“I don’t feel safe in Canada; I am afraid to go out”

The International March of the Living strongly condemns the disgraceful act of antisemitism at the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa. This was a vile attempt to defile a sacred space dedicated to the memory of six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. It reflects a dangerous surge in antisemitic hatred and historical distortion that must be confronted without hesitation.

Canada is facing an unprecedented surge in antisemitism. In 2024, reports documented a 670% increase in antisemitic incidents compared to previous years. Despite making up only 1.4% of the population, Jewish Canadians were the target of 70% of all religious hate crimes. Jewish schools, synagogues, and community centers have endured repeated attacks, including firebombing, shootings, and vandalism.

In the past three decades, thousands of Canadian teens, accompanied by Holocaust survivors–educators, participated in the International March of the Living program in Poland and Israel, learning on site about the horrors and the lessons of the Holocaust. Two of the survivors, who accompanied the teens for many years, commented on the antisemitic attack:

Holocaust Survivor Esther Fairbloom at March of the Living’s Holocaust Survivors Day event Toronto, Canada on June 4, 2025. Photo Credits: Theadora Draper

Holocaust survivor Esther Fairbloom, 84, born in 1941, survived the war years in Poland as a hidden child. She has accompanied students to Poland and Israel on the March of the Living 12 times. Esther said that the attack made her sick and that she doesn’t feel safe anymore:

“I am sick. I could never believe that such an incident would happen on Canadian soil. I always felt the people living here were more compassionate and had more heart. But unfortunately, I was wrong. It’s extremely sad. I don’t have the same faith as I used to. I don’t feel as strong. I don’t feel as secure. I feel safer in Israel. I’m scared to go out. It’s everywhere. It’s anywhere. And I live in a Jewish area. The only way… is to stand together and fight together. I never thought I would say the word fight. But we do, whether it’s by words or whether it’s by action. We have to.”

Holocaust Survivor Nate Leipciger on the 2023 March of the Living. Photo Credits: Ziv Koren

Holocaust survivor, Nate Leipciger, 97, survived Auschwitz and a number of other Nazi camps. He has accompanied students to Poland and Israel on the March of the Living 21 times. Nate said:

“I feel terrible. I’m upset, I’m disgusted. ⁠It is a sad comment on our society, when a group takes out its hatred on the monument that represent the greatest crime in humanity by defacing it. It just shows how depraved they are in their logic and how they’re completely unrealistic in thinking that putting graffiti “feed them” onto the building would somehow help the people in Gaza. Who is the message to? It’s Hamas that is stopping the Palestinian from being fed. I think it has to be made clear that the sign is misrepresenting in its terrible depravity. The people who are preventing the people from being fed is not Israel, but Hamas.”

Scott Saunders MBE, CEO of the International March of the Living: “This abhorrent act is an assault on memory, truth, and dignity. Holocaust memorials stand as solemn reminders of humanity’s darkest chapter and as warnings of what can happen when hatred is left unchecked. Defacing this monument is a cowardly attempt to erase history and spread division. We stand in full solidarity with survivors and with the Canadian Jewish community. We must never stay silent in the face of hate.”

International March of the Living calls on Canadian authorities to treat this incident as a hate crime and ensure the protection of Jewish institutions and Holocaust memorials. The memory of the Holocaust must never be defiled, and the voices of survivors must never be drowned out.