A 97-year-old Holocaust survivor has said he feels vulnerable and unsafe after mezuzahs were stolen from his Toronto seniors’ residence, in what police are investigating as a possible antisemitic hate crime. The incident marks the second time in one month that Jewish religious symbols have been removed from residential buildings housing elderly Jewish residents in the city, reports The Jerusalem Post.
Nate Leipciger, a survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Dachau, lives in the affected building. Speaking after the latest incident, he said the theft had left him shaken. “I feel vulnerable; they invaded under my skin,” he said, more than 80 years after surviving the Nazi camps. Although Leipciger was not at home when the mezuzahs were taken, he said the incident revived deep fears in light of what he described as a growing global wave of antisemitism. “It’s a different time, but the hatred is the same,” he said. “Living in Canada, I thought we were safe from this.”
According to information released by the International March of the Living, four mezuzahs were removed from apartment doors during the Christmas period. Toronto Police have opened an investigation to determine whether the incident constitutes a hate crime.
This follows a similar attack earlier in December, when 20 mezuzahs were torn from doorposts in another Toronto residential building, also housing Jewish seniors. York Centre Councillor James Pasternak and the Toronto Police Service confirmed that the earlier incident occurred on 7 December.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said the repeated targeting of Jewish homes during the holiday season highlights a disturbing pattern of antisemitic harassment. The organisation called on authorities to take firm action to ensure the safety of Jewish residents.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow condemned the earlier incident, calling it “an outrageous and vile act of antisemitism.” She noted that the building affected was a supportive housing residence for seniors and said its residents “deserve to live in peace without fear of being targeted for being Jewish.”
Photo credit: Lior Cohen
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