Where Nobility and Generosity Merged

eb Beri Reichmann, who passed away last Shabbos, was the joint owner of Toronto-based Olympia & York, one of the largest real estate development companies in history, but with the indelible impact he had on Toronto and beyond, he created the most enduring edifices of all.

Born in Vienna, Austria, Beri Reichmann was nine years old when German soldiers marched into the city. His parents were away that Shabbos, and so he watched the soldiers bearing strange foreign flags march through the streets from the window of his aunt’s apartment, not fully understanding the significance of it all.

When his parents, who had been attending a bar mitzvah in Beled, Hungary, that Shabbos learned of the events back home, they arranged for the entire family to make a hasty escape. The Reichmanns wandered for some time, traveling through various countries, ultimately finding a home in Tangier, Morocco. There, Beri’s mother, Mrs. Renee Reichmann, launched a campaign to send thousands of food packages to Jews in concentration camps, with Beri, along with his siblings, fully involved in the endeavor.

Beri’s two brothers emigrated to Canada in the years 1949 and 1950, but Beri stayed on in Tangier. In 1953 he went to Israel, where he was introduced to a young, energetic woman named Egosah Feldman.