Background

Max Hartstone was son of Eli and Deena Hartstone. His siblings were  Bella (Rosenfield) and Rose (Weinberg).  He was married to Sara Hartstone (Nusynowicz). Their children are Marvin and Nancy (Freeman).

Source and edited from : Ontario Jewish Archives Website

Max Hartstone (1907-1982) was the owner and proprietor of the popular Toronto bakery, Crown Bread Company also known as Hartstone Kosher Bakery.

In addition to being owner of the bakery, he volunteered in an important mission as  as secretary of Toronto's Ostrovtzer Hilfs Farein, a Jewish benevolent society established in Toronto in 1924 by landsmanshaften from Ostrowiec, Poland.

Max's daughter Nancy recalled seeing these letters sitting for years in large bakery boxes in the family garage.  The letters have been scanned and translated and their contents tell of the plight of Jewish refugees originating from Ostrowiec Poland seeking aid from Toronto’s Ostrovtzer Society.

The letters begin in 1946. They were sent from Paris, Sweden, various locales in Southern Italy, Romania, California, Tel-Aviv, Bergen Belsen and the US Zone in Germany to name but a few. Many bear the stamp of the Comité d'Entraide d'Ostrowiec, the Ostrovtzer Society’s counterpart in Paris. The reasons for the letters are still unclear, but they were no doubt in response to the great humanitarian need following the Second World War.

The Ostrovtzer Society was actively engaged in sending relief to survivor refugees as is evidenced by the accompanying records documenting postage for parcels sent overseas, donation receipts, bank cash transfers, advertisements, relief committee contributions, parcel receipts and more.

More details and link to archives here.