By the end of World War II, as the horrors of the Holocaust slowly became known, organized anti-Semitism was largely discredited. Still, there exist in Canada a myriad of extreme right-wing groups that include elements of fundamentalist Christianity, anti-Semitism, anti-communism, and racism. Among the better known in recent years are the Western Guard, the Ku Klux Klan, the Heritage Front, and various “skinhead” movements. A study in the 1980s identified 130 such organizations and 586 individual members. Although these groups are not large, they amplify their presence through media coverage of their activities and the legal action implemented to stop them. Anti-Semitism in Canada today relies on the recurring myth of an international Jewish or Zionist conspiracy. A potent new element is the revisionist thesis, which denies the existence or magnitude of the Holocaust. It is often developed under the guise of freedom of academic inquiry or the value of a relativistic approach in the search for truth. One study found that only 50 percent of Canadians agreed that some six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust; about 16 percent claimed that the Holocaust was partly the fault of Jews themselves.
Magocsi, Paul R.. Encyclopedia of
Canada's Peoples. University of Toronto
Press. 1999. p.879.
