____ 1

How significant was anti-Semitism in Canada prior

to and during the WWII period?

_______

CHC2D: Canadian History Since World War 1

_______

January 11, 2023

 ____ 2

Section 1: Identification and Evaluation of Sources

The focus of this investigation is “how significant was anti-Semitism in Canada prior to

and during the WWII period?” This question has been investigated through an analysis of

Canadian policies, papers and perspectives towards the Jewish people throughout Canadian

history, from colonization and the formation of Lower and Upper Canada to the WWII period.

Therefore, the thorough historical analysis provided by Irving Abella and Harold Martin Troper

in None Is Too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe, 1933-1948, a book written in 1983 book,

and the popular and controversial 1882 anti-Semitic literary article, The Jews: A Deferred

Rejoinder published in The Nineteenth Century by Goldwin Smith are considered significant and

insightful works in this investigation.

The educational background of None Is Too Many’s authors, with both Abella and Martin

being professors specializing in Jewish Canadian history,1 creates value as it allows for a

comprehensive understanding on events and perspectives towards the Jewish community through

Canadian history as a secondary source. Through their interpretation of the historiographical

context of their sources, their expertise creates a holistic overview of Jewish Canadian history.

Additionally, considering the 1983 date of publication, the source benefits from the use of both

primary and secondary sources to interpret a broader historical context.

However, the source’s considerable focus on the interwar and WWII period acts as a

limitation—though the book discusses many cultural and legal issues that led to the treatment of

Jewish people by Canada and its government in that time period, the discussion of specific

anti-Semitic attitudes prior to this is limited, and often only used to support points of the

aforementioned era.

1
Alan Freeman, “Historian Irving Abella Dies after Long Illness,” The Globe and Mail (The Globe and
Mail, July 4, 2022),
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-historian-irving-abella-dies-after-long-illness/.
 ____ 3

The Jews: A Deferred Rejoinder is a primary source written by Goldwin Smith in 1882

regarding the “Jewish Question,” a prominent issue of the time regarding the proper status and

treatment of the Jewish people. By contrasting Goldwin Smith’s background as a highly educated

and respected member in both political and academic circles with the vitriolic and biased article

he published,2 the paper’s origin provides insight into the political thinking of the time,

demonstrating how common and accepted anti-Semitic arguments were. Furthermore, the

content provides insight into how the Jewish population was viewed by academics, and its

purpose as an argument against Jewish immigration and integration into society offers a glimpse

into Canadian political thought during a time of mass Jewish immigration.

However, Goldwin Smith’s background as a fervent anti-Semite also serves as a

limitation; his beliefs and hatred feature heavily in his writings, creating a heavily biased

perception of cited events, such as Russian pogroms, and extrapolated conclusions - for example,

that anti-Semitism was a natural result of the “parasitic” nature of the Jewish people.3

Additionally, as the paper was published for The Nineteenth Century, an academic debate

magazine, it is intended to persuade the reader to agree to the author’s perspective—which

means that the argument is defined by a singular perspective, limiting the value.

Section 2: Investigation

Since the beginning of its history as a nation and even before, Canada has been stained

by institutionalized and societal anti-Semitism, further exacerbated during WWII, of which the

consequences continue to effect the lives of many today. The extent of how this discrimination

has impacted Canadian history has been debated, but can be determined to have a large historical

2
Paul T. Phillips, “From Academic to Sage,” in The Controversialist: An Intellectual Life of Goldwin Smith
(Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002), 49-50.
3
Goldwin Smith, The Jews: A Deferred Rejoinder (London: The Nineteenth Century, 1882), 4.
 ____ 4

significance and far-reaching revelations through thorough analysis of historical events such as

the laws, systemic oppression, foreign policies, exclusionary culture and social rhetoric that

surrounded the history of Jewish people throughout Canada’s history.

Anti-semitism has been codified into Canada’s roots, even before the country became a

sovereign state. Laws, politics and educational barriers have created a long-standing

establishment of institutional anti-Semitism deeply tied to the existence of the nation itself.

Jewish people have been historically under-represented in legislature, and at times, outright

forbidden from the legislative system because of their faith. In 1808, Canadian parliament

determined that a Jew could not sit in the Legislative Assembly, as a direct response to Ezekiel

Hart, Canada’s first Jewish politician being elected to office in the previous year.4 This ban of

Jewish participation in politics lasted until 1832, 24 years later, as a complete denial to the

Jewish people of a chance to represent themselves.5 On an institutional level, this forbiddance of

representation undermined the people’s right to be seen as citizens and people of British North

America. Moreover, the ruling for further intolerance in 1808, demonstrates that discrimination

had occurred prior to Canada’s history as an independent nation. This intolerance would occur

for two more centuries, whereupon the Jewish community would remain one of the least

politically represented minority groups in Canada.

Furthermore, the expulsion of Jews from the legislative system was only an extension of

an overarching goal to keep Jewish people out of the country by the Canadian government.

Canadian immigration policy was exclusionary and ethnically selective; when economic

necessity demanded the admission of non-British and non-American immigrants, it was always

4
​Taylor C. Noakes, “Ezekiel Hart,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, July 12, 2017,
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ezekiel-hart.
5
Ibid.
 ____ 5

in descending order of ethnic preference—and Jews were at the bottom.6 This was only

compounded in times such as the Great Depression, where in 1932, an Order-in-Council was

introduced to ban all non-agricultural immigrants unless either British or American.7 These

exclusionary policies were not an accident; they were insidiously economically self-serving

while maintaining the discriminatory system. The 1932 ban placed a complete ban on Jewish

immigration—or, Jewish immigrants unwilling to take on the laborious, yet federally profitable,

farmwork no one else wanted to do. Immigrants in agriculture would be elevating Canada’s

economy, yet kept out of sight for the prejudiced, yet desirable upper-class British and American

citizens—discriminating against them, yet profiteering off of their labour.

Opportunities provided to Jewish students in the educational sector were also limited.

McGill University implemented a Jewish student quota in the 1930s, substantially curbing

Jewish enrollment.8 Jewish public schools were banned under the British North America Act,

which stated that schools must be either Catholic or Protestant. In 1916, Jews made up 44% of

the total enrollment in Montreal’s English-speaking Protestant schools, while Jewish

participation was forbidden on school committees, Jewish teachers were forbidden to teach, and

Jewish admittance to these schools were being actively challenged by the Protestant community.9

These attempts to deny children education, ban adults who could influence change, and

manipulate the academic system to eliminate the participation of one religious minority in

academia demonstrates the degree of discrimination Jewish people were subjected too.

Furthermore, these aggressions were systematically organized and employed in order to keep

sectors, such as education, with as little Jewish influence and change as possible.
6
Irving M. Abella and Harold Martin Troper, “Where They Could Not Enter,” in None Is Too Many: Canada
and the Jews of Europe, 1933-1948 (Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press, 2017), 5.
7
Ibid., 6.
8
Jacqueline Celemencki, “ A Brief History of Anti-Semitism in Canada,” A Brief History of Anti-Semitism
in Canada (Montreal, Quebec: Musée de l'Holocauste Montréal, 2015), 16.
9
Ibid.
 ____ 6

Canada’s institutional anti-semitic practices were rooted in the deep prejudice and

contempt held towards the Jewish people. Such hatred was not only accepted, but celebrated in

parts of history, as Canada constructed and fuelled multiple societal anti-Semitic movements

throughout the years. From the early 1880s to the early 1960s, these open displays of

discrimination were so widespread and accepted that it permeated the daily lives of Canadians.10

These practices were particularly defined by their exclusivity and exclusion; for example, public

recreational areas in wealthy neighbourhoods such as Victoria Beach on Lake Winnipeg and the

Beaches in Toronto had signs put up, declaring “no Jews allowed.” Jewish people weren’t

permitted to purchase homes in these areas either, with newspaper ads listing them as “unwanted

people.”11 These isolationary methods isolated Jews and created segregated areas reserved for

wealthy white occupants, enforced by local authorities and social rhetoric at the time: that a

proper Anglo-Saxon citizen could never be in the same private club or establishment as a Jew.

Furthermore, these inter-racial aggressions bred further violence, such as the 1933 Christie Pits

Riots, where a local “Swastika Club,” a group of Nazi-influenced youths that “defended” white

public areas unfurled a swastika flag at a baseball game, resulting in a riot with over 10000

participants.12 Events such as these demonstrate that Canada was not a separate bastion to violent

European semitism; rather, that overseas Nazism was adapted to fuel the fire for this home-made

hatred.

Additionally, anti-semitism was particularly prevalent in the media; from 1880 through to

the 1940s, Quebecois Catholic journals published anti-Jewish articles—a consequence of the

Catholic Church publicly denouncing Judaism as a “dangerous” doctrine.13 This discrimination

10
Jeremy Maron, “The Stain of Antisemitism in Canada,” CMHR, 2019,
https://humanrights.ca/story/stain-antisemitism-canada.
11
Ibid.
12
Jamie Michaels, “Christie Pits Riot,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, December 16, 2020,
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/christie-pits-riot.
13
Celemenki, A Brief History of Anti-Semitism in Canada, 15.
 ____ 7

extended into the Interwar Period, in which growing European anti-semitic violence was ignored.

Maclean’s and Le Devoir never featured a cover story on the Nuremberg Laws, or later, the

Holocaust.14 What was published, however, were antisemitic articles; Le Devoir’s editor,

Georges Pelletier, openly endorsed them.15 The press as a reflection of a country’s ideals

demonstrates how many Canadian citizens viewed Jewish people at this time—as a threat.

Furthermore, the absence of reporting on such critical affairs demonstrated the widespread

apathy towards the Jewish condition and the societal manipulations designed to reinforce

anti-Semitism.

Academia was also submerged in such hatred; Goldwin Smith, a British-Canadian

academic of Cornell fame, was a proud anti-semite and tenured professor at institutions such as

McMaster University,16 with a multitude of papers published in academic journals about his

“views”—or, verbatim, the need to “ship [Jews] back again.”17 These papers would later

influence characters such as William Lyon Mackenzie King; Prime Minister of Canada during

WWII.18 The distribution and acceptance of these anti-semitic and fundamentally false papers

demonstrates not only the tolerance one had for anti-Semitism, but the support the thought had in

the time. Smith’s political openness, his prestigious publishing platforms, and his well-respected

public figure demonstrates that anti-Semitism was not uncommon in academia, and furthermore,

considered well-supported and academically viable enough to publish in academic debate.

This anti-Semitism was only exacerbated during the WWII and interwar period—rising

amounts of anti-Semitic hate crimes in central and Eastern Europe, such as the pogroms of the

Soviet Union and the Nuremberg laws of Nazi Germany, created the “Jewish Question,” in
14
Ibid., 25.
15
Ibid.
16
Butler, Don. “The Anti-Semites: Goldwin Smith.” Ottawa Citizen, August 23, 2010.
17
Smith, The Jews: A Deferred Rejoinder,10.
18
​Tulchinsky Gerald J J., Canada's Jews: A People's Journey (Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto
Press, 2008), 135.
 ____ 8

which the international community was challenged to define their stance on the treatment and

status of the Jewish population—and if they could aid the millions of refugees now arriving on

their shores. Canada’s response, provided by the Mackenzie King government, was a denial.19

Though Canada was officially an Ally during WWII and a nation that stood against prejudice

after it, its actions during this period shows a nation that was complicit, and in some cases, an

active proponent of the suffering Jewish people underwent.

The most prominent example of this would occur on June 7, 1939, when 907 Jewish

refugees aboard the MS St. Louis were denied entry to Canada. After this rejection, the ship

returned its passengers to violence-ridden Europe, where 254 of its passengers later died in the

Holocaust.20 Canada had denied the entry on the grounds of economic sustainability; Canada was

suffering from the Great Depression, and accepting these immigrants would begin a precedent

for increased immigration that Canada would not be able to support. However, this argument is

rendered null by the fact that Canada had accepted thousands of British and American citizens

during this period,21 while turning away these 1000 refugees to the Nazi-controlled regions of

Europe—clearly exemplifying an ethnic bias.

Canada’s stance on the growing “Jewish question” would only grow clearer in the wake

of the Evian conference. Held in July of 1938, the conference addressed the issue of European

Jewish refugees wishing to flee persecution by Nazi Germany.22 Canada was one of the last

countries to agree to join the conference, agreeing only after Under-Secretary of State Skelton

warned Mackenzie King that "it would not look too well to be the only country, except Fascist

19
Dawidowicz, Lucy S. “Introduction.” Introduction. In The War Against the Jews: 1933-1945, London,
London: Penguin Books, 1990, xxi-xxiii.
20
Yarhi, Eli. “Ms St. Louis.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, September 14, 2015.
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ms-st-louis.
21
Statistics Canada Government of Canada, “150 Years of Immigration in Canada,” Government of
Canada, Statistics Canada, May 17, 2018,
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-630-x/11-630-x2016006-eng.htm.
22
Abella and Troper, None Is Too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe, 1933-1948, 20.
 ____ 9

Italy, declining even to sit on a Committee.”23 King’s government believed that joining the

conference would have them backed into a corner and forced to rewrite their exclusionary

immigration laws in order to accept Jewish refugees, which they wished to avoid.24 Their

attempts to avoid these commitments demonstrates Canada’s indifference and ethnic

prioritization. Avoiding an international conference was preferable to the possibility of accepting

a Jewish refugees—from a country that was, at the same time, freely accepting British and

American immigrants, further supporting the King government’s anti-semitic attitude.

All told, Canada admitted the lowest number of refugees among developed nations

during WWII, totalling only around 5,000—the United States admitted 200,000, Palestine

125,000 and Britain 70,000.25 When asked about how many Jews should be admitted by the end

of the war, a government official in 1945 uttered “none is too many.”26 This is the summation of

the Canadian attitude, not only towards the acceptance of Jewish refugees, but the people

themselves for the two centuries leading up to the war. The comparison of the statistics provided,

demonstrating the extreme gap in the number of refugees accepted compared to countries equally

and less developed at the time, alludes to the King government’s attitude—and, ultimately, the

people’s attitude towards the Jewish people. The evidence demonstrates that Canada was unique

in the extreme amount of the anti-Semitism leglislated and conflated in society, and in particular,

that this hatred had deadly consequences, due to the callousness, prejudice and anti-semitism

held by both the leaders and the people at this time.

Anti-Semitism has held an extremely prominent place in Canada’s history. As

demonstrated by the exclusionary policies enacted by the Canadian government, the acceptance

23
Abella and Troper, None Is Too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe, 1933-1948, 22.
24
Ibid.
25
Abella and Troper, None Is Too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe, 1933-1948, xxii.
26
Ibid., xxi.
 ____ 10

and commonality of such discriminatory rhetoric in Canadian society, and the degree to which

Canada had ventured to wash their hands of the Jewish Question during the Interwar and WWII

period, this prejudice has been long-held, and has resulted in wide-spreading and lethal

consequences that cannot be denied. However, by examining the flaws of Canada’s past, the

nation can create a more equitable and kinder future for everyone, regardless of background.

Section 3: Reflection

As I was doing research for my investigation, I became more aware of the challenges

faced by historians and the methods they utilized to overcome them. The history of

anti-Semitism in Canada is something that has been thoroughly documented over the years, to

which I struggled to decide what sources would be the most effective and useful to answer my

research question, especially in regards to such a complicated and long held prejudice such as

anti-Semitism, which breeds biases and conflicting perspectives. I had to utilize methods

commonly used by historians to analyze the validity and reliability of the sources, based on their

origin, purpose and content, the biases they had, and how relevant they were to my investigation.

Furthermore, I learned that biases had value when critically analyzed. While reading

Goldwin Smith’s The Jews: A Deferred Rejoinder, a personal bias was obvious, to the point

where I wondered if the work would be worth referencing in my paper as anything more than an

example of how common anti-Semitism was. However, after reviewing the circumstances

Smith’s anti-Semitic papers was published in and the resources, or rather the lack of them, that

Smith had utilized, I realized that while Smith’s reliability in accurately depicting events was

incredibly skewed, the widespread acceptance of his works reflected a greater issue of the
 ____ 11

period—the anti-Semitic habits in academia, another aspect to my research question I would’ve

missed if I had not decided to pursue additional investigation into the purpose of Smith’s work.

The subjective nature of individuals and shifting perspectives on history create a unique

challenge for historians, compared to those in fields such as math and science, where conclusions

can be easily supported by replications of experiments and comparisons between

colleagues—which result in objective answers which are more easily obtained. Especially when

looking at such an emotionally and politically charged issue such as anti-Semitism, individual

biases and emotions must be taken into account to create as much as a holistic answer as

possible—far from a guaranteed conclusion, and only a supported educated guess.

 ____ 12

Bibliography

Abella, Irving M., and Harold Martin Troper. “Where They Could Not Enter.” Essay. In None Is
Too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe, 1933-1948, 5. Toronto, Ontario: University
of Toronto Press, 2017.

Butler, Don. “The Anti-Semites: Goldwin Smith.” Ottawa Citizen, August 23, 2010.
Celemencki, Jacqueline. A Brief History of Anti-Semitism in Canada. Montreal, Quebec: Musée
de l'Holocauste Montréal, 2015.

Dawidowicz, Lucy S. “Introduction.” Introduction. In The War Against the Jews: 1933-1945,
xxi-xxiii. London, London: Penguin Books, 1990.

Freeman, Alan. “Historian Irving Abella Dies after Long Illness.” The Globe and Mail. The
Globe and Mail, July 4, 2022.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-historian-irving-abella-dies-after-long-il
lness/.

Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. “150 Years of Immigration in Canada.” Government

of Canada, Statistics Canada, May 17, 2018.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-630-x/11-630-x2016006-eng.htm.

J., Tulchinsky Gerald J. Canada's Jews: A People's Journey. Toronto, Ontario: University of
Toronto Press, 2008.

Maron, Jeremy. “The Stain of Antisemitism in Canada.” CMHR, 2019.

https://humanrights.ca/story/stain-antisemitism-canada.

Michaels, Jamie. “Christie Pits Riot.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, December 16, 2020.
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/christie-pits-riot.

Noakes, Taylor C. “Ezekiel Hart.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, July 12, 2017.
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ezekiel-hart.

Phillips, Paul T. “From Academic to Sage.” Essay. In The Controversialist: An Intellectual Life
of Goldwin Smith, Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002.

Smith, Goldwin. The Jews: A Deferred Rejoinder. London: The Nineteenth Century, 1882.

Yarhi, Eli. “Ms St. Louis.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, September 14, 2015.
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ms-st-louis.