Memories from St.John’s: Lewis Ferman and Co.

Lewis Ferman and his wife Grunia met in the Naliboki forest in current day Belarus, in an organized camp of Jewish resistance fighters led by Tuvia Bielski in WWII. The basis for the film, Defiance. The camp eventually became home to 1200 Jews during the war acting as a refuge from the Germans. Following the war, they immigrated to Gander Newfoundland eventually settling in St.John’s.

In October 2018, as a Subway fast food restaurant was being refurbished in the St.John’s city center the iconic sign of Lewis Ferman & Co was uncovered. This brought to light stories of Lewis Ferman who established roots of the Jewish diaspora in Newfoundland and Labrador. For the full story subscribe to Shalom magazine, and read the winter 2019 issue.