Fonds 1169 - Fonds B.G. Sack

Benjamin G. Sack, journalist and historian, was born in 1890 in Abeliai, Lithuania. He moved to Canada in 1905 and began literary activities as soon as 1907 as the first Montreal staff writer to the “Jewish Daily Eagle” later known as the “Keneder Adler”. He later went on to become editor (1914-1916) and co-editor (1922-1928) of the publication.

B.G. Sack possessed knowledge of Russian, German, French and Hebrew languages, which afforded him the ability to act as a member of the literary community on an international scale throughout most of his life, contributing to publications based in Russia, Germany and New York.

He is most famously known for his literary work “History of the Jews in Canada” published in 1945 by the Canadian Jewish Congress. In 1948 the book was translated and published in Yiddish.

According to biographical notes within the Fonds, other note-worthy publications include contribution to “The Jew in Canada” 1932; “Les Juifs Durant le Regime Francais”, 1932; “Montcalm’s Jewish Provider”, 1933.

In 1975 National Archives, Canadian Jewish Congress published Sack’s “Canadian Jews, early in the century” posthumously.

Sack was a member of the American Jewish Historical Society, “Pen Club” of New York, the Jewish Writers Association of Montreal, and was President of the Canadian Historical Jewish Society. According to biographical notes within the Fonds, Sack received an award in recognition for his contributions to Jewish culture and the history of Jews in Canada.

B.G Sack died May 9, 1967 in Montreal.