Christie Pits riot
The Christie Pits riot occurred on August 16, 1933, in Willowvale Park, known as Christie Pits, in Toronto, Canada. It was a significant incident rooted in the rising antisemitism of the time, particularly against the backdrop of the Jewish community being the city’s largest ethnic minority, comprising about 7% of the population. The riot erupted during a softball game between a Jewish team and a non-Jewish team from St. Peter's Church when a local gang, the Pit Gang, displayed a swastika and shouted antisemitic slogans.
Tensions escalated, leading to a violent confrontation where Jewish supporters, along with allies from the Italian and Roman Catholic communities, defended against the gang with makeshift weapons. The riot lasted for approximately six hours and, while it resulted in serious injuries, no fatalities were reported. This event had a profound impact on Toronto's social landscape, prompting a greater awareness of racial issues and leading to legal changes against the public display of swastikas in the city. The Christie Pits riot is remembered as a pivotal moment in the fight against antisemitism in Canada and marked a turning point in community relations.
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Subject Terms
Christie Pits riot
The Event Race riot Between Jewish and Nazi youths
Date August 16, 1933
Place Toronto, Canada
During the 1930’s, many Jews settled in Toronto, where they faced discrimination from the locals. The Christie Pits riot occurred in 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression and the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi influence on the world. The riot began after taunts at Jewish participants at a junior softball game.
In 1933, Jews were Toronto’s largest ethnic minority group, accounting for 7 percent of the city’s 682,000 residents. Jews lived in “the Ward” area of the city, west of Spadina Avenue. Many of the Jews worked in the garment district during the Depression years. They were unwelcome competition and were prohibited from area resorts, restaurants, hotels, and clubs. Signs at these locations read “Gentiles Only.” Jews spent their free time at Kew Beach, though they experienced discrimination there as well. They were accused of littering the beach and changing in the open. Hitler had recently come to power in Germany, and the swastika, an icon appropriated by the Nazis, was emerging as a symbol of Jewish hate. To terrorize Canadian Jews, some non-Jewish Canadians formed groups such as the Swastika Club on Queen Street East.
The location of the riot was Willowvale Park, though the area was known as “Christie Pits” because it was a former quarry pit that had been turned into a park named “Christie,” for a tanner who sold leather goods there. On August 16, the Christian, non-Jewish St. Peter’s softball team from a church located at Bloor and Bathurst streets played the Jewish Harbord playground team. The Jewish team suffered through numerous insults. By the second game, a neighborhood gang called the Pit Gang waved a bed sheet with a swastika and chanted “Heil Hitler” when the Harbord team tied the game. Jewish supporters, many of whom were Italian and Roman Catholic, ran toward the gang with homemade weapons of sticks, chains, and pipes. The riot lasted about six hours.
Impact
Although some people were seriously injured, there were no reports of anyone dying from the violence. The event was so shocking for the community that it marked the genesis of a new sensitivity and change in Toronto race relations. Soon thereafter, displaying a swastika was illegal in the city.
Bibliography
Comacchio, Cynthia R. The Dominion of Youth: Adolescence and the Making of a Modern Canada, 1920-1950. Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2006.
Levitt, Cyril, and William Shaffir. The Riot at Christie Pits. Toronto: Lester & Orpen Dennys, 1987.
Tulchinsky, Karen X. The Five Books of Moses Lapinsky. Vancouver, B.C.: Polestar, 2003.