Yiddish Montreal’s “Den Mother” (Women’s History Day Ten)

 Leaving as refugees of the pogroms from Belarus, Ida Maze (then Chaya Zhukovsky) fled first to New York, then to Montreal with her family (parents and one of her six siblings) as a fourteen-year-old girl. Five years later, she was married to Alexander Massey/Ellie-Gershon Maze. While Ida began writing lyrical poetry as a teenager, her published work came later – motivated by the death of her eldest son at ten years old.

Yet, Ida is remembered most fondly for her open home, welcoming spirit, and her drive to bring Yiddish writers and leaders to Canada – to bring them out of war-torn Europe. In her house, there was food and drink, supported by the readings, ideation, and gossip of the Yiddish cultural crowd who found themselves in Montreal. In this video, her son Irving remembers his mother.

Visit Ida’s Salon online…and learn about where she lived.