With swastikas in our midst, Canadians must say no

On Thursday, Jan. 27, we were honoured to participate in a solemn commemorative ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day that took place at Canada’s National Holocaust Monument. Joining us were Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion Ahmed Hussen, the ambassadors of Israel and the United States of America, and survivor Dr. Agnes Klein. The Holocaust holds special significance for both of us—one as the senior professional of Ottawa’s Jewish Federation, the other as the Federal Republic of Germany’s Ambassador to Canada. For one of us, the Holocaust represents our people’s greatest collective trauma. For the other, it is our people’s greatest moral responsibility. And for both of us, the memory of the Holocaust is the wellspring of our most solemn and profound personal commitment to ensure that antisemitism is not only remembered, but confronted and countered whenever and wherever it appears. We would not have imagined last Thursday evening that a mere 48 hours after we gathered to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, the swastika—the brand of the most evil ideology ever known to humankind—would be visible in the streets of Ottawa. As we observed in our public statements on Holocaust Remembrance Day, the obligation to remember is more than just a passive exercise in retrospection. If it is to have any meaning, it must be accompanied by a resolute commitment to confront and contain the seeds of hatred when and wherever they appear. Andrea Freedman is the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa. Photograph courtesy of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa A period of global crisis such as the one that we have all experienced over the last 22 months is especially dangerous. Angry, frightened people inevitably seek a culprit at whom an accusing finger can be pointed. And there will always be those who seek to exploit those fears to foment hatred. Tragically and all too often that accusing gaze has been directed at the Jewish people. And while the Holocaust represents the most recent and horrific example, no student of history can fail to note that there are many others. It is therefore not surprising that anti-Semites who lurk in our midst, including those who choose the swastika as their emblem, would attach themselves to protests led by those who mistrust government and who oppose vaccine mandates. Most Canadians and Germans would defend protesters’ fundamental rights to peacefully demonstrate and to express their views, regardless of whether or not they agree with opposition to government responses to COVID. But the right to public protest does not—and must not—include the right to foment hatred. The presence of swastika flags, of multiple allusions to Nazi ideology, the continued appropriation of the yellow star to make the deeply offensive and grossly inaccurate comparison between the victims of Nazism and anti-vaxxers, all these are manifestations of a dangerous perversion that requires a broad and unconditional collective response. It would be foolish to dismiss those in the crowd who appropriated the Nazi symbol simply because they were few in number. We note with genuine dismay that other protesters did not call them out and demand that the offensive symbols be removed. As Elie Wiesel said, “The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference”. Qui ne dit mot consent. Sabine Sparwasser is Germany's Ambassador to Canada. The Hill Times photograph by Shruti Shekar The victims of Nazism and their descendants know all too well how pernicious the ideology of hatred can be. How it can catch fire like a spark in dry tinder and escape the controls of government in a moment. How the grief and regret of not having acted in time can last for generations. We know that the Holocaust did not begin at Auschwitz or even at Wannsee. The Holocaust began with words, with dehumanization, and with conspiracy theories, in a period of profound hardship and upheaval, in a country where the Jewish people had flourished for centuries. On the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day, we reflected that our society stands at a precipice. What starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews. We know that all that is necessary for evil to flourish is for good people to say and do nothing. As we defend the right to peaceful public protest, let us remember the lessons of the Holocaust. Sabine Sparwasser is Germany's ambassador to Canada. Andrea Freedman is the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa. The Hill Times