Jew hatred in Canada is scary now—but it’s not 1939, say Holocaust educators

Swastika poster on Parliament Hill Nov. 4, 2023
A poster showing the Israeli flag being compared to the Nazi swastika symbol held by a protestor on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Nov. 4, 2023. (Howard Fremeth photo)

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The latest hate crime figures released by the Toronto police show they are at their highest level in a decade–with 147 reported hate crimes targeting Jews in Canada’s largest city to date in 2023. That’s more than double 2022’s total. Most of these have occurred since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, prompting Israel’s retaliation.

Nearly 50 people have been arrested, and charged with everything from mischief to assault. There have been 111 cases of verified antisemitic graffiti this fall, compared with 27 anti-Muslim cases. Meanwhile Toronto police are coping with what the chief described as a “staggering” number of 248 protests in the past 10 weeks. These new numbers show the unprecedented spike in antisemitism facing the Jewish community in Toronto–a spike that some Holocaust survivors and others have said reminds them of 1939 all over again.

Yet, despite disturbing sightings of posters with swastikas equating Israel with Nazis, and the targeting of Jewish businesses such as Indigo books, plus a terrorist bomb plot in Ottawa and Molotov cocktails thrown at Montreal Jewish schools, we’ve also seen six Canadian provinces recently announce mandatory Holocaust education in school, and in some cases, expanding it into even younger grades. So how can both things be true at the same time? Will Holocaust education need to change in order to help what’s happening right now?

On today’s The CJN Daily, we speak to Nina Krieger, director of Vancouver’s Holocaust Education Centre, and to Dara Solomon, head of the Toronto Holocaust Museum.

What we talked about

  • Read the hate crime statistics released Tuesday, Dec. 19, by the Toronto police chief, Myron Demkiw and Jonathan Rothman’s print story on The CJN.ca
  • Learn more about the provinces that brought in mandatory Holocaust education this year, in The CJN.
  • Hear why Ontario’s education minister, Stephen Lecce, was inspired by his Italian heritage to make Holocaust education mandatory, on The CJN Daily.

Credits:

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To subscribe to this podcast, please watch this video. Donate to The CJN and receive a charitable tax receipt by clicking here.