitely a go-to reference book.
The Monday Morning Cooking Club (2017)
A collection of recipes from across the United States and around the world – including submissions from our own Gloria Pink – making her blueberry tart looks like the perfect way to start the first weekend of spring.
By Chance Alone, Max Eisen (2016)
This is Max Eisen’s account of his survival of the Holocaust from his childhood in Czeckoslovakia through the ghetto and Auschwitz.
The Canadian Jewish Studies Reader, edited by Richard Menkis and Norman Raavin (2004)
This book brings together 19 scholarly articles reflecting a wide range of Canadian Jewish experience – immigration, religious life, feminism, literature, anti-semitism, Holocaust and relationships with other cultural groups.
Sarah's Key, Tatiana de Rosnay (2007)
A novel that explores the Holocaust in France and the round up of the Jews in 1942 with a story thread that runs through the 1940s and today. This is one of many Holocaust-themed novels in our collections.
Jews in Small Town: Legends and Legacies, edited by Howard V. Epstein (1997)
Epstein compiled 140 stories about small town Jewish life across the United States and Canada. Many stories are told from the first person and they share their own family history. Of the seven stories from Canada, one is from Glace Bay, Nova Scotia and another is written by Alex Mogelon who has ties to Saint John having married Lila Brownberg. It’s a very interesting volume.
The Family Treasury of Jewish Holidays, Malka Drucker and Nancy Patz (1994)
Celebrate the Jewish holidays with the stories, crafts, songs, recipes and ideas from this book.
Four Sides, Eight Nights: A New Spin on Hanukkah, Rebecca Tova Ben-Zvi (2005)
A cute little boook that offers some interesting history and exciting ways to experience Hanukkah.
Bar Mitzvah / Bat Mitzvah: Planning the Perfect Day, Amy Nebens (2005)
One of the books used as a reference as the Museum prepared the 2023 exhibit on Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrations in Saint John
A Partisan's Memoir: Woman of the Holocaust, Faye Schulman (1995)
This is her personal story of survival – from a carefree teenage life near the Russian-Polish border and how her photography skills and bravery as a member of the partisans gave her the ability to survive in the face of incredible hardship. She is truly a hero.
Jew or Juif?: Jews, French Canadians, and Anglo-Canadians, 1759-1914, Professor Michael Brown (1987)
He explores how Canada’s Jews, particularly those who settled in the province of Quebec, made a better fit into English Canadian society than into the French and Catholic community and how Jews created a space in which Jews formed their own significant national identity. Michael Brown taught at York University in Toronto and was a rabbi, trained in New York. He recently died at the age of 84.
All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr (2014)
This novel is set in the darkest days of the Second World War and brings together a young French girl who flees from Paris to escape the Nazis and an orphaned German boy whose skills with radios have him sent out to find the Resistance.
Eyewitness to Jewish History, Rabbi Benjamin Blech (2004)
Rabbi Blech has gathered excerpts from the Torah, diaries, letters, newspapers and other memoirs to offer a unique perspective on Jewish history from Biblical to modern times.
Who Will Write Our History: Emanuel Ringelblum, the Warsaw Ghetto, and the Oyneg Shabes, Archive Samuel D. Kassow (2007)
Ringelblum organized a team to collect and preserve the history of the Jews of Warsaw in the midst of the War and despite the privations of ghetto life. Tin boxes and milk cans were filled with photos, documents, journals and other records of Jewish life and then buried. Only three of those who saved the documents survived and were able to help recover the documents amidst the almost total destruction of Warsaw.
What Israel Means to Me, Alan Dershowitz (2006)
Dershowitz is a prominent American lawyer and commentator on Israel. He has invited more than 80 prominent and mostly Jewish Americans – scholars, rabbis, actors, journalists and writers to share their thoughts in brief essays that explore each person’s connection to the Holy Land.
101 Things Everyone Should Know About Judaism: Beliefs, Practices, Customs and Traditions, Richard D. Bank (2005)
This is a compact compendium that explains many of the common questions asked about Jewish history, religious observance and holy days. This is a good starting point for anyone new to learning about Jewish people.
The Glory of Jerusalem: An Explorer's Guide, Shlomo Gafni and A. van de Hadyn (1978)
Enjoy a virtual tour of the ancient city of Jerusalem with the 350 photographs in this coffee table book.
The Timechart History of Jewish Civilization (2004)
A very long and well detailed fold out chart will lead you through centuries of Jewish history from ancient to modern times with a brief history of significant events and lots of maps and images to keep things interesting.