Anti-Greek riots in Toronto in 1918

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The anti-Greek riots (English 1918 Toronto anti-Greek riot ) were a three-day pogrom in Toronto and lasted from August 2nd to 4th, 1918. Around 20,000 veterans of the First World War looted and destroyed shops and over 20 restaurants in the Greek quarter Yonge Street .

history

Returning soldiers were often cast out themselves by their families and received little support from the state. A demonstration was scheduled for August 6th to draw attention to their fate. On August 1st, veteran Claude Cludernay stopped at the White City Café , where he drunk and attacked a waiter . The Greek owner then called the police. A day later, thousands of veterans attacked Greek shops and over 20 restaurants in the Greek neighborhood on Yonge Street.

The Greek community was an easy victim because although it only comprised around 3000 people (i.e. 0.5% of the city's population), it was very present in the trade. A large proportion of the restaurants, cafes , clothing stores and shoe salons were run by Greeks. The perpetrators accused the citizens of Greek descent to have avoided military service and mixed this view with Greece's late entry into the war . In fact, 140 people of Greek descent from Toronto had served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force , 5 of whom had died. The police only succeeded in bringing the situation under control with the help of the military on the third day of the pogrom; a state of emergency had previously been imposed. There was no compensation for the victims.

consequences

The Greek Quarter on Yonge Street was history. Most of the victims turned to other professions, many changed their names (mostly by leaving out the Greek ending) and denied their origin out of fear. It took around 40 years for Greek culture to reappear in the cityscape, with Greektown on Danforth Street, which still exists today. The success of the perpetrators and the lack of punishment encouraged the Ku Klux Klan in the USA to also attack Greeks and their companies. In 1920 the AHEPA was founded by citizens of Greek origin , an aid organization which set itself the goal of intensifying the exchange of Greeks and non-Greeks.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Laura Neilson Bonikowsky: Toronto Feature: Anti-Greek Riots .
  2. ^ Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples , p. 624
  3. ↑ Toula Drimonis: A century later, a vicious anti-Greek riot in Toronto offers lessons for today . In: MacLean's , August 1, 2018.