For the second time in recent weeks, an unidentified person has torn mezuzahs from apartments where elderly Jewish residents live, many of them Holocaust survivors, in the Canadian city of Toronto. Despite the seriousness of the incidents, no suspects have been arrested.
Holocaust survivor Nate Leipciger, 97, who lives in the building where the mezuzahs were removed, said in an interview published Saturday in the Toronto Sun that such acts would once have driven him to leave Canada. “If this had happened in the 1960s or 1970s, it would have made me leave Canada and return to live safely in Israel to avoid antisemitism,” he said.
Liepziger was born in 1928 in Poland. After Nazi Germany invaded, his family fled, but they were eventually deported to Auschwitz, the last place he saw his mother and sister alive. Imprisoned with his father, he survived several camps before both were liberated in 1945. They arrived in Canada two years later.
He said what troubles him most is not his own personal safety but the fear gripping Jews, especially younger ones, who feel compelled to hide or even deny their Jewish identity. “That worries me more than anything else, even more than my own safety,” he said. “The fact that my great-grandchildren are exposed to hatred and feel there is something wrong with them, that maybe they need to hide their Judaism.”
'Do not hide your symbols,' he added. 'Stand up to whoever it is, because they want you to bow your head and conceal your identity.'
Liepziger has dedicated his life to Holocaust education and serves as a living witness, leading youth delegations from Canada to the March of the Living in Poland. He has participated in 21 marches and plans to attend the 22nd on Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 14. Each year he gives testimony in the barrack where he was held in Birkenau, speaking to thousands of young people from Canada.
In 2024, Liepziger lit the torch in the fight against antisemitism alongside teenagers, saying, “I stood on this ramp 81 years ago, and every day in the camp could have been my last. The ashes of my family are scattered across this camp. Remember, human rights are also Jewish rights. Stand against antisemitism and fight hatred everywhere.” Last June he was awarded the Order of Canada for his decades-long work in Holocaust education.
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One of the apartments from which the mezuzah was stolen earlier this month
(Photo: Social media)
Revital Yachin Krakovsky, CEO of the March of the Living in Israel, condemned the incidents. “Antisemites know no bounds in their cruelty,” she said. “Breaking into the private space of Holocaust survivors and damaging it is a direct threat to the security of Jews, and in this case Holocaust survivors. The fact that this has happened twice in one month shows just how exposed Jews are to antisemitism that has spiraled out of control.”
Earlier, Toronto City Councilor James Pasternak also addressed the incident. “Mezuzahs were torn from the doorposts of several residential units in a building on Bayview Avenue, home to many Jewish residents, including Holocaust survivors,” he said. “This was the second such incident reported in the area within weeks, following a similar act earlier this month. Toronto police are investigating the matter as a potential hate crime.”
Community members and residents, Pasternak added, expressed deep concern about the impact of these targeted acts, particularly on elderly residents. “This case of mezuzah vandalism is another example of the hatred clinging to our city, often fueled by incitement in the streets and online,” he said. “There must be universal condemnation of these acts, and there must be consequences. The atmosphere of lawlessness is pushing Toronto toward the brink.”