ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that ideas of national identity provided the framework for English Canadian responses to Kristallnacht. Canadians' lack of interest in Jewish persecution continued even throughout the days leading up to the 1938 November pogrom, largely because it was seen to have little bearing on Western European politics. The English Canadian press noted the Nazis had issued several decrees that prohibited Jews from owning retail stores and running any commercial venture. McCutcheon demanded that Canadians boycott German goods and the government embargo exports to Germany, hoping that measures would bring 'Hitler to heel'. The strategy of presenting the Jewish refugee crisis as an economic opportunity for Canada was propagated by Constance Hayward, executive secretary for the Canadian National Committee on Refugees and Victims of Political Persecution. Adolf Hitler's efforts to export Jewish refugee crisis to Canada was seen as an effort to stir up racial tensions within Canada and weaken Canada's potential war effort.
