Our journey began in the autumn of 2017 when Larry Enkin approached Impakt Labs, a Toronto-based non-profit that conducts social impact research and incubates innovative solutions to complex social problems. He began by telling us a bit about his father's, Max Enkin, inspiring journey through life. Among Max Enkin’s many esteemed accomplishments, including being elected an Honorary President for life of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (1975) and being awarded the Order of Canada (1983), he was instrumental in creating a program that brought tailors living in displaced persons camps across Europe to Canada in 1948. This program was formally called the Garment Workers Scheme.
The Garment Workers Scheme, or The Tailor Project, began as a joint proposal from the Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg needle-trade industries to bring over 2,000 tailors and their families. Once the proposal received approval, Max Enkin led a delegation to visit the displaced persons camps in Europe to identify workers suited for the role. Unfortunately, at the last moment, the Canadian government realized that most of those involved in the industry were Jewish and limited the number of immigrants to Canada of any specific ethnic group to 50% of the total. The “none is too many” policy that had existed during the war was still prevalent.
Once Max Enkin arrived in Europe he visited 19 displaced persons camps. People were desperate to leave the camps and often put their names down on the waiting lists for every country that was taking in people. When people in the camps heard that Mr. Enkin and his team were looking for skilled tailors to come work in Canada, the news spread fast. Men and women could apply through The Tailor Project and every applicant was subjected to a practical job test. If a sewing machine was available then it was used for the job test, but more frequently than not there was no sewing machine available and the test was to sew a button hole.
In a letter Mr. Enkin wrote to the Canadian Deputy Minister of Labour, Arthur MacNamara, he wrote that, 'the character and general attitude of the applicants was such as to make us fully confident that we’re bringing to Canada a truly fine type of citizenship material and that they would contribute materially to the economic wellbeing of Canada.' Mr. Enkin also went on to urge the Canadian government to consider implementing similar projects to help the people still living in displaced persons camps. He wrote in the letter that after witnessing 'how a million uprooted people live in a war torn area and listening to the experiences of hundreds of these people, we are all moved to stress the humanitarian aspect of this project.'
The Tailor PROJECT
As I look over the lists of names of people that arrived in Canada in 1948 from displaced persons camps, I wonder: who were these people, what were their stories, what was their life like here in Canada? Very little is known about these tailors and their families. Now, for the first time, we are going to uncover the answers to these questions.
Nicole Bryck