The Role Of Anti-Semitism In Canada

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After the great depression of the 1930’s and after World War I, Germany suffered greatly from the depression as the country had agreed to take full responsibility of the war reparations, as Germany was politically and economically unstable. As many German citizens were unemployed and poverty rates increased, many Germans were looking for a leader who can solve the country’s economic disaster. Hitler became the leader of the Nazis in 1921 and created new plans and rules about how Germany can become a great country again. His speeches and commitment to rebuild the country caused many Germans to vote for him. But Adolf Hitler also wanted Germany to be a superior Aryan country (pure race of northern Europeans), as he opposed disabled people, gypsies, …show more content…
Louis to be given access to countries like Canada, United States, and Cuba became a major anti-Semitic act due to strict immigration laws as these countries didn’t want another economic recession and immigrants taking over jobs which native Canadians and Americans can work for. This was evident as the director of the immigration branch of the Department of Mines and Resources, Frederick Blair, not only refused Jewish refugees to enter Canada, but “later bragged about keeping Jews out of Canada” 1. Therefore, this shows that anti- Semitism in Canada was fairly strong as citizens of Canada, including the government, imposed strict immigration laws because of the fear of going into the economic depression such as the one in the 1930’s after World War I. Many Canadians, including the government of Canada, didn’t support foreigners because many of the Jewish refugees did not qualify for entry as immigrants and some Canadians living in Canada did not want Jewish refugees because of the fear of losing their jobs. The refusal of Jewish refugees was also caused by the refusal of entry from other countries such as the United States, Cuba, and countries in South America where the last destination for Jewish refugees was Canada, but upon the government’s views on Jewish refugees, Charles Frederick Blair was reluctant to keep the remaining Jewish refugees out from the St.Louis ship stating “if these Jews were to find a home in …show more content…
This was also evident as when the ships turned around to head for Europe on 17 June, the St.Louis ship “docked in Antwerp, Belgium and from there they dispersed: 214 from Belgium, 224 to France, 181 to Netherlands, and 288 to United Kingdom, where many of these states fell under Nazi control”3 . Many of the Jewish passengers on the SS St.Louis ship weren’t given any choice to immigrate to other countries in other continent other than Europe, where Nazi control was strong, powerful, and spreading quickly. Since many developed countries like Canada and the United States did not allow Jewish immigrants as refugees, the captain of the ship inferred that the same situation would be the result if the SS St.Louis would depart anywhere else, a restricted access because of anti-Semitism. Also, since many of the Jewish passengers on the SS St.Louis survived the atrocities of World War II, “a staggering number were sent to concentration camps where 254 of those passengers died”4. The amount of Jewish passengers exterminated in the concentrated camps was a result of huge anti-Semitism in which the ship carried most of these passengers to the atrocities of the concentration camps. Overall, many of the Jews who were on the SS St.Louis had died in the concentration camps, while other countries such as Canada and the United

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