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1914-1945: Overview / War Years / Interwar Years / World War II / Changing Attitudes
Changing Attitudes
A more fundamental change took place in public attitudes towards non-British ethnic groups. At the war's conclusion, public attitudes were greatly affected by news of the racist measures used by Germany against ethnic and religious minorities and particularly Jews within Europe. The horror of the Holocaust prompted a re-evaluation of racial purity ideas. Political support for discriminatory immigration laws was also seriously undermined when Canadians learned more about their own nation's treatment of Jewish refugees. Not only would Canadians become more receptive to new immigration requirements and understand the problem of refugee populations differently, but they would also be more receptive to a multicultural ideal for their nation.
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National Archives of Canada (PA-166367, photo by Donald I. Grant). |
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Liberated Concentration Camp Prisoners,
Weener, Germany, Nazi race extermination campaigns helped invalidate racial purity theories that were widely accepted before the Second World War. |
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© Chinook Multimedia Inc., 2000. |
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