My name is Brenda Honigman, and I am writing this “story” to pay tribute to and to honour my dad, Sam and my brother, Archie. My dad died in 1995, and my brother in 2021. We were very close and I miss them dearly. I will mainly focus on the Jewish aspects of our lives since Judaism was a big part of our lives.

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My dad was born in Mizerich, Poland in 1927. He lived with his parents Asher and Gesia, his sisters Rivka and Dvorah and his grandparents Shaindle and Hershel. They were religious Jews. My dad wore payes and went to Chedar. They were very poor and lived in a tiny house with only two rooms - a kitchen and a living room. They had no electricity. They had to walk half a mile to get water from a well.  His grandparents slept in the kitchen, and everyone else slept in the living room. They had a garden, a cow, a horse and some ducks. My dad’s parents used their horse and wagon to sell milk to people in nearby shtetls. My dad played with his siblings, cousins and neighbours and did fun activities like skating and tobogganing.

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My dad’s simple but happy life changed when he was only 12. His family was murdered during The Holocaust. They were slaughtered in the killing fields. My dad, being a fast runner, ran away and hid in a ditch as they were marching to the killing fields. My dad's Aunt Chatoiveh saw that he was about to run, and she handed him her wedding ring, which he later gave to a guard as a bribe. He hid in forests and in hay stacks. For three weeks, he also was hidden with three other kids in a hole that a farmer dug out for them next to his barn. The farmer gave them food by lowering a string down to them. My dad had such a strong will to survive, suchchutzpah and some help from G-d, that allowed him to survive. He repeatedly told himself, “Life must go on.” His experiences during The Holocaust were documented by The Steven Spielberg Visual History of The Shoah Foundation during an interview he did with them.

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He came to Winnipeg in 1948 and lived for several years as a boarder.  My dad worked as a furrier, owned a grocery store, and then he bought houses and rented them out. He also worked as a salesman. He married Edith Lerner (who also had Mizerich roots), and they had 3 children: Archie, Gary and myself. They divorced when I was a baby, and Gary died as a child. My dad raised Archie and I. He was an amazing dad. We did so many things together. We used to go with him to collect rent from his tenants, and we would hear the stories from the tenants. My dad was always warm, friendly and kind to everyone. He loved to offer food to people.
Speaking of food, my dad made delicious chicken soup, and I still use the same recipe. I have fond memories of going with him every week to Gunn’s Bakery for bagels, challah, poppyseed rolls, poppyseed cookies, and nothings, to City Bread for rye bread, and to Neptune’s fish store for smoked goldeye. I can’t believe I ate goldeye with the head on it!

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My dad and I went to Rosh Pina and the Winnipeg Beach shul regularly. He went to the YMHA a lot with Archie to work out, shvitz, schmooze, and kibbitz in the sauna with his buddies. My dad was in amazing shape. He danced a few times a week to have fun and not think about his tsuris. We all went for walks, cycled, and rollerbladed at the beach.

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We travelled to Florida, Hawaii, Israel, California, and most of Canada. The most meaningful trip we experienced was in 1992 to attend a March of the Living Ceremony near his shtetl Mizerich followed by a trip to Israel where he reunited with those three other persons who were hidden with him in a hole during The Holocaust.  I feel so fortunate that my dad gave Archie and me the gift of travel. My dad had such a zest for life. He lived his life to the fullest. When he died in 1995, Archie and I became even closer.

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My relationship with my brother Archie can be described as a wonderful and unique relationship between a brother and sister whose bond lasted for more than 50 years. We had so much fun together. Before I get into all the fun stuff, I'll write about some of his background. He attended Talmud Torah briefly, then attended public schools such as Garden City Collegiate. Then, he obtained his Master of City Planning degree at The University of Winnipeg. He worked as a land planner, then he owned a property management company, and like my dad, he bought properties and rented them out. It’s as if my dad whispered to him-- “buy real estate.” Archie enjoyed helping people. He helped tenants find housing, and in university he worked for several summers for the government, helping students find jobs. He was well-liked and was generous with his time, advice and gifts.  I heard countless stories of how much he helped people in so many ways. 

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As far as his Jewish social life... he attended USY, was aregular at The YMHA and The Rady Center. He enjoyed playing floor hockey there. He was honoured at The Rady JCCSports dinner in 2013 for his charitable contributions.

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Archie loved to travel with Jewish Organizations. He went on 14 Jewish Singles’ Cruises between 2002 and 2014 with the same group. After he passed away, the organizer of these cruises contacted me and sent me a list of these cruises... he went to interesting places such as Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, South America, Greece, Turkey, Italy, Panama Canal, and the Caribbean. I also went on a few Jewish Singles’ cruises with him, and it was hilarious to see women chase after him. It was also funny how on formal nights, he always wore sweaters with cartoon characters because he was Mr.Casual.

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We went on Jewish Singles’ Conventions organized by UJA in Dallas, Virginia Beach and New Orleans. We also went to Club Med in Cancun, which was organized by a Jewish Singles Dating Service that we belonged to. On our travels, we often rented bicycles. We had so much fun.

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Speaking of fun, Archie loved disco music and for his 50thbirthday he went from being a city planner to a party planner extraordinaire! The live music, the food, the funny speeches/roasts to Archie, the costumes he wore to resemble a disco king - it was a spectacular party!  He often said it was the best day of his life!

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There were also many fun times in Toronto. Archie visited me often and we would explore. It often involved being on our bicycles. He also brought me Winnipeg treats such as poppy seed rolls, bagels, rye bread and Jeannie’s cakes.

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When my first son was born, he flew to Toronto on the same day and stayed for several weeks. When my second son was born, he came a day later and helped take care of my first son. He held both of my sons during their Brises. He was an amazing uncle. He adored my kids and they adored their Uncle Archie. They all loved to hang out together. He was the ultimate fun uncle. We travelled together to Disney World and Disneyland several times. In Toronto, we also had great times going to farms, apple picking, beaches and amusement parks.

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My brother often acted like a kid himself and did mischievous things. He would place my kids on the roof of his car in my driveway and they would all be laughing while eating Twizzlers, his favorite candy. He always had a stash in his car.

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Archie would come to Toronto each month to have fun with us.  He came in for my kids’ birthday parties and school plays. He loved being an active part of their lives. Archie was very proud of his nephews. He had many pictures of them displayed all over his house and at our cottage. I have many wonderful memories of us hanging out with him at Winnipeg Beach, having fun playing at the arcade, going out for ice cream and goofing around the hot tub with all of Archie’s rubber duckies.

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I have so many wonderful memories of us having fun together. We were so close and everyone knew how close we were. We had an unbreakable bond.

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Moving on to me... Here is a little bit about my self, mainly as it relates to Judaism. I went to Peretz School. I was the Yiddish valedictorian - my kids laugh when I tell them. I attended Garden City Collegiate. I graduated from University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Commerce degree. I was active in Kadima and USY.  I was in Rosh Pina’s Youth Choir. I volunteered at Folklorama’s Israel Pavillion. I went to Israel with Canadian Zionist Federation for a summer when I was 21. I had a Bat Mitzvah at
The Kotel that was organized by the group. My dad and Israeli relatives attended. My Israeli relatives said how it made sense for me to have my Bat Mitzvah when I was 21 because when you read 21 in Hebrew from right to left it’s 12, which is the typical age for a Bat Mitzvah. I made a speech about how proud I was of my dad and how he courageously survived The Holocaust.

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I moved to Toronto and married a nice Jewish guy, Arnie Deltoff that I met through a Jewish dating service. We have 2 wonderful sons.. Shafer and Brody. Shafer is named after my dad and looks like my dad. He has Archie’s personality. I try to instill my boys with the same Jewish values and traditions that I learned from my dad. I also taught my boys some Yiddish. A few years ago, we celebrated their B’nai Mitzvah. We went to Israel on a Bar Mitzvah tour and had a service in Jerusalem then we had a service in Toronto. This is what my sons said during their speech: “We would like to dedicate our B’nai Mitzvah service to our Zaidy Sam’s aunt for giving such a big sacrifice(her ring) and to our Zaidy Sam’s sisters... our great aunts who were killed when they were teens. They were not given the opportunity to have their own Bat Mitzvahs. So, we are 2 brothers having a B’nai Mitzvah and we are dedicating this service to 2 sisters who were not able to celebrate one.” Boy was I kvelling that day!
 
I am so proud of my sons, my brother and my dad.
 
“From Generation to Generation and Strength to Strength – L’dor Vador”
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