Why Canada Treated Jewish Refugees

“Was German ‘Eliminationist Anti-Semitism” Responsible for the Holocaust?” is a fascinating and somewhat discouraging debate that explores the question of whether German anti-Semitism, instilled within citizens outside of the Nazi Party, played a vast role in the extermination of Jews during the Holocaust . Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, author of “The Paradigm Challenged,” believes that it did; and argues quite convincingly that ordinary German citizens were duplicitous either by their actions or inactions due to the deep-seeded nature of anti-Semitic sentiment in the country. On the other hand, Christopher R. Browning, who has extensively researched the Holocaust, argues that the arguments of Goldhagen leaves out significant dynamics which were prevalent throughout most of Western and Eastern Europe during this period of history.

In the years between 1914 and 1929, relations between French and English Canada were shown to be very unpleasant, due to events which occurred throughout the time frame. To begin with, the conscription crisis of 1917 brought upon hostility and division between French and English Canada. The conscription crisis occurred when the federal government of Canada, as well as Canada’s Prime minister at the time, Sir Robert

Many Jews started to flee Germany and were immigrating to other countries. Many countries did not want all the refugees so they put restrictions on the number of refugees that they let in. If the countries had been more receptive to the refugees fleeing Germany there would not have been such a large number of people killed and the Holocaust might never have happened. Yet if some people did not open their homes and hearts to some of the Jewish families, Hitler’s dream would have been realised and the Jews of Europe and then perhaps the world, would have been wiped out.

Refugees have been the spotlight in many countries in the past few years. In Canada, refugees where mainly sourced from Syria, Eritrea, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Congo (Puzic 5). The difference between refugees and immigrants is “refugees are people who have fled their countries because of a well-founded fear of persecution. They are not able to return home” (Government of Canada 1), but immigrants are people who chose to leave their country and settle in another for their own reasons. A lot of people do hate the fact that refugees have been the main focus recently, and how “they have been treated better” than our own people, but that does not beat the fact that there are many advantages that come from the refugees. Refugees bring the advantages of increasing the country’s population, boosting the country’s economy, and increasing the country’s diversity.

“Those who had no choice but to flee for their survival and the survival of their families became refugees, seeking safe havens in other parts of Europe and beyond. At first, Jews were allowed to settle in neighboring countries such as Belgium, France, and Czechoslovakia, but as German occupation spread across the continent, these countries were no longer safe and refugees became increasingly desperate to escape. The life of Jewish refugees was described in this way: “[The refugees] were welcomed nowhere and could be assimilated nowhere. Once they had left their homeland they remained homeless, once they had left their state they remained stateless; once they had been deprived of their human rights they were right-less, the scum of the earth” (America, 2017).

Canada is presently known for welcoming many racial groups into the country. However, the Canadian government is not always giving out warm welcomes to different ethnicities. During World War Two, the country rejects many Japanese and Italians who are already Canadian. The treatment of the Japanese and Italians in the Second World War is very unjust. The two groups face being put into internment camps against their own will, the government separates families and force men to work on farms with little pay. The government of Canada also mistreat the Japanese and Italian Canadians because they are full of fear and superstition.

There was a great amount of people who wanted to help the refugees especially those with a German descent. Many thought that Canada should try and help as many Jewish refugees as they could because of how poorly they have been treated by their own country. Others thought that there was no excuse for Canada to refuse Jewish refugees to come because they were not asking for a lot. And others supported emigration of Jewish refugees because of how brutal their living conditions were in

Canada before working towards becoming a just society was a very discriminative place. During the events of World War One,WWI black and Chinese Canadians were prevented from joining the war along with aboriginals. Women were treated the same at the time, it was common for most women to stay at home wives and take care of the children. This was the stereotypical family at the time and was believed to be the ideal family too. Canadians thought poorly of minorities and even claimed it was to keep them safe, the aboriginals were an example, Canadians claimed the enemies might believe that they are savages which was a reflection of how they truly felt. Minorities were clearly being treated worse than the majority, they were seen as inferior and only good for

-Fredrick Blair said “No country could open its doors wide enough to take in hundreds of thousands of Jewish people”

On the 30th of June 2012, the government of Canada had implemented cuts to the Interin Federal Health; (IFH), which is the health insurance program for refugees in Canada. The refugees were given minimal health coverage until their refugee status was accepted as truth, thus being granted provincial coverage as every Canadian is given. Up till this change Ottawa had covered the cost of drugs, and medical care for refugee claimants until their claims had been accepted as truth. Since the beginning of Canada, immigration has played a crucial part in the growth of the economy, and Canada in general. Yet the health and social benefits they receive have become increasingly restricted. To slash health aid for individuals escaping their native countries

As a nation, Canada is known to the rest of the world for being thoughtful, polite, and generally very accepting of all ethnicities and people. However, the treatment of Canada’s Indigenous population, Japanese Canadians, African American and Indigenous slaves seems to suggest otherwise. Canada's dark past may not be talked about often, but there are three main events that targeted specific ethnic groups which still affect those people today. Residential Schools led to major negative cultural consequences, as well as psychological and sociological effects. Japanese-Canadian Internment Camps were used to strip Japanese Canadians of their rights because of the World War II bombing of Pearl Harbor. And finally, for two centuries slavery was legal in New France, and in Lower Canada under British rule. Human beings were being held captive and were owned by many people, including governors, bishops, military officers, priests, and blacksmiths. All of these terrible consequences can be accredited to Canada’s imperialistic policies.

Nationalism is an important aspect of national pride and identity for countries around the world. For example, Canada takes pride in its cultural identity, one that is claimed to be different from other ‘Western’ more ‘industrialized’ nations, such as countries in Europe, and the United States. Even though Canada currently has a national identity that differs greatly from that of other more established countries, history has dictated the way in which a particular national identity exists today. In Canada, Samuel De Champlain and the French established colonies that created a cultural clash between the French Europeans, and First-Nations Canadians within the country. However, this notion of French Canadian Nationalism isn’t necessarily embraced by all of the Canadian Population. This paper seeks to analyze important pieces of Canadian History that have contributed to a broken concept of what constitutes Canadian nationalism, with an emphasis on how historic events prevent and affect coherent Canadian Nationalism in modern society. Through the analysis of the notions and histories associated with ‘First-Nations Nationalism’, ‘Quebecois Nationalism’, and a broader ‘Anti-American’ identity embraced by many Canadians, this paper seeks to locate common ground within the culturally diverse Canadian population in order to progress toward a singular coherent

My belief was that people of African descent were the only group that experiences racism, but when I migrated from the Caribbean to a multicultural country—Canada, I soon realize that my understanding of racism was inaccurate and did not reflect social reality. As a result of my new environment, I learnt that racism is solely based on supremacy where a person of a different background may justify their advantages/power by placing a negative meaning behind cultural differences, thus resulting in unequal treatments. In particular, this short journal will briefly explore how slavery affects(d) people of colour in and over race of people in Canada.

The period of 1914 to 1939, Canada’s immigration policy got very unfair. Changes were made to the Immigration Act in 1914 that allowed the rejection of anyone from any race that was deemed

Let’s start by defining what it is to be a refugee. A refugee is any citizen of a nation who is forced to flee due to persecution or unsafe living conditions.