We didn't want to leave our home. I never felt anti-Semitism there or anything like that, but we were living in fear: You would go out and didn't know if you would come home again. So we decided it was worthwhile living a safer life, a quieter life, even though we would have to sacrifice a lot to be here. We came with only our bags, nothing else.

196

But I had a hard time finding anyone to integrate with culturally or even to speak to at first, and our real contacts came from outside the Montreal Jewish community.

171

JIAS helped us find our way when we got here, bought us our beds and mattresses, which we really appreciated.

125