The 1990s (Page 2)

			Witness to war Among Montreal's Jewish community, about 7,000 are Holocaust survivors. In Fall 1995, the News looked at the Living Testimonies video archive for Holocaust documentation in Montreal directed by McGill English professor Yehudi Lindemann. Over 100 testimonies had been recorded at that time. "I was hiding from the Nazis for 21 months in a dugout in the ground, under a haystack in a barn....Once, I started coughing in the night. So Mr. Budniewski, my protector, went out and he crawled on top of the hay to sleep, and when I was coughing he was coughing too....A German soldier heard the coughing and he stopped. Mr. Budniewski told him, 'It's only me -- my wife threw me out of the house.' And the soldier left." Freda (Perlmutter) Schipper in video testimony

Love Letters

In Summer 1995, the News featured an article on the letters between Hugh MacLennan and the love of his life, Dorothy Duncan. The letters were found in the papers MacLennan left to McGill upon his death in 1990.

That night we leaned over the rail of the boat deck I wanted you quite terribly, but was very shy and very foolish and so leaned over the rail and muttered bad poetry into the dark. I still feel the same way as I did on the boat deck.

But don't let that frighten you if you think it's a bad thing, for if we meet in New York or Cleveland or God knows where I can still be shy and mutter bad poetry.

Hugh
13/11/32

			Protesters demonstrate their loyalty to the Faculty of Dentistry.
			A view of the LA riots in April 1992, from a story on Los Angeles prosecutor Allan Walsh, BA'87.

The Day After
From a letter issued by Principal Bernard Shapiro the day after the 1995 referendum in Quebec.

OCTOBER 31, 1995

Dear Colleagues,

Like all of us, you are wondering this morning about the implication of yesterday's referendum, not only for Quebec and Canada, but for yourselves and for McGill. Many of you have asked me to respond to the question "What will happen to McGill?" My reply is as simple as it can be under the circumstances: I cannot stress enough how confident I am that this great University will weather the current uncertainty and that our contribution will be even more important to the future of our society than it has been in the past.

			The Ice Storm Ice on McTavish Street gates during the Great Ice Storm of '98 Like most of Montreal, McGill was hit hard by the "Great Ice Storm of '98." Although the University initially put on a brave face, by "Black Friday" -- five days after the freezing rain had started to fall across southern Quebec -- McGill had closed, the city subway system had stopped, schools and stores had shut and even bank machines were inaccessible. Large sections of the city went dark and lost running water. Huge amounts of ice accumulated on streets and rooftops, and wreaked havoc on electrical towers, which collapsed under the weight of the ice. The University closed from January 9 to 18. Classes were cancelled, libraries and offices were shut. Staff and students dealt with crises at home and McGill's power supply was drastically reduced to help the hydro system recover. The campus was left to facilities and security staff...