Israel Ellman (1879-1940)
Israel Ellman (1879-1940) arrived in Saint John from Dnepetprovosk, Russia with his wife Celia in 1912. The family escaped from Russia in 1905 with their three young sons by travelling down the Dneiper River by raft with other family members. Their journey took them from Antwerp, Belgium to Liverpool, England to New York and finally to Saint John.
Israel Ellman organized and served as president of the Saint John Jewish Immigrant Aid Society and was national vice president of The Jewish Immigrant Aid Society in Canada. He was the founder and president of the Ezra Lodge, Zionist Order of Habonim and this group’s members were among those who welcomed a young David Ben-Gurion to Saint John in 1917. Ben-Gurion was actively recruiting men to join the Jewish Legion and was on his way to training camp at Fort Edward, near Windsor, Nova Scotia.
Israel Ellman was one of the advocates responsible for the amalgamation of the two early synagogues– the Ahavith Achim (Brotherly Love) and the Hazen Avenue Synagogue – one for the Jews from England, the other for the Jews from Eastern Europe into the Shaarei Zedek Synagogue. He was president of the Congregation from 1924 to 1925. He also shared his knowledge of Jewish traditions with the community’s youth through Hebrew School and Young Judaea.
He supported his family as owner of the New York Shoe Repair shop on Main Street.
His wife, Celia Rozovsky Ellman (1880-1968) had four brothers: Abraham and Nathan Rozovsky who lived in Saint John, Louis Rozovsky who lived in Halifax and Malach Rozovsky who lived in Buenes Aires, Argentina – and a sister: Ida (Mrs. Harry Davis).
They had three sons – Hyman (1902-1973), Isadore (1903-1983), and Maurice (1904-1980), and an adopted daughter Naomi (1912-1990), who was part of a group of Lithuanian orphans brought to Canada after the First World War.
Hyman Ellman (1902-1973)
Hyman Ellman (1902-1973) worked in the family shoe store and learned to play the violin. He received training from a conservatory and left school at age 15 to join a professional orchestra. He played in several Saint John groups from 1917 to 1931. He enlisted in the Canadian Army on September 3, 1939 and was based in Saint John and Nanaimo and New Westminster, British Columbia. He worked as a canteen steward and was deemed to be too old for overseas service. He was discharged in 1943. After his military service, he settled in Hamilton, Ontario and worked as an insurance agent. He married Dorothy Baig in 1940 and they had two children.
Isadore Ellman (1903-1983)
Isadore Ellman (1903-1983) married Anna Lipshetz and moved to Fredericton.
Maurice Elman (1904-1980)
Maurice Elman (1904-1980) grew up in Saint John and trained as a dental technician at Bodee University in New York. He was working in Saint John as a film distributor for Warner Brothers and as a partner in the family shoe repair business at the outbreak of the Second World War. He enlisted in October 1939 and was a member of the Canadian Dental Corps. Captain Elman was posted to the Canadian Dental Corps in Saint John, Brockville, Winnipeg and Halifax before being sent overseas where he was attached to the RCAF from 1944 to 1945. While in Winnipeg he trained at the Canadian School of Army Administration. He returned to Saint John in November 1945 to be reunited with his wife and children. He remained in the Reserves until the 1960s.
After the war, he worked as a film distributor with Alliance Films and then founded and ran, Maritime Film Transport in partnership with his son Dan.
Bertie Boyaner Elman (1900-1995)
Bertie Boyaner Elman (1900-1995) was born in 1900 to Don and Kate (Poyas) Boyaner, the youngest of the family which included four brothers and a sister. She was was a member of the Congregation Shaarei Zedek Sisterhood, and of the Henrietta Szold Chapter Hadassah WIZO. She was an active bridge player as well as being involved in theatricals. In her earlier years she was a leader for the Jewish Girl Guides and the Young Judean gymnastics team. She married Maurice Elman in 1929 and they had two children.
Daniel Elman
Daniel Elman studied at the University New Brunswick; Fredericton, Dalhousie University, Halifax; the University of Fribourg, Switzerland; the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium (where he studied medicine and completed his studies in 1962) and the Jungian Institute, Zurich, Switzerland. He has enjoyed a diverse career including a year at N29 Saglek Bay, Labrador working with the American Corps of Engineers, as the owner of Maritime Film Transport and as an IT instructor and consultant for Advanced Training and Services and JD Irving Ltd.
in the Jewish community, he was an active member of Judaean Scouts, Young Judaea, the YMHA and the congregation. He served as congregation President in 1983-1984. In 1983 and 1984 he was one of the organizers of the Koom Ahaim (“Come Home”) Reunion and was an early supporter of the creation of the Saint John Jewish Historical Museum. In the absence of a rabbi, he was the community’s Lay Reader for nearly two decades.
Dan Elman made a name for himself as a champion chess player and six- time winner of the J.M. Franklin Trophy. Chess activity in Saint John was at its peak during the World Chess Festival in 1988. Organized by a small group led by Dan Elman, it brought hundreds of world class chess players from all over the world to Saint John. With the renewed popularity of chess, Dan Elman opened the Chess Centre in Brunswick Square where players could drop in for a game or participate in tournaments.
Eleanor Elman
Eleanor Elman trained in nursing at the Saint John General Hospital, married Dr. Morris Givner in November 1962 and relocated to Montreal and then Halifax. In Montreal she was a head surgical nurse at the Jewish General Hospital. In 1986 she was put in charge of a patient representative program at the Victoria General Hospital in Halifax.
Naomi Ellman Freedman (1912-1990)
Naomi Ellman Freedman (1912-1990) came from Ukraine as a war orphan in 1921 as part of a group of 120 Ukrainian Jewish orphans brought to Canada by Mrs. Lillian Frieman of Ottawa. She was adopted by Israel and Celia Ellman and was welcomed warmly into the family. Her sister and brother were taken to Montreal. She was the second wife of Benjamin Freedman and stepmother to a son, Melvin and a daughter, Ellen (Hochberger). Naomi was employed as a stenographer for A.I. Garson and as a real estate agent. She was a member of the Westfield Golf and Country Club, the Congregation Shaarei Zedek, Hadassah-Wizo and the Sisterhood.
See also: Boyaner family and Rozovsky Family
References:
Louis I. Michelson Archives and Research and Exhibition Files, Saint John Jewish Historical Museum
Marcia Koven – Weaving the Past Into the Present (Saint John: 1989 and 2008)
The Evening Times Globe / The Telegraph Journal (Saint John newspapers)
This project is made possible with funding from the Archaeology and Heritage Branch, Province of New Brunswick through their Exhibit Renewal Digital Component program and the unwavering support of the Jewish families who made Saint John their home.
