“Zaidy’s Band” traces my decade-long journey to uncover my grandfather’s hidden World War II past, exposing a colorful cast of Jewish Canadian “band of brothers” along the way. A powerful blend of memoir, history and mystery, the book reveals how even the humblest acts of World War II service shaped a generation and left a lasting impact for years to come. These are a collection of articles that led up to the book’s 2025 publication as well as related columns I wrote after.
Published in The Jewish Book Council. When people think about the Jewish experience in World War II, there’s only one thing that immediately comes to mind: the Holocaust. But there is another side to the story, that of the 1.5…
How politics, fear, and quiet boycotts are narrowing the space for Israel-related voices in the literary world. Published in The Jerusalem Report. In the decade I spent pitching my debut book proposal to prospective agents and publishers, I faced repeated…
We must remember not only the recently fallen, but also on whose shoulders they stand. Op-ed published in The Times of Israel. Unlike Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is focused squarely on our painful past, the country’s annual Memorial Day…
Published in The Canadian Jewish News. The official name of Israel’s annual Holocaust Remembrance Day is Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day. It’s a nod toward not only the victims of the genocide but also the resistance fighters who valiantly fought…
For the 1.5 million Jewish soldiers who fought in World War II victimhood was not the only story. Op-ed published in The Times of Israel As the world commemorates the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on Tuesday on…
Published in The Hamilton Jewish News. It was a routine Associated Press reporting assignment. I was dispatched to a security conference in May 2015 to listen to panels of experts discussing Israel’s looming security threats. It was only when I…
Published in The Jewish Book Council My grandfather, Mickey Heller, served four years in the Royal Canadian Air Force, including two years in Europe as a navigator in Bomber Command. But that’s all I, or anyone else in my family,…
Published in The Canadian Jewish News. The start of the inevitable Iranian retaliation to Israel’s stunning series of airstrikes caught me in the shower Friday night. Upon hearing the familiar sound of wailing air raid sirens outside, I quickly grabbed…
How an awkward German refugee helped liberate southern Israel in the 1948 war of independence. Published in Tablet Magazine. It was a crucial turning point in Israel’s fight for survival. After ten days of intense fighting, the warring parties agreed…
Published in The Canadian Jewish News on Remembrance Day 2021 For most of his life, my grandfather, Mickey Heller, tried to put the memories of the Second World War behind him. After two years in Europe as a navigator in…
Published in the “At War” channel of the New York Times Magazine. Can be found here. In April 1943, the Halifax bomber that Wilfred Canter co-piloted was shot down on the way back from a mission over Stuttgart. Canter parachuted…
Published in Fall 2007 edition of Guilt & Pleasure magazine. Aunt Jeanette passed away on Oct. 16, 2008 Read her obituary in the ‘Globe and Mail’ I remember visiting my Aunt Jeanette’s cluttered, mothball-smelling apartment in Toronto as a teenager….