Diary of Sol Eisen

As a student at the University of Toronto from 1915 to 1918, Sol Eisen chronicled his home-front activities in his diary alongside his accounts of family life, health issues, and studies. Although Eisen never saw combat, he enrolled in the newly formed Canadian Officers’ Training Corps (COTC) in 1914, when he was only sixteen years old, participating in training drills between attending lectures and going to the cinema. He made his lengthy entries in a notebook with hard red leather covers and 328 lined pages. The large format of his notebook contrasts with the diminutive pocket diaries kept by soldiers and war workers on the frontlines of war.