Joey Jacobson's War

by Peter J. Usher

  After a couple of weeks at the Sulphur Spring Hotel, Joe went to board with the Grahams, an elderly couple who lived at Kress Hill on the edge of town, where they kept a garden, chickens, and a small orchard. They took to each other with enduring affection. Two years later Mrs. Graham was still sending food parcels to Joe in England. Joe related, in a letter home:

  Yesterday morning as old Bill woke up with a slight hangover after drinking away his week’s pay check, Mrs. G took the occasion to do a little preaching and pointed out how well she and I felt after a good night’s rest. Then looking at me with admiration in her kind eyes she said “look at Mr. Jacobson there’s a young man that always acts decent like and reads his books instead of wasting his time and money – oh yes we’re glad we got to bed early aren’t [we] Mr. Jacobson?” I managed to mumble a “yes” thinking to myself – what I wouldn’t give for a real good binge and to hell with the early hours and books.

  (JJL 5 November 1939)

  Different as the social life of Preston was, Joe didn’t lack for companionship. One of the office workers at the factory introduced him to Clara Bernhardt who, he told Percy,

  writes poetry, has a write up in who’s who in Canadian Poetry. She is really keen, intelligent, literary and has heard of you and wants your plays to read. She has a nice sister – my age. (JJL 22 October 1939)

  That Saturday he took “the nice looking sister,” Kathryn, out skating, which led to another discovery about small-town life:

  It seems my innocent skating date easily spread around. I am practically engaged to the girl they tell me (everybody finds out who you go out with) even though I only took her out once. If I take her out twice in a row it is tacitly understood that the marriage will take place shortly – so I am steering clear for a while. (JJL 29 October 1939)

  Although Joe continued to visit the Bernhardts, he must have exercised discretion, saying “I consider myself extremely fortunate to be still free and boss of myself.”

  The next weekend he went to Toronto to watch McGill play Varsity and get together with his old teammates at the football banquet. Joe was quickly recruited to play on the town’s hockey and basketball teams. In January, he scored eight goals and six assists in five games for the Preston Riversides, the town’s entry in the Ontario Hockey Association. Although the team got knocked out of the playoffs at the end of February, Joe wrote that:

  Thru my hockey I became acquainted with everybody in the surrounding countryside. I think I had more fans in the arena and scattered around the numerous towns than any other player on the teams. I can now walk into any store in town and speak with the managers, clerks and helpers. The policemen, firemen, grocers, factory workers and everybody else, say hello to me and always stop for a little chat. I feel thoroughly at home here. Around the factory hockey gave me a tremendous boost and in the neighbourhood and amongst Mrs. G sons, family and relations, my career is closely and carefully followed. So I feel it was worth a little extra effort and a little loss of sleep.

  (JJL 3 March 1940)

  Percy observed of this news that Joe “finds the natives are impressed … not by his learning but by his sports record.”

  Joe found the local factory workers generous and hospitable, and that many relied on their own gardens for food. He reported that there was little talk about the war in Preston, although it had brought work to the town’s factories and railyards. Of the sixty-odd men alongside whom he toiled every day at the furniture factory, almost half were foreigners – Poles and Germans – none of whom in his estimation would voluntarily enlist. Of one man from Austria he commented: “he is definitely like most of the foreigners here not much of a Canadian although he has his papers. He is good material for agitators.”

  Yet he soon developed a liking and respect for the Ontario factory workers he met, and came to appreciate that they hadn’t over-much to live on and that medical bills could be a particular worry. Such injustices, he commented, could make people “easy meat for a communist.” A month later he wrote home about the Red Cross campaign:

  Our factory workers decided to donate a day’s pay. Since most of the fellows live pretty close to the belt the amount is going to be paid over a 12 week period … when workers getting 34c per hour, as I am, and supporting families of up to seven with it offered one full day’s pay of $3.40, I should at least offer three days pay … so accordingly I gave ten bucks in one shot. … when I think of the money being flung around for social entertainment which will do nobody any good I wonder why anybody should offer comment when I decided that those fellows who were fighting so that I might have a good job, should in return get a paltry few dollars from my salary to make life a little more comfortable for them when they get blasted into the hospital.

  (JJL 26 November and 10 December 1939)

  Reflecting on his first three months in Preston, he wrote home:

  As far as the experience to be gained up here is concerned I feel I am in a particularly fortunate position, not only because of the reference and knowledge to be gained on the job, but because of the type of life I have been forced to live up here. I really feel that although my schooling has ended, my education has just begun. In the city there is always so much to do to take up your time, and such excitement and commotion at all times that it is extremely difficult for the average fellow to do any real concentration and thinking and get a fairly accurate perspective of things. On the other hand things are so quiet and dead around here that the average fellow brought up here does not want to do any thinking or studying but tries to dig up excitement. However, this little stay in the wilderness so to speak is ideal for me, and the longer I stay here the more I like it. I have all the time I want for myself. I am finally getting down to good solid reading and have lots of time to ponder on what I read. I do a good day’s work and have time to ponder on what I learn during the day and what I heard and saw and to give the information its due importance. At the same time I have lots to keep me busy with basketball, hockey shortly and attempts to get the right amount of sleep needed for a good day’s work. I am fortunate in having a marvelous home with kind-hearted keepers and splendid neighbours. So although I at all times get lonely for home and for the boys, I am too busy mentally and physically to ponder on my solitude during the week. (JJL 10 December 1939)

  Not least of what Joe discovered in Preston were different (if not necessarily more sympathetic) attitudes toward Jews. Only two or three Jewish families lived there when Joe arrived, and whatever Prestonians thought about Jews was more likely based on rumour and myth than on personal experience. Evangelical Christian piety prevailed in Preston, and Jews were seen more as a target for conversion and salvation than of suspicion for shirking or sharp business practices. Joe’s presence was thus not only noteworthy, but for some at least, a challenge. Much of this he regarded with good humour or at least equanimity because he was generally received with kindness and friendship.

  He told his family how he was charting his course as a Jew in a strange town, not least how he was dealing with the reactions – expected or unexpected – of others.

  Since by now my religion is known by most everyone and still looked upon with mingled feelings by many, I gave my good barber 50¢ and told him to keep the change and calmly walked out as they revived him with smelling salts. It’s amazing what the old nickel will do when it’s well placed. … However, I know only too well what I am doing. From the stories the fellows tell me, the only Jews they know are the accented junk dealers. I will change that notion in Preston at least before I leave.

  So you see I am becoming either a missionary in a new community or a salesman on introducing a new religion in an old territory. That, however, produces numerous disadvantages. I have to show a broad mind and spoil a good Sunday by going to the Barracos Sunday school class in the very near future. Their most devout member reminds me of it every day. Then a fanatical [and persistent] rolly polly insists that the only way I can be saved is thru Jesus Christ – backed up of course by
biblical quotations. He fails to agree with me when I tell him that Christ was a Jew and Jews were saved long before he ever appeared, so I now have to dig up some quotations from the bible to prove my point. (JJL 5 November 1939)

  Yet Joe did take the opportunity to find out about his neighbours’ beliefs, and found the Sunday school class a “non-sectarian and exceedingly broad-minded group” in which he got “a surprisingly warm reception.”

  Overall, Joe wrote home that:

  It is comforting to feel that I have at last found a community that can really appreciate my true worth. No longer am I subject to insulting criticisms or barbarous insults such as I have received in certain cities. (JJL 5 November 1939)

  What insults, and in which cities, remain opaque in Joe’s record. Was he referring to the casual anti-Semitism of the street or the locker room, or slurs and insults directed to him personally? Was he referring to Ontario cities where he had played football? His native Montreal? Whatever and wherever, they had stuck in his mind and evidently rankled.

  In December, Percy discerned from Joe’s letters that he was:

  forming many friendships amongst all classes perhaps he will give the natives a more liberal minded attitude toward the Jews than they now have. After all Joe went to college, played on all the teams, has read quite a little and besides has a nice appearance and pleasant manners. He is by no means unique in his own environment but he evidently is unique in Preston. (PJD 4 December 1939)

  Joe cannot have been unaware of his father’s vision of him as an ambassador for his people. But what did this role require of him? Who was he representing, and what was his message? Was he an ambassador for all Jewry? Or only those who shared and acted on his conviction that Jews could redeem their standing in public opinion by their behaviour and their deeds? A man of action, Joe was out to change the image of the Jew, not reinforce it. So he saw himself as an exemplar, who would demonstrate, rather than an ambassador who would represent.

  What might changing the image of the Jew have involved? For Joe, anti-Semitism was the product of ignorance and so could be combated by reason and example. Jews therefore needed to adhere in exemplary fashion to the moral and ethical standards of their fellow citizens. Likewise they should avoid behaviour that might offend other sensibilities and reinforce degrading stereotypes. This strategy of demonstration and reason presumed that prejudicial stereotypes could be successfully combated through one’s own efforts. In wartime, the implications were clear.

  In April Joe wrote his father that he would like to get a management position at the furniture factory and remain there for the summer. But Percy didn’t think that Joe could continue on that course:

  All is quiet in Canada, no recruiting as yet but I fully expect that when large scale operations start on the western front (this may be occurring even now) there will be a call for more Canadian troops.

  (PJD 13 April 1940)

  News of those large-scale operations by Germany was arriving even as Percy wrote. Joe saw that the war situation was changing quickly that spring. He told his family in his regular Sunday letter:

  I follow the war situation very closely via my radio and a dozen odd maps which I have posted on the walls. I shall look into the situation more closely over the 24th of May if I get home. I might decide that it was about time I swung into full gear and get into a bit of action. The Navy is my first love but the air force will do in a pinch. However, we will follow developments until then. … I am getting to feel very much as if I would like a couple of nice little pot shots at these loud mouthed Germans. (JJL 12 May 1940)

  Percy noted Joe’s turn of mind with interest:

  So far he has not been keen about going to war. Like the Americans he thought he could be an isolationist and that this war was just another imperialist war of grab. (PJD 18 May 1940)

  By the next Sunday, the Netherlands had capitulated, and Belgium was barely holding out. It was time to enlist. Joe wrote home:

  This decision naturally will result in my giving up a business career for a military one, at least for the present and possibly for the future as well. Since the outbreak of war there have been but two considerations kept me from joining up immediately:

  1. The total unpreparedness of the Canadian govt to cope with the problem of recruiting and training volunteers. I had no desire to waste a year in the fighting forces with nothing to show for the time put in. I decided to wait until such a time that I thought the forces would be well enough organized to be able to accept and efficiently train young men who wanted to join up.

  2. I saw a wonderful opportunity for myself to study a profession at first hand and see for myself the full scope and possibility of the Office Equipment field. I have managed in the short period of eight months to get a fairly technical understanding of one branch of this profession, the furniture line, and a fairly good idea of how extensive the industry is, what has to be learned to make a success of it and also some of the mental and physical equipment that is essential to sound business organization. Unfortunately the field is so extensive that I have only scratched the surface and would still have to continue working from the bottom up if I wish to continue in this field in future years. (JJL 19 May 1940)

  On the other hand, Joe continued, there had been many reasons to join up long before, not least

  the type of civilization the Germans are trying to introduce. It’s all right taking the U.S. attitude of “let the other fellow do the dirty work.” But the fact remains that somebody has to do it. If you are prepared to let Germany’s challenge go unchallenged, then you sit back and do nothing about it. If you think your own system of society is worth maintaining at any cost against that of the alternative one, then you have to be prepared to take all the risks and suffer all the consequences. The U.S. for example wanted her American civilization but thought that she could maintain it by leaving it coast along on its own accord. Her people were not willing to make any sacrifices to ensure its existence. They depended on Great Britain. Now that Great Britain is seriously menaced, they are slowly realizing the nasty facts, that they are going to have to make sacrifices and heavier ones than they would have had to make had they taken action sooner.

  Assuming that I feel it my position and desire to join up, I naturally want to make as good a job of it as possible. I intend going into the thing in the same thorough manner as I started learning the Office Equipment field. I shall start from the bottom (which is my only choice in this case) and proceed to learn as much about naval tactics etc. as I can. I feel that some of the qualities I possess are best suited for this branch of military service which is why I have incidentally decided upon the Navy. But what is far more important, I have learned from reliable authority that one can get a much better training in the Navy than in any other Canadian fighting force. It is unfortunate, but true, that the army and their leaders and officers and equipment are hopelessly disorganized, ill prepared, poorly trained and generally seem stymied. The air force is little better. Naturally I am seeking the best training possible. If you are going to fight you want to be as well prepared, trained and equipped as your opponent, if not more so. The Navy does just that.

  My reasons for deciding that now is the time are obvious. There is still time to train recruits thoroughly, which is especially necessary for sea warfare. Even if Hitler’s Blitzkrieg does fail the war has a lot longer to go, especially if the other nations get involved. If the allies should on the other hand be defeated, then Canada would have to join with the U.S. for our mutual safety, which would require two tremendous fleets, one on the Atlantic, the other on the Pacific. We are indeed fortunate in Canada that we at least have a second chance should we lose the war. For Great Britain and France, there will be no second chance.

  (JJL 19 May 1940)

  Joe had finished the first phase of his business training, pleased with his progress. Now it was time to move on, not to another factory, but to war.

  Three

  Enlistment

  Joe
returned to Montreal on 24 May, Empire Day, as Percy observed:

  God Grant that it may not be the last. God Grant that this coming year may not see the disintegration of the British Empire. The crisis is upon us. The next few days will be vital to our continuation as free men. …

  (PJD 24 May 1940)

  Percy did not exaggerate the crisis. Neither had he exaggerated the earlier confusion about what the war might bring. Since Poland’s defeat in September, the war had become one of threats more than acts. Contrary to what Percy and many others had expected and feared, Germany did not bomb London or Paris. There had been no engagement on the Western Front, and the Canadian army units sent overseas were still training in England. There had been no set-piece naval battles, only sporadic submarine attacks on Atlantic shipping. In Canada, air force recruiting offices told interested young men to go home and wait. In the meantime, local armouries conducted drills and marches without boots or uniforms and with only a few rifles left over from the last war.

  This standoff had come to an abrupt end when Germany invaded Denmark and Norway in April, and the Low Countries and France in May. More alarming was the rapidity of the German advance. Winston Churchill, prime minister for only two weeks by Empire Day, was confronted with the prospect that France would shortly fall, leaving Britain with no allies in Europe, and Germany poised to attack Britain itself. Could Britain stand alone against Germany, or would it negotiate a peace that would inevitably leave its citizens, and those of its Dominions, vulnerable to Nazi encroachment and domination? The five days beginning 24 May, during which Churchill prevailed on the War Cabinet to carry on the struggle against Hitler to the end, whatever it might be, were a crucial turning point in the war.