Holocaust Survivor Warns of Rising Antisemitism in Canada Amid Global Surge

Thousands gathered at the annual March of the Living at Auschwitz-Birkenau on Tuesday, where 98-year-old Holocaust survivor Nate Leipciger delivered a sobering message about the alarming rise of antisemitism in his adopted homeland of Canada.

Speaking at the commemoration ceremony in Poland, Leipciger recounted how he was recently targeted in Toronto when mezuzahs—sacred Jewish parchment scrolls—were forcibly removed from apartment doors in his building. The situation escalated dramatically in March when his synagogue was attacked in a drive-by shooting.

“The front doors and lobby were destroyed. It is terrible that we have lost our sense of security,” Leipciger told Fox News Digital. “Once you lose that, you no longer know when or where the next attack might occur. It is deeply troubling to live in a free, democratic country—where everyone is meant to have equal rights—and to be persecuted in this way.”

Born in Poland in 1928, Leipciger survived the horrors of Auschwitz after being deported there in 1943. After enduring multiple concentration camps and a death march, he was liberated in 1945 and immigrated to Canada three years later. His story represents a tragic irony—having escaped the Holocaust only to witness antisemitism resurging in his place of refuge nearly eight decades later.

“The running is over. For centuries, we ran. We have to stand up for our right to live as Jews in any country, including Israel, as free citizens enjoying the fruits of Western culture, of which we are part,” Leipciger declared, adding that confronting deception and lies is crucial to preventing history from repeating itself.

Canada has experienced an unprecedented surge in antisemitic incidents since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. B’nai Brith Canada reported 6,219 antisemitic incidents in 2024—more than double the number recorded in 2022. While comprehensive data for 2025 has yet to be released, Public Safety Canada noted that between April and June 2025, 69% of religiously motivated hate crimes targeted the Jewish community.

The situation has deteriorated to the point where Israeli officials have raised concerns both privately and publicly to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government. Israeli Ambassador to Ottawa Ido Moed described the situation in stark terms: “Israel views the recent attacks against synagogues as very serious and considers Canada among the high-risk countries in terms of shooting incidents.”

The violence has continued into the current year. Earlier this month, shots were fired at a Jewish-owned restaurant in Toronto during Passover. In March alone, three synagogues in the Toronto area were targeted by gunfire within a single week, prompting Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, to send an urgent letter to Ottawa calling for increased protection of Jewish communities.

Richard Marceau, senior vice president at the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs, provided a troubling statistical context: Jewish Canadians are 25 times more likely than any other group to be victims of hate crimes.

“What we have seen in Canada is an all-level systemic failure to address Jew-hatred,” Marceau told Fox News Digital. “Confronting this crisis is essential not only to protect the Jewish community but to safeguard the future of the Canadian way of life.”

Law enforcement officials are working to address these concerns. RCMP Superintendent SanJaya Wijayakoon, who joined a global law enforcement delegation at the March of the Living, emphasized the importance of community engagement in confronting antisemitism.

“A big part of our work is to build contacts and maintain strong relationships through which we can receive information, provide advice and guidance on ensuring safety, and, if something crosses the line into criminality, investigate it fully,” Wijayakoon explained.

U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Yehuda Kaploun highlighted the importance of leadership accountability in addressing the problem. “It is incumbent upon law enforcement in various countries to designate terrorist organizations, as we have done with certain aspects of the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The world should do so collectively, and America is leading the way in that battle,” Kaploun said at Auschwitz.

Some critics, however, believe the Canadian government’s response has been insufficient. Sylvan Adams, president of the World Jewish Congress Israel Region, called on Prime Minister Carney to take more decisive action.

“I would like to see the prime minister properly define the problem and stop pussyfooting around,” Adams said. “We are under attack. Foreign actors are operating in Western countries in three areas: they are sending radical imams into mosques, they are investing massive amounts of money in educational systems, and they are targeting us on social media.”

Adams concluded with a warning that resonates with the historical echoes of the Holocaust: “Everyone in the West needs to wake up. They are trying to take away our freedom. It starts with the Jews but never ends with the Jews.”