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Antisemitism and human rights

Discover. Learn. Reflect.

Antisemitism, often described as “the oldest hatred,” has been used to justify violence, oppression and genocide against the Jewish people in Canada and around the world. Learn about antisemitism in the past to help confront antisemitism today.

Two people play hockey in front of a synagogue with several swastikas painted on it. Partially obscured.

Photo: Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives, file no. PC 01-03-074F

Stories

Canada, antisemitism and the Holocaust

By Jeremy Maron

Widespread antisemitism in Canada in the 1930s and 1940s kept the nation’s borders closed to Jews trying to escape the Holocaust.

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Black and white photo of three signs on a post, reading “Christians only,” “Jews not allowed” and “Danger.”

Us vs. Them: The process of othering

By Clint Curle

Explore the relationship between othering, human rights violations and the process of genocide through the lenses of the Holocaust and the Rohingya genocide.

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A group of men building a stone wall across a city street

The stain of antisemitism in Canada

By Jeremy Maron

Did you know that in the not‐too‐distant past, Jewish people living in Canada were discouraged from visiting certain vacation spots or from purchasing or renting vacation properties?

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A black-and-white photograph of a crowd of people, most of them standing, on a beach.

A Yiddish poem from the Holocaust

A single poem reminds us that even in the midst of atrocity, human dignity persists.

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A yellowed paper with a handwritten text in Yiddish. The piece of paper is flat but was folded previously as old fold marks are obvious.

Event

Personal Holocaust Stories

Siegbert "Sigi" Wassermann

Siegbert “Sigi” Wassermann shares his story of being expelled from his school for being Jewish, fleeing the country after their synagogue was burnt down during Kristallnacht, and the last time he saw his parents.

Carmela Finkel

Carmela Finkel recounts her family’s experience hiding in a hole in the ground for 20 months in an attempt to escape being captured by Nazis.

Stefan Carter

Stefan Carter shares his memories of living in the Warsaw Ghetto and the experience of being separated from his mother as she was forced onto trains headed to the extermination camps.

Podcast, Handbook & Lecture

Podcast: "The Voyage of the Damned - The MS St. Louis, Canada and the Holocaust"

The Curious Canadian History podcast welcomed CMHR curator Jeremy Maron to discuss the fate of the MS St. Louis. In 1939, 907 Jewish refuges fled Europe hoping to find a safe haven in Canada – only to be denied. Left with no choice, the ship returned to Europe leaving many of the passengers to be murdered in the Holocaust.

Listen

Handbook: The IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism

What is antisemitism and how can we combat it? The Canadian Handbook on the International Holocaust Remembrance Association Working Definition of Antisemitism can help Canadians understand these questions and take action against antisemitism.

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Lecture: "The Sacred Remains: Undoing Cultural Erasure through Community Engagement" with Jeremy Maron

In November 2024, CMHR curator Dr. Jeremy Maron delivered a lecture at the Chester Ronning Centre for the Study of Religion and Public Life, entitled “The Sacred remains: Undoing Cultural Erasure through Community Engagement.” In this talk, Dr. Maron discusses how a wallet made during the Holocaust from a desecrated Torah scroll, which is held in the CMHR’s Permanent Collection, is a manifestation of attempted cultural erasure. He also reflects on how engagement with the Jewish community on this item has rearticulated its original status as a sacred textual object, in defiant repudiation of the Nazis’ attempt to eradicate the Jewish people.

Watch

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