Jewish folklore is filled with stories about the village of Chelm. Everyone outside shtetl considers the villagers as fools. However, they know that they are the great sages of the world and that their logic always makes perfect sense – at least to them. Although Chelm seems like a mythical place , it is in fact a real village in south-east Poland.

Please join us as we welcome back JGSH Treasurer Steven Brock as he recounts the actual Jewish history of the real life village and how it got its humourous and less than flattering reputation.

Steven Brock has been researching his family roots in Poland and Ukraine for over 15 years and has traced his ancestors back to the late 1700’s. He was a member of the Montreal JGS until he moved with his family to Oakville in 1999. He has been a member of our Hamilton society since its inception in 2004, where he serves as Treasurer. In addition to his own research, he has been involved in several projects including the Jewish Records Indexing - Poland, The Canadian Naturalization Database Indexing, and the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry.