''Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II'' is a 2018 book by Ellin Bessner.

Background

Ellin Bessner, the Canadian journalist and author of ''Double Threat'', was inspired to explore the role of

Canadian Jews The history of the Jews in Canada goes back to the 1700s. Canadian Jews, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion, form the fourth largest Jewish community in the world, exceeded only by those in Israel, the United States and France. In th ...

in the war by the words: "He died so Jewry should suffer no more" which were inscribed on a Jewish Canadian soldier's tombstone in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

Overview

''Double Threat'' focuses on the 17,000 Canadian Jews who enlisted in the Canadian military during World War II, of whom 450 did not survive. The soldiers faced a "double threat"– they were not only fighting against Fascism, but for the survival of the Jewish people. At the same time, they encountered widespread

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

and the danger of being identified as Jews if captured in combat. The title of the book comes from a letter written by Canada's Prime Minister during the war,

William Lyon MacKenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who was the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Liberal ...

, thanking the Jewish community for their efforts during the War and how they faced a "double threat" of both Nazi aggression and the survival of the Jewish people. In conducting background research for ''Double Threat,'' the author conducted hundreds of interviews and performed extensive archival research to paint a picture of the historical complexities of the participation of Canadian Jews in World War II.

Reception

After its publication in 2019, ''Double Threat'' was featured in the

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

and the Hamilton Jewish News. A review by Bill Gladstone in the Long Island Jewish World described the topic of book as having "never been covered in such depth before". The work was reviewed by Jennifer Shaw in the journal ''Canadian Jewish Studies'', Shaw wrote that Bessner "does an excellent job of exploring how gender and Judaism mixed for female soldiers" in the book.

About the author

Ellin Bessner was born and raised in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada. She used to skate at Mount Royal before heading to Ottawa to study. She graduated with a degree in journalism and political science from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

. As a journalist, she worked for

CTV News CTV News is the news division of the CTV Television Network in Canada. The name ''CTV News'' is also applied as the title of local and regional newscasts on the network's owned-and-operated stations (O&Os), which are closely tied to the nationa ...

and

CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...

, which took her not only in Canada but around the world, as well as stringing for the

Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it fall ...

and The

Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; , ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Press has been a private, not-for-profit c ...

. During the 1990s, Ms. Bessner covered several civil wars in Africa. She has conducted interviews with, among others,

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

and the

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

.Ellin Bessner - Author and Professor. The Rotary Club of Toronto
/ref> In addition to her work as a journalist and author, Ms. Bessner taught journalism at Centennial College in Toronto for almost 20 years.

Bibliography

* Ellin Bessner, ''Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II'', (Toronto: New Jewish Press, 2018), 358 pp., .

References