A tribute to Morris Dancyger of blessed memory

(Calgary) – It is with great sadness that Calgary Jewish Federation shared the loss of Calgary Holocaust Survivor, great patron of the arts, supporter and friend to many, Morris Dancyger, who passed away on May 11.

Born in 1940 in the Radom Ghetto in Poland, Morris was transported to Auschwitz in a cattle car in 1943 together with his family.

Morris was one of the very few children to survive Auschwitz-Birkenau, and was liberated at the age of four and a half by the Red Army in 1945. An iconic photograph taken after liberation shows Morris and other children revealing the numbers tattooed on their tiny forearms.

Morris’ father survived atrocities in the concentration camps only to be shot dead in 1946 at a Displaced Persons camp in Stuttgart, Germany, just one day after he had been reunited with his family; the street in Stuttgart named in his memory—Danziger Platz—remains to this day.

Together with his mother, sister and grandmother, Morris immigrated to the British Mandate for Palestine in 1947, just before Israel was declared an independent state.

His family began their new life in Canada in 1952 when they settled in Calgary. Morris earned a pharmacy degree with distinction from the University of Alberta.

He and his wife, who is also a Holocaust survivor, built a wonderful life in Calgary, which he was always proud of.

Morris will be fondly remembered by many, including those in the Calgary Arts community (especially Contemporary Calgary), the Jewish community, by friends, and his family, including his beloved wife Ann, his son Howard, his daughter Lisa, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

On behalf of the City of Calgary, Mayor Jeromy Farkas extended deepest condolences to the entire Dancyger family. “Our city has lost a truly great Calgarian,” he wrote on social media. “Morris Dancyger was a remarkable man whose life embodied both the darkest chapters of human history and the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit. As a child, he survived Auschwitz. He came to Calgary to rebuild, and in doing so helped build our city through business, philanthropy, Jewish community leadership, and an enduring commitment to arts and culture. His life was a testament to courage, renewal, and the belief that even after profound suffering, one can still choose to create, contribute, and lift others.

“Morris’s advocacy was matched by action. From helping bring Contemporary Calgary to life, to decades of leadership in the Jewish community, healthcare, education, and philanthropy, his fingerprints are all over this city. After enduring humanity at its worst, he still chose to invest in beauty, community, and hope. Morris was a builder in every sense of the word. He built a family. He built institutions. He helped build modern Calgary. His life carried both weight and grace. May his memory be a blessing, and may we honour him by building a city worthy of the faith he placed in it.”