Open Wednesday to Saturday, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Toronto’s Christie Pits Riot
Image: Christie Pits (1933), City of Toronto Archives
In 1933, an anti-semitic race riot during a baseball game left many injured—and foreshadowed a decade of persecution and violence.
It’s easy to imagine Toronto as removed from the violence of anti-semitism and the rise of Adolf Hitler, but on an August evening in 1933, the animosity that troubled the streets of Berlin emerged in Toronto during a baseball game at Christie Pits. Earlier in 1933, Adolf Hitler emerged as the winner of the German election with a populist platform that promised the return of good fortune and pride to Germany after a decade and a half of economic misery. The riot that ensued in Toronto was a reflection of the global spread of Hitler’s white supremacist views.
During a neighbourhood baseball game between the Harbord Playground team and another represented by St.Peter’s church a couple of days before the brawl, someone pulled out a white flag containing a swastika. The action mobilized supporters and opponents of the Nazi Party. Up to 10,000 people converged upon the park as the game suddenly became a platform for racial politics, and soon enough, young men brawled for over five hours in what the Toronto Daily Star called “one of the worst free-for-alls ever seen in the city.”
Stabbings and beatings forced several young men on both sides to go to Toronto Western Hospital, many of whom were simply bystanders drawn by the crowd. The Daily Star claimed that the violence was due in part to many in the crowd chanting “Heil, Hitler”, the common Nazi German salute, towards those the Germans had already begun victimizing.
That very year, Adolf Hitler kickstarted twelve years of persecution, violence and genocide against Jews, Roma, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals and political dissidents, though even his supporters could not have predicted the horrific extent of the Third Reich.
Even after using horses, billie clubs, and even exhaust smoke from motorcycles, the crowds at Christie Pits failed to disperse in an orderly manner. Only at 2am did the fighting begin to dissipate.
According to the Toronto Daily Star, “[h]eads were opened, eyes blacked and bodies thumped and battered as literally dozens of persons, young and old, many of them non-combatant spectators, were injured more or less seriously by a variety of ugly weapons in the hands of wild-eyed and irresponsible young hoodlums, both Jewish and Gentile.”
Recently, author Jamie Michael and illustrator Doug Fedrau published a graphic novel called Christie Pits, about the riots. The book examines both the events as well as the social climate of Toronto and Nazi Germany at the time.
Learn more about the Christie Pits riot through The Canadian Encyclopedia.
Explore More
Join us at Museum of Toronto for a personalized guided
Black Diasporas Tkaronto-Toronto
Our latest exhibition opens on November 20th.
Share this Article
Explore More
Content
Curatorial Tours of Black Diasporas Tkaronto-Toronto
Join us at Museum of Toronto for a personalized guided group tour of the Black Diasporas Tkaronto-Toronto exhibition.
Black Diasporas Tkaronto-Toronto
Our latest exhibition opens on November 20th.
Curator-Led Tours of Mr. Dressup to Degrassi
Curator Ed Conroy led tours of the Mr. Dressup to Degrassi exhibition at Museum of Toronto
Nina Keogh Teaches Puppetry for Television
This past workshop welcomed participants into the puppetry world of the wonderful Nina Keogh.
Let’s Stay In Touch
Follow us on your favourite social media channel for more Toronto histories.
In Loving Memory: #DeadRacoonTO
Lets remember the Toronto raccoon whose passing made international headlines.
36 Questions That Lead to Loving Toronto: Green Edition
Explore your connection with Toronto, its green spaces, and each other. Find our pop-ups across the city all summer long.
For the Love of Toronto: Talking About Our City
Let's explore how we define our love, passion, challenges, obsessions, and idiosyncratic outlooks on life in Toronto.
Urban Colour & Natural Dyes Workshop
There are vibrant hues hiding in unexpected places around the city! Learn the art of creating dyes with the Contemporary Textile Studio Co-Op
A Taste of Beekeeping in Toronto
Learn about urban beekeeping, the city's honeybee population, and partake in a honey tasting!