Fonds jhse-135 - Ray Goldberg fonds

Ray (Rafael) Goldberg was born in 1922 in Dembica, Poland, near Krakow (d. August 29th 2002). The Goldberg family lived in Poland for hundreds of years. Ray lived with his father Maurice, mother Fella, older brother Henry, sisters Henya and Dvorah, and Grandfather. Ray's father Maurice owned a lumber company and liquor store. In 1939, when the Nazis invaded Poland, Ray and his brother were taken to work camps and eventually to seven concentration camps in Poland and Germany, including Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Their father, mother and sisters were all killed by the Nazis. Ray survived, but tragically, his brother Henry died during the British liberation in 1945: Ray found Henry's body on a pile of dead bodies. The Red Cross offered Holocaust survivors the opportunity to live in Sweden, but Ray was reluctant to leave without a proper burial for his brother. Ultimately, Ray spent a year in Orebro, Sweden suffering from pleurisy. Ray met his wife Trudy, a Holocaust survivor from Czechoslovakia, in Sweden where they were married in 1950. Ray and Trudy immigrated to Canada, arriving on the ship Queen Elizabeth, from England in 1951, landing in St. John, New Brunswick. They traveled by train to Winnipeg and then moved to Edmonton. Their son Henry Maurice Goldberg was born in 1952, named after Ray's brother and father. Henry's children are Deena, Paul and Michael. Daughter Jane was in born in 1957. Jane married Hersch Sobel, and their children are Corey and Derek. Ray worked for Dollar Cleaners, eventually becoming a manager. In 1957 he opened Hygienic Laundry and Shirt Service. Trudy passed away from ALS in 1976. Ray eventually remarried Shirley.

Marcia Calmenson married A.H. (Abraham Henry) Goldberg in 1912 and together they had two daughters, Mozah and Muriel. Marcia Goldberg was a member the National Council of Jewish Women and Hadassah Organization of Canada, serving for that organization as president of the Calgary chapter and as vice president of the Dominion Hadassah. A.H. Goldberg was born in 1885 in Russia and immigrated to St. Paul Minnesota with his family in 1894. In 1907 he moved to Edmonton, Alberta and in 1911 he organized the Northern Grain Company with J.M. Sternberg, and in 1921 he settled in Calgary, Alberta. He was president of the Calgary Hebrew School for 25 years and was a founder and life trustee of the Calgary Jewish community building. He died in August 1975, survived by his wife.