Global Courant 2023-05-21 13:00:00
On a sunny day this week, a group of Toronto teens sat next to a baseball diamond in the city park, learning a vivid lesson about a Canadian story that remains unknown to many.
A performance on the ground brought them to Depression-era Toronto, when the city’s exploding anti-Semitism and anti-immigrant sentiment paralleled the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany—eventually erupting into the Christie Pits Riot, one of the country’s largest race riots. in the country’s history.
Watching performers depict the era — when swastika-wielding provocateurs and skyrocketing racial tension led to a brawl involving more than 10,000 people in the downtown park — really brought history to life for 8th grade student Hanah Isse.
“It’s much more effective because it’s easier to understand when you see it right in front of you,” said the 14-year-old.
On-site show more ‘impactful’
The new production, Christie Pits Riot, coincides with the riot’s 90th anniversary. It’s been a personal effort from Sam Rosenthal, who co-wrote, co-produced and directed the show, co-created by his Hogtown Collective partner Drew Carnwath.
At the time of the riot, which broke out at a baseball game in which a team was predominantly Jewish, Rosenthal’s grandfather was babysitting his shop down the street. His father grew up just steps away from the park.
LOOK | Christie Pits Riot offers students an on-site history lesson:
New play explores the rise of anti-Semitism in 1930s Toronto
The Christie Pits Riot delves into the rise of anti-Semitism and the battle between immigrant communities and swastika-wielding racists in 1930s Toronto.
“This is my family history,” he said. “My father and my grandfather, this is their neighborhood, so it touches me deeply.”
For others, Carnwath says the immersive, location-specific approach helps the story resonate on a more personal and emotional level.
“It’s one thing to sit back in a dark room and watch a play like you’re watching a movie, but when the actors are as close to the audience as I am with you right now, you can literally shoulder to shoulder shoulder.” shoulder and feel what they feel,” Carnwath said.
“It just has more impact.” The pair hope to draw the general public to the show and perhaps tour it.
Seeing the production made a strong impression on 13-year-old college student Chloe Douglas.
“I didn’t know that was happening in Toronto. I really thought it was only in Germany,” she said.
From left to right, Chloe Douglas, Hanah Isse and Ron Sanchez were among the students from Toronto who attended the show. (Nazima Walji/CBC)
‘Very relevant in 2023’
Whether you learn about it through a play, graphic novel, podcasts, film or any other medium, Jamie Michaels believes that the 1933 riot is not just Toronto’s history, but something everyone should learn.
The English Literature PhD student didn’t learn about the Christie Pits Riot until after he finished his bachelor’s degree, but the story shocked him and inspired him to create a graphic novel about it.
“I am a young Jewish Canadian. I have had similar experiences in a similar sporting context and this, I found, was shocking. How could this be new history for me?” said Michaels, an instructor and doctoral student at the University of Calgary.
He recalled growing up in Winnipeg and, as an eighth grader, attending a baseball tournament where, at one point, students from a rival school began uttering anti-Semitic slurs. It eventually led to a brawl in the crowd.
With his graphic novel Christie Pits, Michaels calls on Canadians “to see this hatred as part of a continuum that we are still battling… It is certainly a book that unpacks the events of 1933, but it is a book that is very pertinent.” for 2023,” he said.
Sam Rosenthal, right, and Drew Carnwath co-created the play Christie Pits Riot. Their Toronto theater troupe will perform for more students in May and June. (Nazima Walji/CBC)
The riot erupted in a “Canada that had intolerance as a primary value and I think sharing that story and understanding that history lets us learn from it – and empowers us to fight the same rise of intolerance that we see today.” .”
Hate ‘can happen to us all’
The students watching Christie Pits Riot this week were joined by some prominent adults.
“We have to learn from our history so we are not doomed to repeat it,” said Ontario education minister Stephen Lecce, whose government is introducing compulsory learning about the Holocaust into the 6th grade curriculum and has invested in community groups creating educational resources to combat anti-Semitism.
“We have to be very vigilant in the fight against hate. And yes, it’s not just against the Jewish community. We see hate manifesting against so many religions and religious communities and others, including the LGBTQ community,” he said.
“If it starts with one group, as we’ve known throughout history, it can flow to all of us.”
Retired Senator Linda Frum said Canadians “shouldn’t gloss over difficult chapters of our history…Hate and intolerance is something that happens here just as it happens elsewhere.”
“It’s one thing to sit back in a dark room and watch a play,” Carnwath said. But with a compelling show, “you can literally stand shoulder to shoulder and feel what they’re feeling.” (Nazima Walji/CBC)
But Frum, who chairs the committee to combat anti-Semitism and hate at the Toronto United Jewish Appeal, also pointed to another important part of the Christie Pits story: that members of the Jewish community and the Italian community came together against the Nazis. -inspired mob that had antagonized the Jewish baseball players.
“There is a broader lesson about community solidarity and standing up for other communities,” she said.
Jamie Michaels was shocked to learn about the riot and was inspired to create a graphic novel about it. (Submitted by Jamie Michaels)
That point wasn’t lost on 14-year-old Ron Sanchez, who said he took “valuable lessons” about tolerance, kindness and alliance from the Hogtown Collective performance.
“The Italians and the Jewish people stood up for each other during the racism, even though they knew it could hurt themselves. I think that should happen more often,” said the eighth grade student.
“People who take care of each other and also don’t (judge) people on their religion or the things they believe in.”
Toronto students can see Christie Pits Riot through May and June.
Michaels says his graphic novel “unpacks the events of 1933, but it’s a book very relevant to 2023.” (Submitted by Jamie Michaels)
