Henry Morgentaler facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Henry Morgentaler
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Henry Morgentaler (right) in August, 2005, with then NDP Leader Jack Layton
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| Born |
Heniek Morgentaler
March 19, 1923 |
| Died | May 29, 2013 (aged 90) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | Doctor, activist |
| Spouse(s) |
Chava Rosenfarb
(m. 1945–1975) |
| Children | 2 |
Henekh "Henry" Morgentaler, CM (March 19, 1923 – May 29, 2013), was a Polish-born Canadian physician. As a Jewish youth during World War II, Morgentaler was imprisoned at the Łódź Ghetto and later at the Dachau concentration camp.
After the war, Morgentaler migrated to Canada and entered medical practice. He went on to open twenty clinics and train more than one hundred doctors.
In 2008, Morgentaler was awarded the Order of Canada "for his commitment to increased health care options for women, his determined efforts to influence Canadian public policy and his leadership in humanist and civil liberties organizations." Morgentaler died at the age of 90 of a heart attack.
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Life
Morgentaler was born in Łódź, Poland, about 120 kilometres (75 mi) southwest of Warsaw, to Josef and Golda Morgentaler. Before World War II, Morgentaler's father was active in the General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland. During the German occupation of Poland, a Jewish ghetto in Łódź was created and Jews were not allowed to leave it. Morgentaler's father was killed by the Gestapo, while Henry lived with his mother and younger brother in the Ghetto Litzmannstadt with 164,000 others. His sister had left for Warsaw with her husband before the start of the war. She was incarcerated there at the Warsaw Ghetto, and took part in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. She was killed at the Treblinka extermination camp.
When the Germans raided the Ghetto in Łódź with the help of the Jewish Ghetto Police, the Rosenfarbs and the Morgentalers (Golda and her sons Henry and Abraham) along with two other families hid in a room with the door concealed by a wardrobe. After two days in hiding, on August 23, 1942, they were found and deported to Auschwitz concentration camp. The boys never saw their mother again: Golda was murdered at Auschwitz. On August 27, Henry and Abraham were shipped to KL Landsberg, Dachau concentration camp, where they both remained until the end of the war. In February 1943, Henry was sent to KL Kaufering (a satellite camp of Dachau concentration camp). By the end of the war, he was in sick bay (Krankenrevier), whence he was finally liberated by the U.S. Army on April 29, 1945. After his release at age 22 Henry weighed just 32 kilograms (71 lb). He entered a Displaced Persons Hospital in Landsberg am Lech. After a few months there he was moved to a DP Hospital in St. Ottilien, and thence with Abraham to Feldafing, a Displaced Persons Camp, in Bavaria.
After the war
In 1946, Abraham emigrated to the United States. In 1947, Henry made his way to Brussels in Belgium, where he rejoined his friends the Rosenfarbs. Because they were not in Belgium legally, he and his fiancée, Chava Rosenfarb, were required to emigrate. Chava's sister, Henia Reinhartz, in her Memoir, "Bits and Pieces," described the harsh economic conditions while the family, and Henry, lived in Brussels. One picture shows Henia, Chava, and their mother wearing coats made from blankets donated by UNRRA. In 1949, Henry and Chava married. They left Europe in February 1950 on the S.S. Samaria, sailing to Canada.
The couple settled in Montréal, where Chava resumed her vocation as a writer. Several months later their first child, Goldie, was born. Their second child was a son, Abraham. Their marriage ended in divorce in the mid-1970s. Chava died on January 30, 2011.
Career
Morgentaler received his medical education from the Université de Montréal, graduating in 1953. After receiving his Canadian citizenship, he practiced medicine in the east end of Montreal. He started as a general practitioner in 1955 but increasingly specialized in family planning.
Honours and awards
Morgentaler was the first president of the Humanist Association of Canada (HAC) from 1968 to 1999. He remained the organization's honorary president until his death in 2013. The HAC bestowed on him its Lifetime Achievement Award on August 3, 2008, in Toronto, Ontario, during its 40th-anniversary celebration convention, the largest Humanist convention in the nation's history.
In 1973, Morgentaler was one of the signers of the second Humanist Manifesto. The American Humanist Association named him the 1975 Humanist of the Year, along with Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique.
In 1989 Morgentaler received the "Maggie" Award.
On June 16, 2005, the University of Western Ontario conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws degree upon Morgentaler; this was his first honorary degree.
On August 5, 2005, Morgentaler received the Couchiching Award for Public Policy Leadership for his efforts on behalf of women's rights and reproductive health issues. The Award was given by the Couchiching Institute on Public Affairs at its 74th annual summer conference. The Couchiching Award for Public Policy Leadership is presented annually to a nationally recognised Canadian who has demonstrated public policy leadership that results in a positive impact on Canada or a community within Canada, often in the face of public opposition. The Canadian Labour Congress recognized him on May 28, 2008, with its highest honour, the Award for Outstanding Service to Humanity.
In 2010, Morgentaler was nominated for a Transformational Canadians award as a person who has "made a difference by immeasurably improving the lives of others."
Order of Canada
Morgentaler was named a Member of the Order of Canada on July 1, 2008; he was recognized "for his commitment to increased health care options for women, his determined efforts to influence Canadian public policy and his leadership in humanist and civil liberties organizations." Feminist and author Judy Rebick told The Globe and Mail that it was time Morgentaler was honoured for his long battle; she said "Dr. Morgentaler is a hero to millions of women in the country," she said. "He risked his life to struggle for women's rights … He's a huge figure in Canadian history and the fact that he hasn't got [the Order of Canada] until now is a scandal."
On the matter, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he would rather see the country's then highest civilian award "be something that really unifies" and "brings Canadians together", while Liberal Party leader Stéphane Dion said, "Dr. Morgentaler has stood up for a woman’s right to choose for his entire career, often at great personal risk", and asked Canadians to respect and celebrate the decision.
Several members of the order said they would return their insigniae to Rideau Hall in protest, including Roman Catholic priest Lucien Larré; Gilbert Finn, former Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick; Frank Chauvin, a retired police detective who founded an orphanage; and the Madonna House Apostolate on behalf of the late Catherine Doherty.
On June 1, 2009, three members did leave the order in protest against Morgentaler's admission, including the Archbishop of Montreal, Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte. Turcotte explained his resignation to the CBC, saying, "I'm worried about how we treat life, from conception to death. I decided to take a stance that clearly reflects my convictions." The others were astronomer René Racine and pianist and conductor Jacqueline Richard, both from Montreal. In November 2009, engineer Renato Giuseppe Bosisio also resigned his membership in protest. About a dozen people picketed outside the ceremony in Quebec City.
Other activities
Morgentaler's campaign for women's reproductive health took him across Canada on speaking engagements and fund-raising tours to promote family planning. In 1972, Morgentaler ran in the Federal Election in the riding of Saint-Denis as an independent, finishing fourth with 1,509 votes.
In August 2011, Morgentaler attended the funeral of Opposition Leader Jack Layton, leader of the New Democratic Party.
In 1991, he debated William Lane Craig in a debate 'Humanism vs Christianity'.
Media and cultural representations
Morgentaler was the subject of a 1984 National Film Board of Canada documentary Democracy on Trial: The Morgentaler Affair, directed by Paul Cowan.
A famous Montreal Gazette editorial cartoon by Terry Mosher lampooned Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau's prediction that "the Montreal Olympics can no more have a deficit, than a man can have a baby." After the financially disastrous 1976 Summer Olympics, he drew a cartoon of a pregnant Drapeau placing a telephone call to Morgentaler.
The alternative rock band Me Mom and Morgentaler used the doctor as the inspiration for its name.
