VHEC ARCHIVES FINDING AID

Generated: 09/26/2021 at 13:53:31

FONDS/COLLECTION TITLE Kaplan, Shak family fonds

IDENTIFIER RA017

EXTENT & MEDIUM 4.5 cm of textual records 99 photographs : black and white, colour 37 slides : 35 mm ; colour 5 books 1 videocassette 2 audio cassettes 6 objects

DATE [191-]–2001

CREATOR Kaplan, Shak family

ADMINISTRATIVE/BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY The Kaplan and Shak families were Jewish families from Vilna, Poland, now Vilnius, Lithuania. The records in this fonds pertain mostly to Abrasha Kaplan, also known as Abram; his wife, Ida Kaplan; their daughter, Odie Kaplan; and Ida’s brother, Boris Shak.

Abrasha Kaplan (birth name Abram Krizowski, b. August 11, 1901, in Vilnius, Lithuania) was born to Shapsel (Shapson) Krizowski and Kala Levton. He had at least one brother, Benjamin Kaplan (b. September 25, 1894, in Vilnius, Lithuania; d. January 1, 1962, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada).

In September 1941, Jews from Vilnius were evicted from their homes and forced into the Vilna ghetto. Abrasha and his first wife, Nochama (b. 1902; d. 1943), also known as Nadia, lived in the ghetto with their two daughters, Keila Krizowski (b. 1926; d. 1944 in Vilnius, Lithuania) and Golda Krizowski (b. 1928; d. 1942 in Ponary, Lithuania). While in the ghetto, Abrasha was a member of the Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye [United Partisan Organization] (FPO), a Jewish resistance organization formed in January 1942. He served as a liaison between the FPO and the ghetto chief, Jacob Gens.

On September 23, 1942, Golda was killed when she refused to leave the group of children in her care as they were rounded up and taken from the ghetto. She allegedly kept the children singing the whole way to Ponary where they were executed. On September 12, 1943, Keila escaped with her boyfriend, Berl Weinreb, and fellow members of the FPO. The intent was to join the Soviets in their fight against the Nazis. Keila was arrested in the village of Podbrodz, tortured, and sent to Kailis slave labour camp in Vilna, which was established just before the Vilna ghetto was liquidated. She was killed three days before Vilnius was liberated. Nochama was killed when the ghetto was liquidated in September 1943; Abrasha escaped to the Kazian forest.

Ida Kaplan (birth name Ida Shak, b. 1921 in Vilnius, Lithuania) was born to Eliash Shak (b. 1877), a merchant, and Slava Oransky (b. 1881). During the Second World War, the Shak family lived in the Vilna ghetto. After the ghetto was liquidated, Ida was taken by cattle car to Kaiserwald concentration camp, Latvia. In 1944, she was transported by

Permalink: https://collections.vhec.org/Detail/collections/536 barge to Stutthof concentration camp in Danzig, now Gda?sk, Poland. She was sent to work on a farm and, at the end of her contract, a neighbouring farmer, Hulda, hid her in a hole in the ground, in her firewood storage shed. In May 1945, she returned to Vilnius. Her parents and three of her siblings and their families did not survive the war.

After the war, Ida met Abrasha in Vilnius. From Vilnius, they went to ?odz, Poland, and then were smuggled over the Alps to Vienna, Austria, where they applied for Canadian visas. After the birth of their first daughter, Sherie Kaplan (b. September 22, 1947, in Vienna, Austria; d. 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), they were allowed to emigrate. Abrasha arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on February 14, 1948. Ida joined him soon after. They received their new surname, Kaplan, from Benjamin Kaplan, who immigrated to Vancouver with false papers. In Vancouver, Abrasha and Ida had a second daughter, Odie Kaplan. In 1962, they opened Kaplan’s Deli.

Following her arrival in Canada, Ida petitioned the Canadian government to allow her brothers, Abram Shak (birth name Abraham Isaac Shak, b. July 7, 1902, in Lithuania; d. April 6, 1981, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) and Boris Shak (b. September 1, 1913; d. September 13, 1996, in British Columbia, Canada), to immigrate to Canada. In 1947, Boris was captured by the British while traveling to Palestine and interned in Cyprus. He was released in 1949 and lived in Israel. He arrived in Canada after 1960.

Abrasha Kaplan died October 21, 1983, in Vancouver. Ida Kaplan died January 19, 2021 in Vancouver. Odie Kaplan currently lives in Vancouver.

SCOPE & CONTENT Fonds consists of vital records, citizenship documents, correspondence, photographs, slides, published materials, manuscript, videocassette, audio cassettes and objects relating to the lives and interests of the Kaplan family. Fonds has been arranged into the following series: Kaplan family personal records series (1994–1948); Kaplan family correspondence series (1947–1960); Kaplan family audio-visual materials series ([circa 1975], 1992); Kaplan, Shak family collected published materials series ([before 1989]); Kaplan, Shak photographs series ([193-]–1992); Kaplan, Shak family artefacts series (1946–1949); Boris Shak manuscript series ([199-]) and Odie Kaplan Theresienstadt visit materials series (1993).

IMMEDIATE SOURCE OF ACQUISITION OR TRANSFER Donated by Boris Shak in 1993 and 1996. Accrual donated by Odie Kaplan in 2015, 2017 and 2018.

ACCRUALS Further accruals are possible.

LANGUAGE English, Yiddish, French, German, Czech, Russian, Polish

SYSTEM OF ARRANGEMENT Fonds has been arranged into eight series which reflect the major activities of the Kaplan and Shak families, as well as thematic divisions as it came to the VHEC. Select records, primarily photographs and some documents, have been described to the item level. Other items have been digitized as media representations of fonds, series and file-level descriptions.

RIGHTS Donor relinquished rights to materials in fonds upon their donation to the VHEC but the fonds contains third-party materials for which copyright was not transferred. Researchers are responsible for determining the appropriate use or

Permalink: https://collections.vhec.org/Detail/collections/536 reuse of materials.

RULES OR CONVENTIONS ISAD(G) informed by RAD.

ARCHIVIST'S NOTE Prepared by Sarika Kelm in March 2017. Updated July 2017 by Shyla Seller to add audio cassette testimony and related scans. Updated July 2017 by Sarika Kelm.

DATE OF DESCRIPTION 2017

Collection Contents

Kaplan family personal records series (RA017-01)

Series consists of government and vital records about the Kaplan family, including passport, identification cards, British Columbia marriage record and International Refugee Organization (IRO) document.

Kaplan family correspondence series (RA017-02)

Series consists of letters to and from members of the Kaplan family. Letters are mostly comprised of communication between Ida Kaplan and lawyers regarding permission for Boris Shak to immigrate to Canada.

Kaplan family audiovisual materials series (RA017-03)

Series consists of VHS tape titled Holocaust Survivors from Vilna and Vicinity, audio cassette containing “March of the Living” feature by CBC, and audio cassette recording of interview with Ida Kaplan by Odie Kaplan from the late 1970s.

Kaplan, Shak family collected published materials series (RA017-05)

Series consists of five books in English and Yiddish, some of which mention members of the Kaplan family, as well as photocopy of pages 41 to 47 of Jewish Combatants of World War Two volume 2, number 2 (autumn/winter 1989), Austrian Mission newsletter (1989), Geist (spring 2001), and “The Onset of the Partisan Units in the Forest of Naroch” by Alexander (Shura) Bogen. Jewish Combatants of World War Two includes information about Abrasha Kaplan’s involvement with the FPO, as well as the story of the fate of his daughter, Keila Krizowski. Geist includes article, “Iceman” by Stephen Osborne, about Abrasha and Ida Kaplan as told by Sherie Kaplan. Series also contains Yiddish book, Letters from Vilna, as well as translation by Sherie Kaplan of excerpt about Golda Krizowski from Stories of the Vilno Ghetto.

Kaplan, Shak photographs series (RA017-06)

Series consists of photographs primarily of the Shak family, as well as Boris Shak’s visits to Vilnius, Lithuania, and Riga, Latvia. Series is divided into two sub-series: Boris Shak photographs and Ida Kaplan photographs.

Boris Shak photographs (RA017-06-00-01)

File contains photographs of the Shak family, as well as photos of Boris Shak’s visits to Vilnius and Riga.

Ida Kaplan photographs (RA017-06-00-02)

File contains photographs of the Kaplan and Shak families.

Kaplan, Shak family artefacts series (RA017-07)

Series consists of six objects created by Boris Shak during his two-year imprisonment at Cyprus internment camp.

Boris Shak manuscript series (RA017-08)

Permalink: https://collections.vhec.org/Detail/collections/536 Series consists of handwritten manuscript in Yiddish, which records story told to Boris Shak by non-Jewish neighbour after the Second World War.

Odie Kaplan Theresienstadt visit materials series (RA017-09)

Series consists of materials from Odie Kaplan’s visit to Theresienstadt concentration camp, Czech Republic, in 1993. Materials include postcards, tourist materials, photographs and slides.

Photographs depicting Theresienstadt (RA017-04-00-01)

File contains 22 colour photographs of Theresienstadt site and museum. 1987 timestamp on photos likely incorrect.

35 mm slides depicting Theresienstadt (RA017-04-00-02)

File contains 37 numbered 35 mm colour slides of Theresienstadt in white plastic mounts. Slides arranged in numerical order and stored in vinyl sheet. Date is August 25, 1993.

Dětske Kresby z Koncentračního Tábora Terezín postcards (RA017-04-00-03)

File contains 15 colour postcards of children’s artwork from Theresienstadt concentration camp in original envelope, as well as information booklet.

Theresienstadt tourist materials (RA017-04-00-04)

File contains Wittman Tours ticket and information leaflet, Helena Rakytková tour guide business card, Museum of Terezín Ghetto brochure and map and memorial information leaflet.

Permalink: https://collections.vhec.org/Detail/collections/536