By Betsy Rigal, Lillian’s granddaughter
Lillian Freiman was born in Mattawa, Ontario, in 1885 to Moses and Pauline Bilsky, the fifth of 11 children. She was brought up in a religious home where her parents participated in many philanthropic undertakings.
In 1903, Lillian married Archibald Jacob Freiman. Among his varied humanitarian and charitable activities within and outside of the Jewish Community, he was, elected President of the Zionist Organization of Canada in 1919. Shortly after, Lillian coordinated all Zionist women’s groups into a national federation resulting in her becoming President of the Dominion Hadassah Organization.
The adoption of the poppy as a symbol of remembrance in Britain and the United States was seen as a major fundraiser for the returned veterans The first poppies were made on Lillian’s dining room table, and the first “Poppy Day” was on November 11th, 1921. She remained convenor of Poppy Day until her death in 1940. As a result, the Canadian Legion paid tribute to her with a life membership, the only woman in Canada to be accorded such an honour.
In 1917, the flu epidemic struck Ottawa with devastating force. Lillian, at that time 32 years old, was asked by the mayor to organize the immense effort needed to respond to the crisis. It was the Sabbath, so she walked to City Hall and for the next five weeks, she virtually lived in an office there while coordinating all emergency services of the city. A centralized information bank for the city’s medical staff was established whereby 1500 volunteers and patients were registered and daily records were completed, disseminating not only progress reports but also information designed to help prevent the spread of the influenza.
This innovative approach previewed our modern social service organizations.
Lillian Freiman was forever crossing boundaries that existed between Jews and other ethnic groups. She raised funds for the Institut Jeanne d’Arc, helping the sisters who had lost their convent during the war. Theirs was also the first school I attended in Ottawa. She was active in the Armenian and Polish relief work of the Ottawa Women’s Canadian Club. She was President of the Ottawa Girl Guides Association, President of the Ottawa Day Nursery, Vice President of the Ottawa Branch of the Canadian Institute for the Blind, and President of the Perley Home.
Zionism and Hadassah remained her true loves. Under her tutelage, Hadassah, in the early 1920’s, raised funds for the Jewish National Fund as well as the Hebrew University.
Under her initiative, Hadassah Canada made a unique contribution to the establishment and maintenance of the first agricultural school for women founded in 1923 by Hanna Maisel on the Nahalal moshav. She even arranged for white leghorn chickens to be sent there from the Ottawa Experimental Farm. In 1924, Hadassah voted to call the school itself after my grandmother. Although she declined, a building was named after her. In addition, a kibbutz carries her name – Havatzelet Hasharon (Lily of Sharon). The neighbouring settlement of Bitan Aharon is named after her husband, A.J. Freiman.
In the summer of 1920, reports were received by Canadian Jewry of the destitute condition of 137,000 Jewish children in Ukraine. As National President of the Jewish War Orphans Committee of Canada, she invited Mrs. Arthur Meighen, wife of Canada’s Prime Minister, to be Honorary President. Every potential foster home was personally inspected by Lillian Freiman on a cross-country tour. Unfortunately, the Canadian government limited the number to 146.
In 1934, in the New Year’s List of Honours, King George V conferred on Lillian the rank and decoration of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for “community work, service to returned soldiers and leadership in Jewish charitable organizations.” She was the first Jew in Canada to receive the coveted OBE. Both A.J. and Lillian were awarded silver Jubilee Medals by the Crown.
Designated in 2008 by the Government of Canada as a person of national historic significance, Lillian was honoured in 2018 with a plaque unveiled in her memory at the entrance to her former home, now the National Capital Region Officers’ Mess at 149 Somerset Street.
On the Sabbath, November 2nd, 1940, Lillian died at the age of 55. On her casket, her son Lawrence placed a single deep purple orchid. Draped over the coffin was a blanket of scarlet poppies sent by her fellow poppy workers with the inscription, “At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember her”, a silent reminder of the unique place which she held in the hearts of Canada’s veterans of the Great War.
Mourners, including Prime Minister Mackenzie King and representatives of every organization she had served, crowded the small synagogue. A guard of honour formed by Canadian is Lillian as one of the few Canadian women who qualified for a prominent position in the history of our nation. Modern and ahead of her time, she was characterized by simplicity, modesty, and wholeheartedness in her work.
The noted Canadian poet A.M. Klein wrote in memoriam:
Princess of Israel,
Only the light of these your days
Only the warmth of these deeds
Eternal sunshine from them speeds
About them sunshine ever plays