Cast of Characters

Adolf Hitler

The dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933–1945. Adolf Hitler is considered by historians to be responsible for the Second World War, in which tens of millions of people died. He is also considered to be responsible for the Holocaust.

Antisemitism

Prejudice against people who are Jewish. Antisemitism is a form of racism that has appeared in different forms over the centuries. In the twentieth century, it inspired Nazi Germany and its allies to murder as many as six million Jews.

Beaches

A neighbourhood in Toronto located east of downtown, close to the shores of Lake Ontario.

Belfast

The capital of Northern Ireland.

British North America

The part of North America that later became Canada.

Canadian Jewish Congress

An organization that represented Jews in Canada from 1919—2011.

Catholic

A person who belongs to the Roman Catholic Church. Headed by the pope, the Roman Catholic Church is the largest Christian church in the world. Along with Orthodoxy and Protestantism, Roman Catholicism is one of the three major branches of Christianity.

Communism

A left-wing ideology originally tied to the Soviet Union. Communists seek to abolish private property and organize society according to the principle from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

Democracy

A type of government in which citizens vote to choose their leaders.

Fascism

A right-wing ideology tied to Fascist Italy. Fascism celebrates militarism, nationalism, and sometimes racism. It is strongly opposed to Communism.

Gentile

A person who is not Jewish. The word is not negative, but some prefer the term non-Jewish.

Great Depression

A period of economic hardship that began in 1929 and lasted for much of the 1930s.

Hebrew

The ancient language of the Jewish people.

Holocaust

The mass murder of Jews carried out by Nazi Germany and its allies during the Second World War. It is estimated that as many as six million Jews died in the Holocaust. Other victims of the Holocaust include Roma, people with disabilities, Slavic peoples (especially Polish and Russian people), as well as people judged by Nazi Germany to be criminal, for example, Communists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and gay men.

Jew

A person who belongs to the Jewish people. The Jewish people have existed for thousands of years and trace their origins back to the part of the world that is today Israel and the Palestinian territories. Today, Jews live in many countries, including Canada.

Junction

A neighbourhood in Toronto that is located in Toronto’s west side along Dundas Street West between Keele Street and Runnymede Road.

Kensington Market

An historic Jewish neighbourhood in downtown Toronto located in the general area of Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street.

National Socialism (Nazism)

A right-wing ideology tied to Nazi Germany. Like Fascism, Nazism celebrates militarism and nationalism. Unlike Italian Fascism, it is explicitly racist. National Socialists (Nazis) are particularly hostile to Jews, believing them to be an inferior race.

Orange Order

A Protestant group founded in Ireland in 1795 and brought to Canada in the nineteenth century. The order was known for its conservative, anti-Catholic attitudes. Many of Toronto’s early mayors belonged to the order.

Pogroms

An organized massacre of a particular ethnic group, in particular that of Jews living in the Russian Empire.

Protestant

A person who belongs to one of the Protestant churches. The Protestant churches trace their history back to the Protestant Reformation, which took place in the sixteenth century. Instead of a pope, Protestants emphasize the authority of the Bible.

Russian Revolution

A revolution that brought Communism to power in 1917.

Scapegoat

An innocent group that is blamed for a society’s troubles.

Restrictive covenant

An agreement banning a group of people, for example Jews, from buying property.

Russian Empire

An empire that existed in eastern Europe and Asia from 1721–1917.

St. John’s Ward

An historic immigrant neighbourhood in central Toronto bounded by University Avenue, Dundas Street, Yonge Street and Queen Street. St. John’s Ward was popularly known as “the Ward.”

Swastika

A symbol used by the Adolf Hitler’s National Socialists (Nazis). When used by Nazis, the symbol is regarded as hate symbol. The swastika is also used in several Asian religions, including Buddhism and Hinduism. When used by members of these religions, the swastika is not considered a hate symbol.

Swastika club

An antisemitic club in Toronto whose members tried to intimidate Jews.

Xenophobia

Prejudice against people of foreign origin.

Yiddish

A language spoken by Jews in eastern Europe before the Second World War.