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#OTD 1933, the Christie Pits Riot took place in Toronto, which I love to talk abt b/c it brings together my love of #TOHist #Baseball ⚾️ and #antifascista...a thread.
In the summer of 1933, Torontonians flocked to the city's beaches to cool down. At Balmy Beach local WASP youth didnt want to share the amenities w/ "foreign" visitors particularly Jews, so they organized the Swastika Club to intimidate the visitors. #TOHist #ChristiePitsRiot
Where would Toronto youths have got the idea of forming gangs and wearing swastika armbands to intimidate Jews? From reading newspaper reporting abt the rise of Adolf H!tler and the Nazi party earlier in 1933, and their anti-semitic rhetoric. (Not knowing where that would lead)
There were scuffles between the Swatika Club members and Jewish youth on the beaches over the summer of 1933. There were protests and counter-protesters, as well as efforts to disband the Club voluntarily. #ChristiePitsRiot
In the 1930s Toronto was ~80-85% of British descent. The city's Jewish community was mostly working class and had arrived from Eastern Europe since the 1880s, was the largest and most visible minority pop. making up ~7% of total. #TOHist
On 14 Aug 1933 provocateurs waved a home-made swastika banner at a baseball game b/w Harbord Playground (predominantly Jewish and Italian players) and St Peter's (team sponsored by Catholic church at Bathurst and Bloor). #TOHist
On 16 Aug, the teams played the second game of their series and the so-called Pit Gang again displayed a homemade swastika banner after the final out was called. The Jewish fans and their Italian allies rushed to destroy the offending banner. 🕎🤝🍝 💪 #ChristiePitsRiot #TOHist
A general melee broke out. Reinforcements came Kensington Market. Newspapers reported 10,000 combatants (!) armed w/ bricks, pipes, bats. The Toronto police were woefully unprepared despite prior warning that there could be conflict at the game.
