Justice Rosalie Abella

"I had a chance to be part of the evolutionary changes in the law regarding women and minorities and persons with disabilities. Did I consciously get involved with those things? Yes, I did. I believe that the law is related to justice." - Rosalie Abella (Just "Rosie", 2006).

The quote that was just mentioned was taken from the University of Toronto Magazine article written by Donna Bailey Nurse regarding Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella's life and her outstanding accomplishments and contributions towards Canadian law.

Justice Rosalie Abella, affectionately nicknamed "Rosie" in her workplace, is an amazing Canadian woman. With her impressive work ethics and determination, she has made outstanding accomplishments, a fine reputation for herself in music, education, and in law, and has made Canadian history by completing a series of firsts. Just like how the saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day", her successes were not made in a day. It took a lot of hard work for her to get to where she is standing today.

Rosalie Silberman Abella was born in a displaced persons camp in Stuttgart, Germany on July 1, 1946, just after the end of World War Two. She was the daughter of Jacob and Fanny Silberman, who were born in Sienno, Poland. Her father was a defence counsel for the displaced in the camp. (Freebase, 2012). Her parents were married on September 3, 1939, shortly after Jacob had graduated from law school and two days after the German invasion began in Poland. Her parents were mostly separated and forced into concentration camps during the war. (Just "Rosie", 2006) She had a late older brother named Julius, who was unfortunately killed in the hands of the German Nazis at the young age of two and a half years old. By war's end, her parents had survived the horrors that were implicated during the Holocaust. After her parents were liberated from their camps, they travelled to Stuttgart to start rebuilding their lives (Jewish Women's Archive, 2005). It was during this time that Rosalie and her younger sister Toni were born.

Before the war, Jacob had earned a law degree from the well known Jagiellonian University in Krakow; he was one out of the four Jews who were admitted. While living in Stuttgart, he was approached by Americans officials and was asked to participate in setting up legal services for the displaced. (Just "Rosie", 2006) He happily accepted and was appointed by the officials as the head of legal services for the people living in the displaced persons camp (Jewish Women's Archive, 2005). Rosalie mentioned during her interview with Donna Bailey Nurse that her father was "heartened by just how wonderful it was to be able to discover that justice was possible after what he had been through."

In 1950, the family, including Fanny's mother, immigrated to Canada on the American ship SS General Stuart Heintzelman and landed in Halifax on May 30, 1950, later settling in Toronto, Ontario. Even though they were admitted, Jacob was not permitted to practice law since he was not a Canadian citizen. He was only allowed into Canada as an underwear cutter and as a shepherd (Jewish Women's Archives, 2005). Eventually, he found work at the Continental Life Insurance Company (Just "Rosie", 2006). It was during this time, around or past the age of four that Rosalie was inspired to be be a lawyer when she grew up and work for change.

Her devotion for human rights and justice came from her family's experiences and history. She grew up "with a passion for justice," and explained that, "as a Jew, I feel that, through the Holocaust, I lost the right to stand silent in the face of injustice." (Jewish Virtual Library, 2008)

Whenever Rosalie remembers her childhood, she would remember being amazed by her parent's and grandmother strength. "With everyone and everything they lost... they still came out of that experience so nurturing, so determined..." What she remembers the most is being desperate to play with among other children. "They wouldn't play with me at first because I spoke German," (Abella, Just "Rosie", 2006).

During her childhood, she was a well known piano prodigy by the age of ten. She won several awards and medals, and appeared frequently on television. She was the youngest accomplished classical pianist graduate from the Royal Conservatory of Music. Around that time, she also graduated from high school