Ethnic tensions had been rising in Toronto throughout the hot summer of 1933. Hitler had recently come to power in Germany and some residents of the eastern beaches neighbourhood had formed ""Swastika Clubs"" to protect their community from ""undesirable elements.""
On August 16, at Toronto's Christie Pits, a baseball game between two local teams - one made up of Jewish players - ignited the simmering resentments. Some troublemakers unfurled a huge swastika flag, shouting, ""Heil Hitler!"" Retaliation from Jewish spectators and players was swift and reinforcements for both sides poured into the park. The result - never experienced in Toronto before or since - was a four-hour race riot.
The riot at Christie Pits remains a disturbing, even legendary part of the city's history. Authors Cyril Levitt and William Shaffir, carefully sifting fact from fiction, provide a compelling perspective on how ordinary Canadians reacted to the intensifying antisemitism in Europe.
By:
Cyril Levitt,
William Shaffir
Imprint: New Jewish Press
Country of Publication: Canada
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 18mm
Weight: 420g
ISBN: 9781988326085
ISBN 10: 1988326087
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 15 February 2018
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Note to the Reader Acknowledgments Foreword Introduction Chapter 1 Toronto the Good—1933 Chapter 2 “Every Evil is Jewish” Chapter 3 “Keep the Beaches Clean” Chapter 4 “Jews Flee in Terror From Nazi Torture” Chapter 5 “Swastika Club Must Be Outlawed” Chapter 6 Kipling or Hitler? Chapter 7 “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” Chapter 8 “Dismissed All Charges” Chapter 9 Protest Chapter 10 “…Lies, Lies, Lies” Conclusion Postscript Photographs Notes Appendices Bibliography Index
Cyril Levitt is a professor in the Department of Sociology at McMaster University. William Shaffir is a professor in the Department of Sociology at McMaster University.
Reviews for The Riot at Christie Pits
""[Major’s book] results in a detailed study that impressively brings out the handling of biblical texts across a range of retellings throughout the Anglo-Saxon period, even as he convincingly demonstrates that there may be less at stake in these retellings than meets the eye."" -- Paula J. Draper, Multicultural History Society of Ontario * Urban History Review, vol 17 no 3, February 1989 *
