Born December 25, 1928   |   Vilna, Lithuania

Died May 12, 1985   |   Montreal, Canada

Blessed with inner strength and courage, she made a life that was in all ways beautiful, bringing grace and elegance to even the most mundane tasks. It was incredible, especially after everything she had endured.

One of seven children born to Itzhak and Faige Goldschmidt, Mira was talented, musical and resourceful. Forced by the Nazis onto a cattle car bound for a death camp, she and a friend courageously jumped off the moving train into the Ponar woods. Days later they were apprehended, beaten and taken to a labour camp. In March 1943, Mira was transported to the Kaiserwald concentration camp near Riga and forced to work on assembly lines producing electric goods. In August 1944, she was sent to the Stutthof concentration camp where she made and assembled airplane parts. She was subject to abuse and trauma that led to lifelong repercussions including heart damage.

Liberated on May 9, 1945, Mira convalesced at the Neustadt Displaced Persons Camp. She and one first cousin were all that remained of their large extended family. In 1948, Mira arrived in Halifax Harbour. Assisted by the Canadian Jewish Congress and the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society (JIAS), she received a work visa and a host family—the Yaffes— in Montreal. Mira found work as a seamstress at Samuelsohn, a men’s clothier. During a social evening with friends from Vilna, she met Joseph, a Jewish war veteran, businessman and minstrel. Married in 1949, they had two daughters, Florence and Lisa. Though happy and proud of the new life she created, Mira was often heard sobbing behind closed doors. A true balabusta, she found solace in cooking and entertaining, lit up a room with her sparkling eyes and engaging laugh, and sang like an angel to the haunting strains of her mandolin. Mira was a loving bubbie to three grandchildren. Her posthumous legacy includes two more grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.