In August, the OJA received donation of family papers from the Frymer family. Taken as a whole, the records trace the wartime experiences, survival, and postwar journeys of Madja Boguchwal-Frymer and her relatives. Among the records we find a ketubah, identity cards, travel documents, immigration papers, vaccination certificates, citizenship records, and correspondence. Among the individuals documented in the records are Misza (Mischa) Frymer, Matla Marta (Miriam) Frymer, and Isak Frymer. These materials illuminate the family’s displacement, migration, and eventual resettlement in Canada, offering researchers an unusually detailed look at the bureaucratic and personal processes that shaped the lives of Holocaust survivors.
At the centre of this donation is the life story of Madja Boguchwal-Frymer. Born in 1926 in Łódź, she endured the Łódź Ghetto, forced labour camps, and deportation to Auschwitz before being sent to the Waldeslust labour camp. In 1945, she was forced on a death march to Bergen-Belsen, where she remained until liberation. Her postwar path—from displaced persons’ housing in Germany to immigration to Palestine, and later to Israel and Canada—reflects the wider experiences of many survivors rebuilding their lives after the war.
For descendants, community members, and researchers alike, this collection offers an essential window into survival, displacement, and renewal. We are honoured to preserve these materials and grateful to the Frymer family for entrusting us with their history.
