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December 15. 2005
War Vet Addresses over 1000 Canadians at March of Living
by - Wendy Schneider

Last spring, the Hamilton Jewish News reported that among the thousands of participants in the March of the Living that marked the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps, were five adult Hamilton Jewish community members. In fact, there was a sixth - Norm Levitt, 88, who, just a week and a half before the trip, had been personally asked by Eli Rubenstein, National Director of March of the Living Canada, to address the over 1100 Canadians who were expected to attend a ceremony in Warsaw that would honour Holocaust survivors, World War II veterans and righteous gentiles.

Mr. Rubenstein recalled that he had been searching for six months to find a World War II veteran to speak at the ceremony. He had been unsuccessful until his friend, documentary filmmaker, Fern Levitt, mentioned that her father had served with the RCAF during the war. Mr. Rubenstein contacted him immediately, saying that thousands of students from around the world, including 1100 Canadians, were gathering for a commemoration of V E day in Warsaw and that he wanted them to hear a WWII vet talk about his experiences.

"I knew that this would be very moving for the kids. Our students need to know the sacrifices that Canadians and the Canadian Jewish community made to save Europe from Nazi tyranny," said Mr. Rubenstein.

Mr. Levitt, accompanied by his granddaughter, Bonnie, made the trip, and, with help from Mr. Rubenstein, wrote a speech that he hoped the students would find meaningful. Mr. Rubenstein recalled that the moment more than met his expectations.

"When you have an 88-year-old war vet standing up in front of 1,100 people, most of whom are kids and he starts talking about his friends who died during the Second World War, many of whom were the same age as these kids. These young people, for the first time, realize the impact that this war had on Canada and how many families lost brave courageous sons in the fight for freedom."

In his speech, Mr. Levitt recited the names of fellow Hamiltonian Jews who had died in the fighting and where they perished. It was very sacred, very holy, said Mr. Rubenstein, adding, "Who knows the last time these people's names were mentioned?"

Among the names Levitt recalled were: Flight Sergeant Alex Balinson, Flight Officer Joseph Feldman, Sergeant Ralph Frank, Warrant Officer Alfred Garshowitz and Flight Officer Sydney Lees.

He also told his audience about a Hamilton hero who survived: retired Hamilton lawyer, David Goldberg, an outstanding pilot who was shot down over France, managed to land and connect with the French underground and ultimately escape to England. Flown home for a hero's welcome in Hamilton, Mr. Goldberg, who was not obliged to return to the Front, returned to Europe as a company squadron leader who led formations of spitfire planes over Italy that attacked German mortar positions and provided air support for the British army's Jewish Brigade. His remarkable wartime career included a total of 234 missions for which he was recognized by being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Mr. Levitt also made a point of telling his audience about the unforgettable experience when on V E day, he found himself among the crowds who gathered in front of Buckingham Palace. Standing with King George VI, the Queen Mother, the present Queen Elizabeth and her sister was Winston Churchill. Levitt recounted for his audience the words he heard Churchill say on that historic day: "Never in the history of mankind has so much been owed by so many to so few".

Recalling that moment in a subsequent interview with the Hamilton Jewish News, Mr. Levitt paused, before stating quietly. "He meant the airmen."