75th Anniversary of Kristallnacht & Remembrance Day 2013 Marred by Swastika Ignorance in Cornwall Ontario by UCDSB & Premier Wynne by Jamie Gilcig

remembrance-poppy

CFN – Remembrance Day has a lot of meaning for millions around the world.   2013 marks the 75th Anniversary of  The Night of Broken Glass or Kristallnacht as it’s known.

At least 91 Jews were killed in the attacks, and 30,000 were arrested and incarcerated in concentration camps. Jewish homes, hospitals, and schools were ransacked, as the attackers demolished buildings with sledgehammers.  Over 1,000 synagogues were burned (95 in Vienna alone) and over 7,000 Jewish businesses destroyed or damaged. Martin Gilbert writes that no event in the history of German Jews between 1933 and 1945 was so widely reported as it was happening, and the accounts from the foreign journalists working in Germany sent shock waves around the world. 

Jews_forced_to_march_with_star_Kristallnacht

(Jews forced to march during Kristallnacht)

The Times wrote at the time:

“No foreign propagandist bent upon blackening Germany before the world could outdo the tale of burnings and beatings, of blackguardly assaults on defenseless and innocent people, which disgraced that country yesterday. 

 

In these days of  video games and rampant violence on television people lose sight of the reality of something like this happening.  Imagine sitting in your home and the doors being ripped down and your home ransacked and family hurt or killed; taken away with you not sure if they were coming back?

Burning_Synagoge_Kristallnacht_1938Going to work and seeing it destroyed?    Being told that because of your religion or colour of your skin, or language that you speak that you can’t work in your field no matter how much expertise or experience you have; even if it means a community suffers by your absence?   This was the insanity of Nazi Germany during the years prior and during World War 2.

Magdeburg, zerstörtes jüdisches GeschäftThere are so few survivors left and after all do young people really listen to older people any more now than they did 75 years ago?

What people don’t realize is that because of little things turning to huge things is why so many wear a poppy and so many sacrificed their lives in war after war.

Here in the city I am writing from, Cornwall Ontario, we are now in the midst of a scandal related to Swastikas in a local high school.   It’s not that a bit of graffiti is the issue.  It happens; but it’s been the reactions from the school principal not taking prompt action; to the head of the Upper Canada District School Board threatening this writer; to the Premier of Ontario’s office refusing to issue a statement directly related to this incident on a day that she issued a press release about remembering victims of the Holocaust.

What we know about our incident here in Cornwall Ontario is that a person whose family were survivors of the Holocaust, while attending the school for an activity at night noticed Swastikas in the school bathrooms.  A call was made to CCVS Principal Patricia Brown, and then another one the following week, followed by a visit the week after.  Each time the victim said the principal said the images would be taken care of.  After the fourth week CFN was called for assistance.

We went to the school the following morning  and as we entered were met by a Vice Principal who grabbed two maintenance staff and escorted us to the washroom where the Swastikas were both still in place.   After a chat in the VP’s office which included both staff stating that they had never been asked to remove the graffiti I returned to my office and tried to contact the Principal (who was not in at the early morning we visited) and then the head of the school board who did not return my call until the following Monday when my story was released.    The VP called back a few hours later relating that the Swastikas were gone thus further indicting Principal Brown.

David K Thomas

David K Thomas, Director of Education was hostile from the start of the call questioning my ethics and agenda. He then went on to threaten to report me to journalistic agencies and then finally to bring in the lawyers.    After I explained to him that besides being a journalist I created what became the 2003 Oscar Nominated Holocaust Feature Documentary (we lost to Michael Moore) Prisoner of Paradise and that perhaps he should do some fact checking he did simmer down.

He stated that he had not talked to Principal Brown as of yet (Monday) (the event happened on a Friday) Yet the principal was at the School Monday, and Tuesday.   She clearly had not been suspended nor fired.

After further speaking with Superintendent Valerie Allen who refused to supply a printed statement from the School board I was informed there would be a day of action with a holocaust survivor speaking to the students and faculty.    Why I asked?   The school was very clean and certainly not filled with Graffiti.    The only issue was Principal Brown’s judgement and then Mr. Thomas’s behavior.

That led to conversations with Trustee David MacDonald who while totally getting it; still stood by the company line of seeming to protecting the principal instead of the students who were exposed to a hate symbol for nearly one month in multiple locations.   As a matter of fact it was confirmed that after our story there was a rash of Swastikas put up around the school and nobody had been apprehended in spite of close circuit cameras at the school.

The UCDSB finally issued a statement in print, but it completely ignored Principal Brown.

Kathleen_WynneI asked Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne for a statement on this incident via her office including a link to our original story which was picked up in print and online via The Jewish Tribune.

Lauren Ramey from the Ministry of Education sent along the following:

Zita passed along your media request to our office. I can tell you that, while we can’t speak to the specifics of this incident, the government has engaged schools, students, parents and the communities to improve school climate. Our Safe Schools Strategy requires every school board employee, including principals, to play a role in promoting positive student behaviour to improve school climate.

We expect our education leaders to work with students and parents on any concerns they may have. School safety has been a priority for this government from the beginning, and that’s why all school boards must have policies and procedures on bullying prevention, antiracism and equity. It’s incumbent on each and every one of us to make sure that every student to feels safe, included and welcome in Ontario’s schools.

Let me know if you need anything further.

Well I sent Lauren & Zita Astravas back two emails, both clearly requesting a comment about this specific incident dated nearly two weeks apart and have not had back a single word.

I mean if the washroom had had the term “DYKE” plastered on the wall and a gay adult had called the principal would there have been faster action?

There is no justifiable reason for the swastikas being on school walls for nearly a month after three notifications; none.

Our Premier has specifically commented on issues such as Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, so why not a principal in this day and age not removing a hate symbol?

And embarrassingly  not one of the large media chains in Cornwall Ontario, the Sun, Corus, or Cogeco, or Trans Con covered this story even though none of the facts have been disputed.

The Cornwall Police Service today confirmed that the school board has not contacted them about a single Swastika issue in 2013 and that they have read our coverage and is the only reason they are aware of what’s happened.

And that is how hate grows and starts; when good people stand down.   If the school board had taken swift clear action; even if simply having an apology from the Principal and maybe a short term off and some educational and sensitivity training it would have sent a message to the school students and family that racism and hate are not tolerated.

And for the Ministry of Education and the Premier’s office to take no action that sanctions all of the incident right down to whomever defaced the school in the first place, and second and subsequent times is again tacitly ignoring an issue that surely can only lead to hate being more acceptable.

Canada has a bad enough track record when it comes to the Holocaust as escapees were turned away from landing in Canada.   Those few who were able to escape (The Nazi’s refused Jews to leave Europe at a certain point) were forced to find other sanctuary during the war.

Cornwall itself has a murky history as most Jewish families have left.   From having its first official Mayor, Aaron Horowitz and a vibrant commercial marketplace on Pitt Street with many Jewish businesses and factories that employed thousands to a few stores and services today.    The home of Nathan Phillips, great Toronto Mayor, directly across the street of the school, is now a health centre.  The former synagogue is now a private home that was celebrated on a Christmas tour a few years ago.

And of course it’s not just local here in Cornwall.  Intolerance and ignorance in this day of smart phones and social media is rampant.

The daughter of the late veteran John Gervais  describes how after a life of sacrifice her father and family  were told in a hospital in Gatineau Quebec (Directly across from Ottawa)  to speak French instead of English.   Her father passed away not long after the incident.    Surely when we stand down in silence to these types of actions we all suffer.

Hate doesn’t start off with violence.  Hate starts off with Indifference.   And eventually leads to sad days in the rain saluting brave soldiers who died because we didn’t stop mole hills from becoming grave markers in foreign lands or at home.

For those who have lost and sacrificed we salute you; but if we really care about our soldiers and for them to never have to be mourned prematurely we need to stop hate in its tracks; early and often.

 

And we need to take care of our brave soldiers after they have given their bones and body in our names;especially our wounded who have lives that should be lived out in honour and security after the sacrifices that they and their families have made.

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69 Comments

  1. Jamie you should have contacted the ADL and other such organizations for their help. I took the time to read this column and will look at the videos. This afternoon I was in tears and couldn’t continue reading. Yes the synagogue in Cornwall has been turned into a private home and the vast majority of Jews have left Cornwall. Mayor Horwitz was the best mayor that Cornwall ever had and if my parents were alive today they would be saying the very same things. My mom bought her groceries from Jews, our shoes from Jews, our clothing from Jews and believe me Jamie they were the best quality. We also had the best service. I miss all the good people. There was Carl Fisher who used to say the news on CJSS and his son Robert Fisher is a journalist in Toronto. Jamie I can go on and on about the good Jewish people that we once knew and another was Kenny Earle who ran Kenny’s Delicatessan. Too many good people to even mention here and those were the good days of Cornwall believe me Jamie those were the good days and if those good people were back I wouldn’t mind being in Cornwall. Today’s young people everywhere know nothing at all except to do others harm. History is not a compulsory subject in the schools these days and the young know nothing. These people do know what they did wrong and that director of education as well as the school principals should be fired and those who made those swastikas should be thrown out of the school for good. Jamie that is a hate crime. If that were done here in Ottawa the mounties would be at the school faster than anything including the city police. Ask yourself Jamie why I will not go back to Cornwall. I have a lot on my plate – Cornwall is not the town that I once knew. Take care Jamie and take care those beautiful dogs.

  2. Here is a comment from someone in Maine, “I wonder how fast the graffiti would be removed if it said Fire The Principle”.

  3. Jamie the first lady in the video looks so much like my supervisor in the federal government who was of Irish Jewish descent. She was a very smart and tough cookie and she had heart problems. She is now deceased since the age of 58 and I cried a lot when I saw that picture that reminded me so much of her. I miss her a lot.

  4. Why oh why does somebody always bring up the issues with the people of Israel every time a situation such as this arises.

    Most don’t even have the courtesy of addressing them as anything else but a jew….even the people themselves refer to the themselves in that context.
    It borders on the N word where only people of that race are allowed to speak….

    I think you can see the way all of this continuing hatred and hanging on to the past is beginning to create a new potentially more controversial situation…it happened and it was bad….need we continually bring it up and sensationalize it…..

    Ezekial wrote something about the continuous hatred of the Israelite’s and the demise of those promoting the hate….could it not be a case of what goes around comes around to one and all

    It is coming up on 75 years since this happened, I think it’s time to move on

  5. As the owner of three Jews, I resent Hailey Brown’s indifference and think she may be an anti-Semite. Oy!

  6. Hailey Israel may have its problems but I will tell you something. If an Arab (their so called enemy) is sick or hurt do you know that the Jewish people in Israel treat that Arab before their own people and that is the truth and not something that you hear do you. We have some Jews in my building and the daughter is down the hall from me and her dad some floors below and we all get along well. I am living in an area that used to be predominantly Jewish as well as our regular Canadians and there is a synagogue around here as well. My landlord is a Lebanese Christian Orthodox and he gets along well with the Jewish people. I hate the racism and hatred and those swastikas have made me very sick indeed. We have been through the racism in Cornwall and it wasn’t nice at all. The Jewish people mostly left Cornwall and many are in Toronto, Ottawa and elsewhere around the country. The Jewish people that I knew in Cornwall were the best and I will always cherish the good days of Cornwall but not today of what I know goes on. In my day none of this hatred ever went on at all and there were Lebanese/Syrians with us in school as well. I can attest to that not once at all did this ever go on at all. I am truly sickened by this kind of behavior.

  7. Jamie, thank you for this article on the incident at CCVS. Thank you “jules” for your message about Cornwall in the 1950-1960’s. I am disappointed that this would happen in Cornwall in this day and age. I am Jewish and grew up in Cornwall (Jay’s General Store, 9th & Marlborough). I went to SLHS, attended hebrew school and services at Beth-El synagogue. I personally knew Kenny Ertl and his family, the Phillips family (Nathan went on to be Mayor of Toronto), as well as most of the jewish community. I left in 1968 to work in Ottawa but still returned to my family for many years afterwards.

  8. Regular Canadians?

  9. Author

    Thank you for posting Thelma. Sadly the other media are giving this event, a moral crime, a whitewash. The Free Holder yesterday reported on Ms Olsson speaking, but failed to say why with no mention of what’s happened.

    Olsson told a story of how her grandson had been called a name at school, and what bothered him the most, was not the bully who insulted him, but the teacher who stood idly by and did or said nothing.

    “That teacher chose to become a bystander, and bystanders are just as guilty as the perpetrators,” Olsson said.

    Isn’t that exactly what Patricia Brown as Principal did?

  10. ” In my day none of this hatred ever went on at all and there were Lebanese/Syrians with us in school as well. I can attest to that not once at all did this ever go on at all. I am truly sickened by this kind of behavior.”

    Really? There was no hatred in your day? How ignorant are you to the world, Jules? You didn’t notice the hatred, because you were a white woman living in a white world. No one hated you except for the white man. But your posts show that you have held this learned hatred in your heart for all these years, and still hold folks that are different below you. People are people jules, regardless of their skin colour, religious beliefs, or sexuality, but you insist on insulting all of them. Every post you make insults many, and yet you tell us how much we do not know, and how wise you are due to your years. No jules, you are a white woman living in a white world, enjoying the perks that come from living in a society made for you. Enjoy it, and let the rest of us beg of your scraps in peace.

  11. Yup. Jules certainly lived in a different world. I recall in the 50s and earlier 60s when newspaper classified ads for employment and apartments regularly stated “Jews need not apply”, or “Christians only”. There was even a beach in the west island of Montreal with a “Christians only” sign at the entrance. Things have improved since those days, but there’s still a way to go.

  12. Author

    Furtz that’s what’s the scariest thing about what’s happened at CCVS, the UCDSB and Premier Wynne and the Ministry of Education in this instance.

  13. Jules
    I am unsure what you are trying to say sorry about that
    My opinion on all this is based on the fact that it is always the same news spoken with a different perspective. Tell me, since the 1940’s what news has come from Israel that is somewhat positive and not indicative of oppression and war?

    I work in a field that has provided me the privilege to work with people from so many different walks of life. All pretty much want the same thing, health, happy family and respect….It is a select few that need the drama as though without it there is nothing to believe in.

    I am not sure of the whole story behind this story, but if he kid painted an emblem on a wall what is the big issue, is it because of what it represents or what we take it to represent. Depending on the perspective it could be called anti-Semitism or art…I understand that sounds callas, but no more so than continually playing the holocaust card.

  14. Author

    Hailey the only party to “play” the Holocaust card as you phrased it, was the UCDSB. The only issue we covered and exposed was a clear judgement call by Principal Patricia Brown and the school boards reaction. It had nothing to do with Israel or any other issue or party.

  15. Sorry admin maybe I misunderstood your story or I was unclear in my post. Your title in this story reads “75th Anniversary of Kristallnacht” followed by “Marred by Swastika Ignorance” not simply that a school was vandalized. Which in fact was the actual issue?

    Immediately there is an inference in your media outlet linking incidents of today to incidents that happened to the People of Israel in WWII. The door was yet again opened as if you are goading the response. This is a door that requires special care when entering for fear of reprisals.

    Why not just ask the premier and or the principal how will they end the vandalizing of public property and leave the other nonsense out of it.

    That is unless you know of a connection?

  16. Author

    Nonsense?

  17. Yes drama, or the incessant inference and reference to the incidents during WWII.

  18. Mrs. Thelma Sookman this is an honor to answer you and I knew your husband and your children. I sometimes went to your store on Marlborough Street and I knew your children from St. Lawrence High School. I was trying to remember your sirname and you came on the net. You made my day Mrs. Sookman and thank you so much for coming on. You warmed my heart on such a cold day.

  19. Hayley Brown the swastika used to belong to the American Indians and was placed on their pottery and tents but this no good for nothing insane murdering jackass named Adolf Hitler took it as a sign of purity of a pure race which was the Northern European White Race and what Hitler did was that he executed the Jewish people in Germany, Poland, France, Italy and everywhere else. He also executed the Roma people as well. Yes there were other atrocities like the Armenian people and others but the Jewish people seem to have been the most affected of all. The Jewish people are a very intelligent and hard working and prosperous and know how to live and the Germans were mighty jealous of their accomplishments since they were not so prosperous and Hitler blamed everything on the Jews and decided to do away with these good people. Not one Jewish person in Cornwall (touch wood) has ever done me any harm anywhere and my husband, myself and my children will stand up for them all. It is an honor that I just received to see Mrs. Sookman on line. This lady made my day.

  20. @Admin…we’re still not sure if it was a “clear judgement call by principal Brown”. How can you state this when you don’t have both sides of the story. It was alleged in the comments of the original article that one symbol was immediately removed and the only reason the other was left in one spot was due to asbestos in the wall. Have you been able to clarify this, or will you just continue to tarnish the school boards rep because of your obvious bias against them?

  21. Hayley Brown it would take a great deal of Jamie’s paper for me to explain to you the history of the Jewish people and their problems with the Arabs and I can assure you that the people of Israel have done a great deal to accommodate the Palestinians but the Palestinians leaders of Arafat and the present leader are what you call “turncoats and work on two sides” where you cannot trust them at all in their word and what they do. The Palestinians started the civil war in my husband’s country of Lebanon back in 1975. King Hussein of Jordan the father of the present King Abdullah burned the Palestinians back in 1967 because they were causing problems on his land. Rothschild purchased Israel with an agreement with Balfour of England for the Jewish people since they had nowhere to go and that was when the problems started. It is a very long story but I can tell you that is isn’t the fault of the Jewish people at all.

    The Jewish people of Israel are fighting for their lives. Before there was a wall dividing the Arabs and the Jews there were explosions almost on a daily routine of buses and other places done by the Palestinians and has been going on since 1948. It is a mighty long story indeed. The Arabs of different faiths like Sunnis, Wahabis, Shia, etc. etc. etc. are all fighting against each other as well as what political party that they belong to. The Syrian refugees are suffering greatly just now in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. Pray for everyone.

    I can assure every single person here and anywhere (knock on wood) that not one Jewish person has ever done be one ounce or less of harm. Mrs. Sookman raised Harold and their daughter up to be very good people. I have gone to school with the Neiman girls and they too deserve the world of praise. I had Mrs. Helen Goldhammer (nee Miller) as my home ec teacher, I keep forgetting one of my English teachers name whose father had a clothing store ah Miss Shulman along with so many other families. We purchased shoes from the Nyman family and when my husband first came over to Canada I took him to Mr. Nyman and they shook hands. My mother in law purchased many things from the Jewish people in Beirut and liked the people very much. I have many other stories that I can tell you that would put your racist ways away in the garbage can where they belong and shut the lid on it tightly for good.

    You all wonder why I like Jamie well you may have your answer there. I salute Jamie as well and cannot give him enough praise. The Jewish people have been good to me and I mean that. The only problems that I have ever had in Cornwall were with the gentile people. You want the truth then you’ve got it.

    I live in an area of Ottawa that was predominantly Jewish with gentiles and then the Arabs took over but the Jewish people are still here and thank you Lord. My husband doesn’t bother with many of his people and never has and only bothered with a small few because he knew that they were good people. We are mixed in or building and we had two Islamic men on my floor and a Jewish lady at the end of the hall and everything was as smooth and polite as can be. The lady’s father lives some floors below me and we get along very well. We get along with everyone and I can say that it is the very best place that I ever lived and I swear to that is the truth. We never felt at home at all in Cornwall and that is the truth. I may be white yes but I have some native background as well on my mom’s side and that side is not all white. My husband is brown in color (Mediterranean) and when we were in Cornwall we had problems with some people but not one ounce with the Jewish people, praise the Lord. Anybody who discriminates against others for their race, religion or whatever has no education, no intelligence or anything worthwhile. I praise those dear people and feel terrible for all the hell that they went through and to see these swastikas in the school and the administration doesn’t do anything about it I spit on those who have not done their jobs.

  22. Author

    GAB we are quite sure of the the key facts at this point.

    There were swastikas in the bathrooms at CCVS as the victim alleged.

    The victim phoned Principal Brown twice and visited her once.

    After they were not removed they went to CFN.

    We visited CCVS on the , confirmed the Swastikas in the 4th week.

    The VP had them removed within one hour.

    Principal Brown was back at the school Monday and subsequently including her performance yesterday. IE we know she was not visibly suspended or terminated.

    We know the reaction of the school board has been not to disclose the facts.

    We know there were several other swastikas since our story.

    We know the Premier’s office and Ministry of Education refused to speak to the issue.

    We know the Cornwall Police were not brought in to investigate or consult.

    We know there was a Holocaust speaker yesterday at CCVS; the same one that visited in 2008.

    We know the Principal and Director Thomas did not apologize to the community at that time.

    We know the trigger all of this; Principal Brown’s judgement, was not covered by any other media.

    Those are all facts. The school board nor the principal have not disputed any of these.

    Principal Brown and the school board have been repeatedly offered opportunity to rebut or make a statement directly regarding this situation and that too date have refused.

  23. Haley if you want to refer to historical events there was no state of Israel during WWII. It was the Polish Jews, German Jews, French Jews, Dutch Jews, Austrian Jews, etc that suffered atrocities at the Nazis hands and the swastika is the symbol of those atrocities. While the incident that spawned this story was not necessarily about WWII, do not try to minimize the intolerance, hatred and the genocide that the Nazi symbol represents and the reactions of families who suffered because of it simply because time has passed.

  24. ” My husband doesn’t bother with many of his people and never has and only bothered with a small few because he knew that they were good people.”

    So are you saying your husband and his small few are the only good Lebanese people? That all other Lebanese people are bad/dishonest? Bold.

    Can’t people be people, without you classing them together with your broad strokes? All Lebanese people are bad, all Jewish people are good with money, and your surprise that the Islamic men that live on your floor are smooth and polite. Do you read what you type? They are men and women that live in your building jules, Canadians, not arabs and jews and indians. Just people trying to get by. Stop putting them in your judgemental little boxes. Stop trying to explain yourself, you only offend people more.

  25. Reg nails it. The swastika was an ancient symbol that represented all kinds of things going back thousands of years. Since the Nazis co-opted it, it only represents one thing.

  26. Very true Reg,
    Yet history does refer to the Isrealites in the hebrew bible, therefore the term the people of Isreal. You assume I mean the state as it stands now. The whole era of how these religions grew is quite interesting. Sorry for being unclear

    Admin
    Can you explain what the the victim is a victim of? I can’t seem to find it, the story has many differnet associations making it difficult to understand your point. Is it simply that a emblem was painted on the wall?

    Jules
    Thank you for the clarity!!
    But I assure you there is so much more we do not know about the happenings in Germany during that era. I would like to sit and hear what you have learned.

    Remember, religion and history is controlled by the one holding the pen. Using a popular German bit of history as it always seems to be the mark of a good discussion. The Red Baron was considered shot down by our own Billy Bishop, yet now there is apparent evidence that the Red Baron may have been taken down by ground fire.

    Could the same be true in these stuations of the 1940’s?

  27. Author

    Hailey you’re trying to be clever are you?

  28. How do you mean clever admin?
    I think my ponts and or opinions are as just as the next person.

  29. Yes Furtz the swastika represented many things and even the people of India used it as well. When Adolf Hitler came into power then he took something that was good and made it into something bad. Hailey what Adolf Hitler did was unbelievable and there were many bad and evil people but this man took the cake.

  30. Hitler took the cake… I like that.

  31. Hailey Brown you come across as being deliberately thick on the subject being bantered about. No need to attempt political correctness or apathetic idiocy on the matter. The emblem was not a beaver or a marihuana leaf. The emblem was a swastika. The ramifications are obvious although admittedly the act itself was likely due to ignorance and not hate motivated. The fact that is was not covered up or removed is the reason for concern and contention.

    I fully appreciate ADMIN’s last question to you.

  32. A book that I loved to read was “The Diary of Anne Frank” and this book told a lot about a young Jewish girl who had to hide in an attic with her neighbors in Amsterdam Holland during WWII and the gestapo coming to her door as well as others and they couldn’t make a peep. They were discovered in the end and Anne Frank was killed. This is just a basic kind of book but a good start for people to learn by it. So many people went through these horrible tragedies.

    I mentioned about Kenney Earl in Cornwall that owned Kenney’s Delicatessen and this man lost his first wife in the horrible camps of Hitler. I thought that I should mention that to everyone who thinks that it didn’t happen but it sure did. This is something that the world will never forget and can never be forgotten. I have a motto that I always use and that is: “history always repeats itself” and this is very true indeed.

  33. Right on FURTZ ! Gay used to mean happy. Not to say that gay people aren’t happy but rather that all happy people are not necessarily gay. I better stop before I confuse myself.

  34. We all move on out of necessity, we remember out of respect and to honour those who paid the ultimate price so that we could, move on.

    Jamie thank you from the deepest place of my heart for shutting the site down, Remembrance Day is extremely special to me.

    If you go to http://www.21stbattalion.ca enter the site and scroll down to site navigation and click on soldiers tribute

  35. WHHOOP…. click on O-S and then on F. Oldham to read a Remembrance Day speech he gave 42 years ago. I am proud to say that he was my grandfather.

  36. Admin
    If you could please, can you explain what the link between graffiti in a bathroom wall has to do with reichkristallnacht

    Also can you please explain how you come up with the term victim? I apologize but I can’t find the connection nor could my roommate when it was read last evening.

    David Oldham
    Not thick but more so open minded and not so easily misled by societies need to grasp onto the dark side of everything. As I said before whoever holds the pen holds the truth or interpretation of it

    Society really have nothing to believe in or grasp onto, no heroes, no mentors and definitely no leadership. That is why I approach many of these situations with open skepticism. We are asked to believe in so many things on faith it is scary, maybe more skepticism would prevent future dictatorships and horrific incidents from happening.
    I can say with some confidence that this person painted the emblem as a prank, there was no disrespect meant, how could there be when in most schools real education and respect doesn’t exist not only in schools but in family as well. This simply means he knew little of what was being done because society failed him/her.

    Jules
    A bit of history you may not be aware of Jules, copy and paste the below statement you can look at other incidents of the same type.
    “It is the fact that of the thousands of refugees petitioning to enter between 1934 and 1941, the Newfoundland government turned down all but 11 petitions.”
    Canada was not the only country to deny entry of these refugees. So we do have a hand in leading the people to their fate in Germany.

    Please do not take from this that I am on the side of the Germans, It was wrong and there is no excuse.

    You must also remember Jules, it is the most recent occurrence. It was done with the use of media. How about the Spanish inquisition, Caesars conquests or the acts by the United Kingdom against the Celts. The attempts to breed to purify the Celt line by breeding the women and murder the male children to stop future assaults and growth. The sensationalizing is missing as is meda but the devastation remains and it must be put in perspective of the time
    Why 6 million? How sure are the historians that 6 million was the actual count? I mean today there is no way people can even accurately how much in debt they are and we have all this technology……6 million is it accurate or a round figure.
    Like I said Jules what was done was not right!
    It is done and over and time to lay it to rest . Only a select few still hang on to it and most of those are in the public eye. In short they earn revenue off of their own people’s demise during that time.

    If we keep this hatred, misinformation and mistrust of each other going on for much longer….well this story may be a defining point on what is to come. People are fed up with nothing to believe in and only seeing negativity.

    Just a thought, not meaning to offend anyone and if I have I do apologize.

  37. Hailey Brown you are absolutely right about Canada refusing the Jewish refugees during WWII as well as the US. Some went to South America as well as Australia and New Zealand and other places around the world. You are right on about the refusal of these poor people.

    About the 6 million people murdered that wasn’t just in Germany alone. There were many countries in Europe where Hitler had his horrible insane influence. Hitler didn’t do the actual killing himself but had his SS officers do it for him. Holland, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Poland, Italy and others and the death count was humoungous but nobody really knows the actual figure since they gave a rough estimate of deaths.

    Hailey I saw numbers tattooed on a few of the survivors in Cornwall and I won’t go into it but I saw it since it was shown to me and to my mom way back in the 50’s era. I was a child then but I never forgot what I saw.

    I will say something here just now and that is that if people do not pray and get back to God that there will be another Hitler coming and this time it will be a great deal worse where people will not survive and not just the Jewish people but everyone. This is all very true indeed. The morals of the world came down like a ton of bricks with the abortion, illicit sex, divorce, drug and alcohol addiction, etc. The 60’s era started moral decay. Some people do not believe in God but I can assure you that He exists. The devil exists as well and it is Satan’s world just now and Jesus is allowing Satan to have his turn just now and people have abandoned Him and will go through a severe chastisement if they do not turn around and change their ways. Those who do not believe are in for a mighty rude awakening. We are in the last days and that doesn’t mean the end of the world but the end of Satan’s rule on earth. People have to come back to the Lord or they will be cast out. It is a very complicated issue here.

  38. @HAILEY BROWN …I also, in my previous remarks, was suggestive that the individual likely acted out of ignorance, not malice. I agree, based on this premise that either her/his circle of influence and/or the educational system shares a responsibility. My reference to being “thick”, since we agree on these points, stems from you being apparently, in the same breath, oblivious to the idea that it created an opportunity for the principal to break the cycle of ignorance that seems to be seeping rapidly into our diminishing educational system. We are all failing the leaders of tomorrow by lowering the standards of today.

    My son as a young teenager pointed out one day in a discussion that it was difficult to have respect for teachers, elders,et al when they spoke of repercussions for actions and then failed to deliver. My son was relentlessly bullied during his school years and did not understand at a younger age why it was that “ZERO TOLERANCE” was promoted but without follow through. He understands why now and is able to deal with it appropriately.

  39. Thank you David!!
    I stand behind the principal and the decision of not making a public issue in this situation. Were you there or were any of us there to see what actually happened? Does the principal owe media or public an explanation? I don’t see why she does.

    Dealing with it using discretion is the best way else the situation is blown out of proportions and a frenzy again begins and always by the same people.

    As I mentioned before people are fed up with the drama and the incessant crying foul by people who never even went through the travesty. Yet they still enforce their belief and way of understanding on everyone. That too is wrong and I would think reaping revenue off of the devastation of others is no less criminal then what actually happened.

    Could I claim it never happened and be by chastised for my opinion? What gives any man, woman, race, creed, religion the right to tell me how I am to think?. That in itself is both undemocratic and unconstitutional. The very ideals that brings people here is the right to be you.

    So yes the student did this as a mere prank, but considering nobody was truly hurt and no real foul was committed would it be prudent to have he/she clean the mess.

    I think its time to leave it alone.

  40. Author

    Hailey the student or whomever did the graffiti was never the issue. It’s solely been about the Principal’s judgement and the school board’s, and then Ministry and Premier’s reaction or lack therof.

  41. Hailey none of these things have ever happened during my day in the schools and I remember very well when the teachers and principals put in strict discipline. I would not want to have a child in school these days from what I read and not just in Canada but what I read what goes on in the US. Education today is a complete “0” and parents are not parents and educators can no longer teach. Kids learn by what they are taught at home as well as what they pick up at school and elsewhere. I sure wouldn’t want to live in Cornwall at all from what I see. History repeats itself and if you do not know history then you are bound to repeat it. About the holocaust it sure did happen indeed.

  42. I agree with admin on this one The Holocaust was horrific so many murdered and I do not believe it is right any time to show graffiti of the worst swastikas anywhere anytime..A school leaving them on the walls for 4 weeks.. Are we this low classed?

    I know a lot about the Jewish people as I lived in Montreal for a few years right across from a synagogue..If you can find as many Christians that follow their faith like the Jewish do prove it to me..They have gone through hell and back.. I have seen the people with the numbers on the arm, I have worked for them I have shared meals with them and when they see the swastika it brings back a lot of memories not good ones either.. I have some Dutch friends that when they lived in Holland their mothers would pack up baby carriages full of food for the Jewish people who were hidden away.. The the police or Gestapo would say hello to them and they would have a doll with it’s head sticking out and they would nod and carry on without being bothered… Thank God because if these people would have been caught they too would have been killed..

    I am sure when the Jewish folks lived in Cornwall and a Jewish mayor it might have been a better place to live than it is now for sure..

    I am so disappointed this happened and it was taken so lightly..

    Thanks Admin for this great article

  43. Thank You Admin
    What do you suggest they do? Are you simply looking to have them remove it?

    Again I apologies for seeming to be “thick” but I just don’t understand why you seem so fixated even running a new story on the same incident in a different location.

    I have seen in people in industry become so irate with management that they too vandalize the work place. If there is no chance of safety infractions the mess remains. In some cases they just close down the area. In most cases it is bathrooms and lunch rooms from my end. Kind of an it’s your bed you made it sleep in it ideology

    Why is this any different?

  44. Author

    Hailey the professional response was taken by the VP. The Principal clearly from what has been presented so far shown an utter lack of judgement. School board seemed more focused on covering up Principal Brown’s lack of judgement and hiding the incident. The Premier’s office reaction was totally boggling. Systemic insanity would be the term I use for this incident.

    I know government and corporations like to cover up oopsies. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Principal Brown quietly transferred like it was reported that she was from TAGWI as well. It reminds me of another Ontario issue called Project Truth.

  45. Jane Doe thank you very much for your article which is 100% and more true indeed. I was laying down a while ago thinking of what Cornwall used to be like and under the administration of Mayor Horowitz and believe me I miss those days very much. Today I wouldn’t live there if you gave me millions of dollars. The society today has gone right down the hill.

    Yes the Jewish people are religious and the same holds true right here in Ottawa. I truly feel for these good people and they sure have suffered at the hands of a mighty mentally unstable mad man.

    Jamie (Admin) brought up a very good article and it is something that people should learn about. The actor Paul Newman who was Jewish when he was alive made the movie about the Jewish refugees leaving Europe for Israel and it starred Eva Marie Saint and other great actors and my mind has frozen again and I had the name of it earlier. The theme song is in my head and Andy Williams sang the song among his collection. I think that it starts by E. Gee it’s terrible to get old when I keep forgetting so many things. I am so upset with myself because I forgot a simple word.

  46. The movie and song is called Exodus starring Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint with a host of other excellent actors and made in 1960. Those are what you call good movies. I miss those days so very much.

  47. Once again I will lead off in a post by apologizing. I know many will not agree and it may upset some people. `

    Admin, thank you for your explanation again but you failed to define what you expect them to do. People may have not dealt with it to your liking but when media tends to sensationalize a story and add a personal opinion, it makes it more difficult for anyone to answer.

    I would also like to mention media 101 reporting the news is based on facts and called news, adding an opinion changes the definition from news to an editorial or opinion piece. It lacks the objectiveness.

    When I read this story as well as the other one written here, I never see any mention of words or language used that depicts the emblem as having anything to do with Germany. I also didn’t yet see anyone victimized.

    Jules made mention of it belonging to different races/sects but that is about it. Have we all grown so mind numb that we automatically assume it belongs to one moment in history?

    Maybe these people find solace in emblem and its original intent; by what right do you call a person sick or ill minded for exercising their belief. This is Canada.

  48. Author

    Hailey this is MY OPINION.

    I think the Principal’s actions should have been investigated thoroughly by the school board. I think she should have been suspended and given a course or taken some sort of training to make sure she didn’t have some underlying issues. I think she should have when speaking to the students apologized for her lack of judgement and used that event to reinforce that the rules count for all.

    I think Mr. Thomas owes myself and the viewers an apology as well. Honestly I’m not sure he should be in charge of a school board.

    Again, these are my opinions. I’m not saying they’re right. I also think that Premier Wynne owes the entire Jewish community of Ontario an apology for hiding on this situation. Personally I hate kiss ass politicians that reach out for photo opportunities and try to stick their mugs into events with quick words. Actions count far more than pleasant platitudes for me.

  49. There is something mighty wrong with the administration of CCVS as well as Mr. Thomas at the school board for not having taken any of this seriously. Something is mighty wrong with Cornwall and I have said that for many many long years. None of this would have taken place in any kind of a civilized society at all. I have my reservations about them.

  50. Thank You admin, for your answer!!!

    One more question, when do you think it will be enough. How often will we have to listen to people compare everything to what happened during that era of he 1930’s and 40’s.
    When the only similiarity is what people fabricate. Most people have little or no idea what happened and like the kids that cried wolf, even though in history the wolf was present, after a time people will lose sight of it as well as respect.

    It’s time to stop self pity and hatred

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