Discovery of secret list of alleged Nazi war criminals in Canada raises questions about government secrecy

2025/03/22 Leave a comment

Of note (embarrassing to various Canadian governments that refused their release):

U.S. researchers have found what they say is a late draft of a secret list of more than 700 suspected Nazi war criminals believed to have settled in Canada after the Second World War, prompting fresh calls for the federal government to finally unseal and release the full list.

A research team led by UCLA historian Jared McBride, an expert on war crimes in the Second World War, has unearthed what he concludes is an annotated version of the list of alleged war criminals in this country examined by a 1986 Commission of Inquiry led by retired Superior Court of Quebec judge Jules Deschênes.

Anonymized descriptions of such individuals living here were published in Part 1 of the Deschênes inquiry report. But the second half of the report, naming them, has been kept secret for decades, despite calls to release it, including from historians, Jewish groups and the Canadian Polish Congress.

Last year, the government rejected an access to information request from The Globe and Mail to make it public. The Globe has seen the list of names, and accompanying notes on their investigation, unearthed by the UCLA team.

Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, senior director of policy and advocacy at the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, said “there is no longer any rationale for the government to continue to keep these documents secret.”

“The government must immediately release the full case files and once and for all reckon with the truth instead of preserving the shameful cover-up that has shielded war criminals for so many years,” she said.

Prof. McBride found the partly redacted ledger, which includes notes on identity checks, in a batch of documents collated by the RCMP in the Canadian government’s archives….

Source: Discovery of secret list of alleged Nazi war criminals in Canada raises questions about government secrecy

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Urback: Society’s brainworms have gotten so bad, we can’t even recognize a swastika as a hate symbol 

2025/02/15 Leave a comment

More on Shopify’s hesitation in doing the obvious:

…Perhaps amid all of this noise, the executives at Shopify lost their bearings, or else feared some sort of bigger blowback if they were seen to capitulate to the mob. But good Lord, guys: we are talking about a swastika, a symbol that is synonymous with the desire for racial purity and the extermination of millions of Jews. This was not a borderline case: It was a Nazi symbol, being sold for profit, on a platform where it’s within the rights of the owners to make decisions based on personal discretion.

It is astounding that Shopify didn’t come out within an hour and announce they were taking down the shop for promoting a hate symbol. Maybe that should be included in their terms of service.

Source: Society’s brainworms have gotten so bad, we can’t even recognize a swastika as a hate symbol

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Former Shopify executives denounce platform for hosting Kanye West’s store selling swastika T-shirts

2025/02/12 Leave a comment

Would be nice to see some current ones doing so as well….. And surely promoting Hitler symbols should be an easy determination. UPDATE: Shopify removes Kanye West store selling swastika T-shirts, says violated ‘authentic’ commerce practices:

…In 2017, when challenged for hosting the store for the far-right news website Breitbart, Mr. Lütke wrote a blog post explaining the company’s position “as a platform without restriction,” saying the company frequently faced pressure to censor merchants operating its platform.

“When we kick off a merchant, we’re asserting our own moral code as the superior one,” Mr. Lütke wrote. “But who gets to define that moral code? Where would it begin and end?”

In the blog post, he asserted the company’s support of free speech and said it followed the practices of the American Civil Liberties Union, which itself states it has defended the freedom speech rights of unpopular groups such as Nazis in the past.

The Canadian e-commerce business has come under fire for hosting other controversial content. Last year, Shopify was criticized by advocacy groups the Anti-Defamation League and Stop Antisemitism for hosting a store associated with the brand “TheOfficial1984″ that touted content praising Adolf Hitler.

Incidents of antisemitism have been on the rise in Canada since the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza….

Source: Former Shopify executives denounce platform for hosting Kanye West’s store selling swastika T-shirts

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Lederman: At Auschwitz, there was no why

2025/01/28 Leave a comment

Lest we forget:

…Some of those lucky enough to survive Auschwitz not completely broken – many were – emerged with various whys as they sought a reason to go on. Primo Levi needed to tell the world. Elie Wiesel made it his mission to stop such horrors from happening ever again.

My mother’s why was simpler, less grandiose – if no less extraordinary. She met another survivor, they married, had three daughters. My parents, no longer alive, now have 23 descendants walking (or, in one sweet case, still just crawling) the Earth. We are her why.

I keep searching for mine. An obvious lesson of Auschwitz – beyond “do not murder” – could be to show kindness, care and respect for our fellow human beings. (I’ve had my moments, I know. I’m working on it.)

These can be small gestures, or they can be very big ones. But they must trump cruelty. I don’t think I need to explain why.

Source: At Auschwitz, there was no why

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Anti-Defamation League finally comes for Elon Musk after his series of Nazi ‘jokes’

2025/01/27 Leave a comment

So Tesla owners, any buyers’ remorse?

The Jewish Anti-Defamation League has attacked tech billionaire and close Donald Trump adviser Elon Musk for making light of the Holocaust with a series of Nazi “jokes” Thursday.

The sharp criticism came just days after the ADL defended Musk against accusations of anti-semitism and racism by saying his controversial stiff-armed salute at Trump’s inauguration Monday was simply “awkward” and not a Nazi salute — even though it was widely hailed as such by white nationalists and many other of Trump’s MAGA supporters.

Musk mocked the controversy over his salute Thursday with a series of quips on X featuring word play with the names of some of Adolf Hitler’s leading Nazis, including Rudolph Hess, Joseph Goebels, Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler, who played key roles in killing 6 million Jews.


“Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations!” Musk wrote in a post, adding: “Some people will Goebbels anything down! Stop Gőring your enemies! His pronouns would’ve been He/Himmler! “

Musk concluded: “Bet you did nazi that coming,” with a laughing-to-tears emoji.

This time ADL head Jonathan Greenblatt quickly slammed back at Musk on X: “We’ve said it hundreds of times before and we will say it again: the Holocaust was a singularly evil event, and it is inappropriate and offensive to make light of it … @elonmusk, the Holocaust is not a joke.”

In its own post Thursday the ADL quoted Greenblatt’s message, and added: “Making inappropriate and highly offensive jokes that trivialize the Holocaust only serve to minimize the evil and inhumanity of Nazi crimes, denigrate the suffering of both victims and survivors and insult the memory of the six million Jews murdered in the Shoah.”

The response was a pointed turnaround following the uproar after Musk’s controversial salute Monday, when the ADL came to his defense.

“This is a delicate moment,” the ADL emphasized in its message on X then.

“It seems that [Musk] made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge. In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath,” it added.

Musk has yet to respond to the new ADL criticism.

Source: Anti-Defamation League finally comes for Elon Musk after his series of Nazi ‘jokes’

Along with: Elon Musk makes surprise appearance at AfD event in eastern Germany

Elon Musk made a surprise appearance during Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) election campaign event in Halle in eastern Germany on Saturday, speaking publicly in support of the far-right party for the second time in as many weeks.

Addressing a hall of 4,500 people alongside the party’s co-leader, Alice Weidel, Musk spoke live via video link about preserving German culture and protecting the German people.

“It’s good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything,” Musk said.

Last week, the US billionaire caused uproar after he made a gesture that drew online comparisons to a Nazi salute during President Donald Trump’s inauguration festivities.

On Saturday, he said “children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great grandparents”, apparently referring to Germany’s Nazi past.

“There is too much focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that,” he said.

Musk, who spoke of suppression of speech under Germany’s government, has previously attacked German chancellor Olaf Scholz on X.

For his part, Scholz on Tuesday said he does not support freedom of speech when it is used for extreme-right views.

Musk spoke in favour of voting for the far-right party. “I’m very excited for the AfD, I think you’re really the best hope for Germany’s fight for a great future for Germany,” he told onlookers.

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Monneuse: Repression, resentment and resilience: A portrait of concentration camp survivors 80 years after their liberation

2025/01/25 Leave a comment


Interesting qualitative research and findings:

This is why, at the beginning of the 2000s, I began studying the journey of 625 Jewish survivors and/or resistance fighters who had been deported from France to Nazi death camps. I interviewed around 30 of them, as well as their families (brothers and sisters, spouses, children).

What is striking at first glance is the diversity in both the survivors’ trajectories and their levels of resilience. Some were haunted by nightmares every day until the end of their days, while others went on to live happy lives. Some returned to their previous lives (same job, place of residence and spouse) while others completely changed their lives. 

Despite these differences, we can identify four main profiles of survivors. 

  • The repression profile
  • The identity investment profile
  • The rehashing profile
  • The resilience profile…

Source: Repression, resentment and resilience: A portrait of concentration camp survivors 80 years after their liberation

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Farber | Canada must confront its shameful history of harbouring Nazi war criminals

2024/11/20 Leave a comment

Agree:

…Yet, instead of setting the truth free, the government has offered a long line of opaque justifications for withholding the Deschênes documents. Most recently, federal government departments have claimed that releasing these documents could somehow embolden Russia in its war against Ukraine. Such feeble excuses underestimate the intelligence of Canadians and erode public trust in the transparency, accountability, and integrity of our government.

It’s time for Canada to stop concealing the truth and release the Deschênes documents, fully and unconditionally. If the documents embarrass our country, so be it. These documents hold stories of atrocities committed in Europe, lives lost and justice denied. But they also hold the potential for education and healing — a way forward to confront uncomfortable truths about our nation’s past.

Only by revealing the past can we begin the work of reconciliation, educating future generations and building a more just and principled nation. It’s an imperative that Canada can no longer ignore.

Source: Opinion | Canada must confront its shameful history of harbouring Nazi war criminals

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In Memory: Yehuda Bauer (6 April 1926-18 October 2024) 

2024/10/21 Leave a comment

Impressive man and had the pleasure of having a number of conversations with him when I headed the Canadian delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance:

…Yehuda Bauer was born in Prague in 1926 and in 1939 immigrated with his parents to Palestine. In 1960, Bauer received a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the Hebrew University for his dissertation on the Haganah and the Palmach. He began his academic career a year later at the Institute of Contemporary Judaism at the Hebrew University. Between the years 1973-1975 and 1979-1977 he served as the head of the Institute for Contemporary Judaism and in the years. Bauer also founded and headed the Vidal Sasson International Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism at the Hebrew University. Between 1996-2000, Professor Bauer was the head of the International Institute for the Study of the Holocaust at Yad Vashem. He also served on the Yad Vashem Council and was an academic advisor to the International Task Force for Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (IHRA).

Source: In Memory: Yehuda Bauer (6 April 1926-18 October 2024) 

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Lederman: Canadians must be allowed to see what’s in the Deschênes Report

2024/09/12 Leave a comment

Agree:

…Alti Rodal, the director of historical research at the Deschênes commission, has called for the report’s release, with proper context. “They are allegations only, that were minimally investigated,” Ms. Rodal told The Globe. “They were not well researched, let alone proven in a court.”

Concerns that this will turn into a witch hunt, and that the Ukrainian-Canadian community could be vilified, are understandable. But give the public some credit. You don’t keep information secret because there are racists – and Russians – who will use it for nefarious purposes. Nobody will blame Canadian children and grandchildren of alleged Nazi collaborators. Nobody is going to blame the Ukrainians on the ground right now, getting bombed by Russia.

But in a vacuum, speculation breeds. Release the report as part of that continuing commitment to transparency and let’s get on with it. There are crises that urgently require attention. They include Russia’s catastrophic war in Ukraine.

Source: Canadians must be allowed to see what’s in the Deschênes Report

Related: Top international scholars urge Canada to release war criminals report

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Ottawa warned release of names of Nazi war criminals who settled in Canada could help Russia

2024/09/06 Leave a comment

Of note (hard to satisfy both groups…):

…A report by LAC on its consultation in June and July, seen by The Globe and Mail, says many stakeholders it spoke to were concerned about the implications “of associating Ukrainian names with Nazis, especially considering that this was part of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.”

They were worried that Russia could use the report to “further these allegations or conduct disinformation campaigns in Canada,” which might affect public support here for Ukraine.

Ihor Michalchyshyn, chief executive officer and executive director of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, said he thought the government is bound by Justice Deschênes’s view that Part 2 of the report should “remain confidential.”

But he added that all alleged war criminals, regardless of when or where they committed their crimes, should be brought to trial under Canadian criminal law. “If evidence of wartime criminality by any person found in Canada exists, that information must be communicated to the proper authorities for investigation,” he said.

The report by LAC on its consultation said some people expressed concern that people who committed atrocities during the Second World War “were allowed to live peacefully in Canada and never faced any justice measures due to insufficient evidence.”…

Source: Ottawa warned release of names of Nazi war criminals who settled in Canada could help Russia

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