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OTTAWA – It began with an apology for a shameful chapter in Canadian history and ended with an urgent call to fight anti-Semitism here and now.
On Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a long-standing apology for the 1939 decision by the government to reject Mr. St. Louis, a ship carrying more than 900 German Jews fleeing Europe.
His speech, just over a week after the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue massacre, showed how anti-Semitism shaped Canada's response to Jewish refugees fleeing Germany.
"Today, I rise in the House of Commons to make a long-awaited apology to the Jewish refugees that Canada has refused," he said in Ottawa.
"We used our laws to hide our anti-Semitism, our antipathy, our resentment. We are sorry for the harshness of Canada's response. And we're sorry we did not apologize earlier.
Since taking office, Trudeau has made a number of high profile excuses, so numerous that he has had to face the same Canadian accusation of excessive excuses. Critics wonder what work he does, who benefits from it and whether saying "sorry" is really enough.
But as a result of what might be the deadliest attack on the Jews in American history, at a time when anti-Semitic memes and conspiracy theories burst into the populist current, his words seemed urgent.
The excuses connected the past to the present and showed how the hatred of Canada's treatment of Jewish refugees was still rooted in Contemporary politics Canada, the United States and elsewhere.
Trudeau said that 17% of all hate crimes in Canada targeted Jews.
"Holocaust deniers still exist," he said. "Antisemitism is still too much present. Jewish institutions and neighborhoods are still vandalized with swastikas. "
He condemned the attacks in Pittsburgh as "an act of heinous antisemitic violence".
"Canada and Canadians will continue to stand with the Jewish community and express the hatred that has driven such despicable acts," he said. "These tragic events ultimately reflect the work we have yet to do."
The history of Mr. S. St. Louis has long been a source of shame for a country that likes to consider itself a refuge.
In May 1939, a few months before the outbreak of hostilities, an ocean liner left Europe with more than 1,000 passengers on board, including 907 German Jews. The boat went to Cuba, but Jewish refugees were not allowed to disembark. The United States subsequently turned them back.
Just days from the ship from Halifax, the Canadian government decided not to help. The boat was sent back to Europe and 250 people on board died in the Holocaust.
The rejection of St. Louis by Canada is not an isolated incident. With respect to Jewish immigration, Canada's policy at the time was "none is too much."
"Of all the allied countries, Canada would admit the fewest Jews between 1933 and 1945. Much less than the United Kingdom and much less per capita than the United States," Trudeau said.
When the opportunity to apologize for Mr. S. St. Louis surfaced, some members of the Jewish community expressed concern that an apology with the ship for the past few decades would be too few and too late.
In the Canadian Jewish News, Sally Zerker, professor emeritus at York University in Toronto, whose family members were among those fired, said Trudeau's apology would be "meaningless".
"It will not bring my family back and will not give me any comfort. Instead, it will whitewash a government that did nothing to help Jews fleeing the Nazis and ignored the type of anti-Semitism that was endemic in Canada until the 1970s. "
Michael Mostyn, chief executive officer of B & n. Brith Canada, wrote to the National Post on the eve of the apology, urging the Trudeau government to take action by devoting resources to developing a business plan. National action against anti-Semitism and dialogue with the Jews. institutions, including synagogues, on security.
"The Jewish community needs a committed and concerted action on the part of the government to combat the rise of anti-Semitism, so that, hopefully, the excuses will no longer be needed at all." future, "he said.
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