As the Nazis rose to power, Canadian Jews were deeply affected by the plight of European Jewry. Close to 17,000 Jews, nearly half of whom were from Montreal, volunteered to join the Canadian Armed Forces between 1939 and 1945. In 1941, at the height of the war, the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies joined with the Jewish General Hospital and the United Jewish Refugee and War Relief Agencies to form the Combined Jewish Appeal. War’s end brought the confirmation of six million Jews killed in the Holocaust. And even the end of the war did not represent the end of the crisis afflicting European Jewry. Destitute, physically and emotionally battered, the survivors were in desperate need, which spurred Federation CJA on to greater relief and refugee work.