Mariah Crookes
Dec. 11/2013
Socials 11
Canadas Part in Anti-Seminism
There was a time when Jewish people were victimized throughout Germamny and German-territory. Women and children seperated from men and put in to concentration camps. Most likely the women and children would be killed right away, being thrown in to pits of fire. The men were put into different camps where they would be put to work doing hard labour, given hardly any food or water so many were malnourished. Canada was just as guilty in the discrimination of Jews during World War II. The St. Louis incident in June of 1939, minimal numbers of Jewish people allowed in to the country and employment discrimination were all reasons that supported the fact that Canada was part of the Anti-Seminism towards Jews during this era.
In May of 1939, a German transatlantic liner "St. Louis" set sail from Hamburg, Germany to Havana, Cuba. Almost all the passangers were Jewish people fleeing from Germany. Many of the Jews had planned on staying in Cuba, but due to political conditions it may have kept them from landing there. A small handful was let in to Cuba but the rest had to continue on the voyage. In June of 1939, the St. Louis Ocean Liner arrived off the Coast of Canada, carrying 907 Jews. All were denied entry into Cuba and other Latin-American countries. The Jewish people had no other option to but to turn to Canada with hope of finding somehwere to live. Earlier in the year Canada had accepted almost 3000 Jews in to the country, but now would not accept any. They believed that Jewish refugees would not make good settlers. The government had many requests by Canadian citizens to allow the Jewish people to enter Canada, but all requests were denied. The St. Louis was forced to turn back and head to Europe. Many passenders on the liner eventually would die in the Nazi Concentration camps.
A statement given by a high Canadian goverment official was "none is to many" when asked how many Jewish people should be accepted into Canada. That statement described the policy of the government when they closed the doors to Jewish people who were escaping the Holocaust. Canadian polocies were anti-Semitic and Jews were treated differently than other Europeans. Only 5000 Jews were accepted in to Canada during the 12 year period of the German Nazi regime. Many other countries allowed thousands of Jewish immagrants to enter, because they wanted to help them survive. William Lyon Mackenzie King thought that accepting to many Jewish immigrants was a threat to Canadian society. People thought of Jews as "inassimilable". At
