Our History:

In 1953, four friends – Mr. Glicenstein, Mr. Ben Blady, Mr. Zeneck Wajgensberg and Mr. Morris Blimbaum – decided to form the Mutual Benefit Society to assist new immigrants from Lodz, Poland.  In 1954, with a total membership of 80 families in the fledgling society, the first election was held, and the Board was constituted on Cecil Street in Toronto.

 Over the next decades, the Lodzer Mutual Benefit Society helped not only the new immigrants but also expanded their vision to support the State of Israel.  This Zionist commitment continues to this day.  In the years since its founding, The Lodzer Centre has donated eleven new ambulances to the State of Israel.

 On September 16, 1962, a monument in Bathurst Lawn Cemetery was erected in memory of all the Lodz community who had lost family to the Holocaust.  Mr. Mietek Zurkowski helped bring the project to fruition.

 Under the leadership of Mr. Adam Tintpulver as President, the Lodzer built a Social Hall in 1977 that unexpectedly became a synagogue just two short years later.  In 1978, when Mr. Zeneck Wajgensberg became President, the present building was finished.

 The beautiful chapel was completed one year later in 1979 when the Society officially became the Lodzer Centre Holocaust Congregation.  This name was chosen to honour the members’ families who perished in the holocaust.