Interview with Abe Hanser / The Byward Market

Subject: Abe Hanser Interviewer: Mac Lipson Date: March 11, 1987 Interview Location: Ottawa, ON Length of Time: 1:18:41 -Abe discusses music he recalls growing up; his parents mostly kept records of famous Cantor’s and yiddish songs. -He talks about the smells he remembers from the back of his parents' shop. He remembers having geese that they cooked for special occasions. His mother also made a lot of jams, preserves, and gefilte fish. -Abe’s father had a store on Clarence street; he sold clothing and shoes there. His father was a shoe repairer by trade. -Unfortunately, in 1926 his father passed away suddenly. Abe’s mom then carried on the store and raised all 8 of their children. When she took over she started to bring in glassware and dishes. Eventually this also included furniture and antiques. -In 1951 Abe’s mother had a heart attack and Abe decided to take over the store. -Along with the antiques and furniture Abe added TV’s, radio’s, and stereos to the store. -Abe’s mother was from Riga, Latvia and his father is from a small town near Riga. Both of Abe’s grandparents came from russia. Abe talks about the small things he recalls them talking about from life in Europe and discusses his parents decision to come to Canada. -Abe attended York Street school and then the school of higher english. -Abe talk about his memories of happy times in the byward market growing up; one of his best memories was his sister's wedding at the old Talmud Torah. -When Abe talks about Ottawa in the 50’s he talks about the drunks in the taverns and how the market had become a slum. -Abe talk about his memories of Reverend Jacob Mirsky, the King Edward Shul, and the Jewish Institute. When Abe was young he was a member of young judaea and the Ottawa Hebrew Boys Association. -Abe talk about some of the challenges of owning a store and the anti-semitism he saw. He discusses Jean Tissot and the Tissot affair. Abe also discusses his memories of A.J. Freiman and his store. -Abe touches on the scandal of inter marriage and divorce while he was growing up; not something he saw very often in Ottawa. -Abe recalls the first moments he learnt about the holocaust. He read about it in a New York Jewish paper and then heard about it from the Rabbi’s. Abe talks about the feelings he had when learning about the horrors and the genocide. -Abe was a member of the Chevra Kadisha and helped with the cleaning and shrouding of a body prior to a funeral. He talks about this experience and his role in the funeral proceedings. -Abe discusses the market when he was operating his store. He discusses all of the other second hand stores, the fruit stands, the butchers, and what jewish owned stores are left in the market. He discusses the landlords in the area, the buildings that have changed, and the various hotels in the market. --Abe started driving a car in the market in 1928; he was one of the few as there were still a lot of horses and wagons in the market then. -Abe recalls weekend parades in the market; the Knights of Columbus would practice their drills in a parade on Sundays. He also remembers being too young to know what was happening but seeing all of the parties and celebrations when WWI ended. -Abe concludes by discussing romances that began in the market and ended in happy marriages an families. END OF TAPE AT 1:13:00