"It matters very much whether you care that they live or die" : British Columbia Newspaper Responses to Jewish Persecution in Europe, 1933-1939

Abstract

This paper examines British Columbia press responses to Jewish persecution in Nazi Germany and Eastern Europe from 1933 to 1939. Using the Vancouver Jewish community paper as its focus, the study juxtaposes its responses with three non-Jewish papers. Vancouver Jews responded to the persecution of their coreligionists in Germany and Europe by countering neutral and skeptical reporting in the mainstream papers with explicit reporting of persecution. They tried to catalyze divided Jewish communities toward a common effort to help European Jews through fundraising efforts and lobbied for Canada to allow Jewish refugees. By 1938, they adapted to appeal to mainstream Canadian views by calling for “refugees” and “immigrants” to enter the country. They dispelled myths circulated in the non-Jewish papers about refugees and worked to change minds and gather support to convince Canada to open its doors. Finally, they emphasized that the threat of fascism was a crisis of civilization.