Author: Lotta56sparks.ca

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Remembering Lotta on International Women’s Day 2025

Development often starts with a woman. Support leadership programs for women through the USC, 56 Sparks Street, Ottawa. [Lotta Hitschmanova, 1978.]

Today is International Women’s Day, a time to celebrate the achievements and lasting impact of remarkable women like Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova C.C. (1909-1990), whose message of compassion, hope and peace has never been more relevant than in 2025.

Dr. Lotta, as she was known, was a beloved Canadian humanitarian who arrived penniless in Canada in 1942, as a Jewish Czech WWII refugee. Continue reading →

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Remembering Lotta on International Holocaust Remembrance Day (2025)

“Now when I walk the fields of the camp and see the ashes coming out of the earth, another soul has a name.”

Today, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, is the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. It is a time to mourn and remember the six million victims of Nazi atrocities, as well as traumatized survivors and their families.

Many stories of remembrance are being shared today. One of these concerns beloved Canadian humanitarian, Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova, CC (1909-1990).

Lotta’s story

From the 1940s to the 1970s, Lotta Hitschmanova was perhaps the most famous woman in Canada. And yet, few today are aware of her tragic personal story. Continue reading →

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Terry Fox, yes! But no Lotta or Crowfoot?

On December 16, Canada’s Department of Finance announced the following:

“The 2024 Fall Economic Statement announces that Terry Fox will appear on the next $5 bank note. Sir Wilfrid Laurier will move from the $5 bank note to appear on the next version of the $50 note.”

There can be no doubt that the choice of Terry Fox is both inspirational and universally applauded. However, I have to express my disappointment with the decision to move Laurier over to the $50 note.

This was a missed opportunity. A full four years ago, after extensive consultations, a short list of 8 fully-vetted banknote candidates were submitted to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland for her final decision.

Three years later, given the slow decision making process, I proposed a radical makeover of our whole banknote system. Continue reading →

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Celebrating Lotta’s legion of loyal supporters: Helen Backhouse (1931-2024) and John Backhouse (1931-2023)

Being true to the “Lotta Hitschmanova” spirit, they decided to donate what would have been their airfare to the organization that Lotta had founded.

Today is the 115th anniversary of the birth of beloved humanitarian Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova, CC — a time to celebrate her life’s work, but also a time to celebrate some of the remarkable Canadians that she herself inspired.

Today I’d like to feature two dear friends who sadly are no longer with us: Helen Backhouse who died in February 2024 and John Backhouse who died in September 2023.

I owe a lot to Helen and John, as it is fair to say that if I had never met them, I don’t think I would have created this website in honour of Dr. Lotta. More on this later.

Continue reading →

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Remembering Lotta on International Women’s Day 2024

Thank you for the interesting article in the January 17 edition of the Ottawa Citizen and for your dedication to Lotta Hitschmanova’s memory, including “56 Sparks St.”

As a member of the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa, I enjoy seeing the bronze bust of Lotta at the back of the hall.

A little anecdote that shows the impact of those old USC (Unitarian Service Committee) TV ads. To help me with my University of Ottawa student costs in the late 1970s, I had received a welcome $200 bursary from a fraternal lodge my parents belonged to in a small B.C. town, Rossland.

I vowed to give the equivalent amount to a charity as soon as I could afford it. By fourth year, I decided I could, so I walked $200 in cash over to… 56 Sparks!

Carol Card, member of First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa

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A radical new proposal: let’s give Lotta, Crowfoot and Terry Fox each their own banknote!

“Grouped together, their collective life’s work offers us the hope of a caring and reconciliatory spirit for generations to come.”

As fans of Canadian humanitarian Lotta Hitschmanova celebrate her 114th birthday today, they’ll be pleased to know her name is still on the short list of 8 notable Canadians to appear on our new $5 banknote.

It’s been a long time (over 3 years) since the short list was created, after more than 600 nominees had been submitted by Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

I suspect it may be challenging for Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to choose a single individual to appear on the banknote, so a year ago I proposed a creative solution to the problem:

To select Terry Fox, Lotta Hitschmanova and Isapo-muxika (Crowfoot) to appear together on our next $5 banknote.

All three are iconic figures who lived in different time periods in Canadian history. Individually, each represents an important social element in our uniquely Canadian story.

While grouped together, their collective life’s work offers to us the hope of a caring and reconciliatory spirit for generations to come.

I think this idea still has merit. However, I do acknowledge there could be some design problems in blending all 3 heroes onto one banknote. So I have come up with an even better solution:

Let’s give Lotta, Crowfoot and Terry Fox each their own banknote!

With the changing of the $20 banknote to King Charles, here is the current situation of our 5 Canadian banknotes: Continue reading →

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Lotta Hitschmanova and the Middle East: a Voice from the Past cries out for Peace

From the 1940s to the 1970s, Lotta Hitschmanova was perhaps the most famous Canadian woman. And yet, few today are aware of her personal story — that she was a Jewish refugee to Canada who in turn spent decades helping Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria.

Lotta and the Middle East, gift of layette to Palestinian refugee

Lotta and the Middle East, gift of Canadian layette to Palestinian refugee, 1970

[NB: the Middle East photos in this article were all taken by Lotta’s photographer friend, John Buss, and were published in 1970 in “The USC Story: A Quarter Century of Loving Service by the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, 1945-1970.”]

Amidst the horrors of the unimaginable death and destruction in Israel and Palestine, and the grieving and the fear, and the anger and the hatred, I find myself reaching out for the spirit of one of Canada’s most beloved humanitarians, Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova (1909-1990).

Why turn to Lotta, you say? She’s been dead for three decades. What could she possibly offer us today in these troubled times?

The answer lies in her own personal history, which was filled with heart-wrenching tragedy, despair and hopelessness. And we have to ask: how did Lotta manage to overcome her own feelings of grief, fear and anger? And how could she manage to channel these very same emotions, away from hatred, and towards compassion, kindness and love for all peoples around the world, and especially the Middle East? Continue reading →

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Lotta Hitschmanova to appear on the new Canadian $5 banknote?

As we celebrate the 113th birthday of celebrated humanitarian Lotta Hitschmanova today, Dr. Lotta’s fans will be pleased to know that her name still finds itself on the short list of 8 notable Canadians to appear on our new $5 banknote.

The pace of government can often seem incredibly slow, and yes, it has been over 2 years since the short list was created, after more than 600 nominees had been submitted by Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

I suspect it may be challenging for Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to choose a single individual to appear on the banknote, and I have thus proposed a creative solution to the problem:

To select Terry Fox, Lotta Hitschmanova and Isapo-muxika (Crowfoot) to appear together on our next $5 banknote.

Continue reading →

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May the spirit of “56 Sparks Street” guide us to a better place!

“And if they didn’t leave, would it be out of the question to imagine Lotta fearlessly starting her own private protest, right there in the middle of all those big rigs and burly protesters?”

Yesterday, after a massive 3-week protest and occupation in downtown Ottawa, an equally massive police operation cleared Wellington Street of protesters and vehicles.

In addition, protesters were moved out of the Sparks Street pedestrian mall. Yes, that same pedestrian mall housing perhaps Canada’s most famous address: 56 Sparks Street. Made famous by Canadian humanitarian Lotta Hitschmanova.

Lotta was a WWII refugee to Canada who literally changed the social landscape of her adopted homeland. Continue reading →

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Clyde Sanger’s 1969 profile of Lotta Hitschmanova

I have just come across a 1969 book that Clyde Sanger wrote two decades before his biography of Lotta Hitschmanova: “Half a Loaf: Canada’s Semi-Role Among Developing Countries” (The Ryerson Press).

One chapter highlights USC Canada’s work in Korea, in which Clyde provides an insightful profile of Dr. Lotta, excerpted below.

And as you can see, Lotta bucked the trend of other agencies sending Canadian “experts” overseas; it was a source of pride for her that all of USC’s programs were run by locally-engaged staff in partner countries. Continue reading →