Was Canada Responsible For The Holocaust Essay

Canada was partially responsible for the Holocaust. If the Canadian Government made different decisions between 1919 and 1939, many more Jews may have survived. When the Paris Peace Conference started, Canada was simply apart of the British delegation, but Prime Minister Borden insisted that Canada be represented as a separate nation, with the right to vote. When the US opposed of this, a compromise was made. Canada could send a separate delegation from Britain, but it wouldn’t count as a vote. The Canadian delegation declared that the terms of the Treaty of Versailles were too harsh on Germany and had no influence. The Canadians never wanted to get themselves involved with European affairs. They were content with the Treaty. Although their vote did not count, they signed the Treaty of Versailles, supporting all the terms that stated what Germany would go through from then on. This brought forth anger upon the Germans. They started to suffer heavily after the War and
became desperate enough to vote for Hitler. They were forced to give up a good amount of their land, which was important in the German industry for their coal. They became obligated to pay billions of dollars for World War 1 damages and the value of their dollar fell after the War. They were required to take full responsibility for the War when they weren’t the only ones at fault. Their economy slowly began fall and this was when Adolf Hitler decided to rise into power. By 1933, unemployment struck the world and Germany suffered the most in Europe. Hitler took this to his advantage and promised Germans employment, which won the hearts of the German people. Prime Minister Mackenzie King supported Hitler and his views.
When King met with Hitler, he probably realized that he might have not been the only person who shared the same opinion, especially after his encounter with King. Countries like Canada helped him feel more powerful because when Hitler violated the terms on the Treaty of Versailles, most countries, including Canada, allowed it and didn’t do anything about it. They allowed Hitler to break the terms of the Treaty and get away with it. He also took advantage of the fact that all the other countries didn’t want to get involved in the War and this is why countries, like Canada, were partially responsible for what Hitler did in the War. King helped to influence Hitler and embolden his ways. Hitler might have felt that Canada, having King as the Prime Minister, would support him. Canadian actions proved to Hitler that they too, were also prejudice to Jews. He thought that starting the War would lead him to continuous success and
superiority. Canadians like Mackenzie King supported what Hitler had done with the Jews. They were equally responsible for what had happened to the Jews in World War II. Although it may not have been to the same harsh extent, they affiliated themselves with Hitler’s evil ways and because of this, Canada should be known as a country that shouldered the blame for the Holocaust. They didn’t accept Jewish Refugees into Canada when Hitler tried to get rid of them. An example of this occurred in 1939. After being rejected from Cuba and the United States, the SS St. Louis sailed on the shores of Canadians borders, hoping that they would be accepted into Canada. Like the other two countries, Canada too rejected them and they sailed back to Europe, where all Jews were doomed. Canada accepted less than 5000 Jewish refugees and overall record for helping Jewish Refugees was worse than various other countries. Anti-Semitism existed in Canada, and this was the main reason to why Mackenzie King did not accept Jewish Refugees. He only thought of Canada’s risk for national unity and he didn’t want Quebec’s Liberal party to weaken. Although not all Canadians supported the government’s policy of anti-Semitism, Prime Minister Mackenzie spoke for Canada’s behalf and this showed that Canada didn’t care for Jews.