Ontario Jewish Communities | Kitchener-Waterloo - Early Community History

Hurtig

Max Hurtig was born in Roumania and moved to Switzerland in 1903, in order to train to become a watchmaker. He wasn’t happy with the trade or the country and moved to England in order to secure a job and earn funds to travel to Canada. He landed a job on a cattle boat and worked his way across the Atlantic to Montreal, where he worked in a restaurant for a few weeks. He then decided to relocate to Winnipeg in 1904. Shortly thereafter, he located a job at the stone quarries in Tyndall and Garson. After a few months, he bought a team of horses and became a contractor hauling the cut stones. In 1907, he married Eva Gertler, who was from his schtetl, and they lived together in Tyndall. Their two eldest children, Dora (Dot) and Ben, were born there. In 1910, Max was joined by his brothers Dave and Bert and their father Mayer. Their mother Dvora had passed away in 1903.

Max returned to Winnipeg in 1911 with Eva, where he became a partner in Hurtig and Abraim Coal and Wood Company. In 1913, he started M.B. Hurtig Coal, Wood, and Building Supplies. Max also ran a livery business from the family home on Dufferin Avenue, where the stables were located at the back of the property. He became acquainted with the Bronfman brothers, who were engaged in running whisky across to American border. He made a few trips with them, but eventually gave up the work because he found it too risky. Instead, he went to work at the Bronfman-owned Bell Hotel.

In 1914, Max moved to Port Arthur to manage the Mariaggi Hotel, which had been purchased by the Bronfmans. Hurtig soon expanded his business and started a sizeable business empire that included: the Pigeon River Resort Hotel, International Transit Limited (the first bus line to serve that area), the Northland Hotel in Beardmore, the Mariaggi Hotel in Geraldton, the Empire Hotel in Fort William, the Port Arthur Café, and the Cloud Lake Sawmill. His hotels also served as bus depots for his bus line.

Max’s sons Morley and Harry helped manage the bus company which operated local service routes to Kenora, Fort Frances, Pigeon River, Red Lake and Marathon. All of the branches of the Hurtig family established roots in Fort William and Port Arthur, becoming one of the pre-eminent local families. Bert’s son, Larry Hurtig, became a prominent member of the Winnipeg Jewish community, in his capacity as the president of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg.

About the Image #1: Portrait of Samuel Fishman,ca. 1910
Image courtesy of Grey Roots Archival Collection, AS2006.007.025.
About the Image #1: Goldie and Mendel Fishman with their son Seymour Fishman, ca. 1948
Image courtesy of Grey Roots Archival Collection, AS2006.007.023.

Employment and Business

The occupations of Berlin’s Jews at the turn of the 20th century varied from factory workers in the textile or brewing factories, to pressers in a tailor shop, and even a house painter. Shoemaking was a common trade, practiced by Engel Levy, Jacob Silverstein and his brother Carl, as well as Jac Jacobs. The rag business was another line of work with potential. Aaron Rosen, Benjamin Krammer, Louis Chenakor and Moris Rosenberg were all peddlers in the rag business. Other jobs of the time included carpenter, junk dealer, labourer, tailor and leather tanner.

There were some who achieved a degree of success early on, practicing a skilled trade or providing essential goods or services to the growing community. Morris Taraday was a junk dealer who founded the long-lasting M. Taraday & Sons Ltd. scrap metal business. Harry Glass plied his trade as a shoe worker. Sam Klein, who came in 1913, owned a tailor shop. These kinds of businesses allowed a man to work close to his family, and in many cases, involve them in the business and have them contribute to the family’s livelihood. Women also contributed to the family income by taking in boarders or working in a local factory. According to Bernie Papernick, several Jewish women, including his mother, worked in the Miller-Lang shirt factory on Victoria Street.

Having kosher meat readily available was one of the greatest needs of the Jewish community. In 1919, Kitchener’s first kosher butcher’s shop opened in the basement of a house on Albert Street (now Madison Avenue). The proprietor was Abe Kerschenbaum, for whom a cornerstone in the 1963 synagogue was dedicated following his death in 1960. Abe also ran a farm and did a profitable business in cattle. During the Depression, many hungry families in the town would walk to the Kerschenbaum’s farm for the healthy meal they knew would be generously shared by the family. Following Abe, the community had a series of kosher butchers. These included Norman Orzy, H. Burk, Mort Norris, H. Rabin and Meyer Kellerman.

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