Jewish group denounces monument to Nazi collaborators at Ontario kids’ camp

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A Jewish group is denouncing a monument that honours Nazi collaborators and was installed decades ago at a children’s summer camp in Ontario.

The memorial at Seedrioru, a camp for Estonian-Canadian children and teens in Elora, near Toronto, celebrates “Estonian heroic freedom fighters.” It was engraved with the names of four men who served with the Waffen SS and collaborated with Adolf Hitler’s genocidal regime.

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As recently as July 8, photographs were posted on the organization’s webpage showing young campers and staff laying wreaths at the monument.

Members of the Jewish community contacted this newspaper to express disgust at such activities during a time when incidents of anti-Semitism were on the rise.

Officials with Seedrioru as well as the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal, a Holocaust education organization, confirmed existence of the monument.

Jaime Kirzner-Roberts of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal said the four individuals whose names were etched on the monument had roles in murdering Jews during the Holocaust. The four men also later served in an Estonian Waffen SS division, and all received Nazi Germany’s highest military award.

The memorial, known as the Swords Monument, was erected in the late 1970s.

“We are very disturbed to learn that, for decades, children attending this summer camp have been commemorating a monument for Nazi collaborators and war criminals,” Kirzner-Roberts said. “It is sickening to think that right here in our province children have been indoctrinated into worshipping Nazi leaders involved in committing such heinous atrocities.”

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Kirzner-Roberts said the names were removed in the past week after her organization raised concerns with members of the Estonian-Canadian community.

Lia Hess, volunteer head of the board of directors for the Estonian Summer Camp Society Inc., said the monument didn’t honour any specific individuals. “The purpose of this monument is solely to remember our homeland and those that died in battles to defend Estonia’s freedom from 1941-1945,” she wrote in an email. “Some concerns were recently expressed within our own community about displaying names, so all names of individuals were removed with no objections.”

The Waffen SS veterans are seen as heroes by some in Estonia and the Estonian-Canadian community since they fought the Soviets during the Second World War. The Soviet Union was allied with Canada, the United States, Britain and other nations during the war to defeat Nazi Germany.

One of the Waffen SS veterans whose name was engraved on the Swords Monument was Harald Nugiseks, who was buried with full military honours in Estonia when he died in 2014.

In a 1993 interview, Nugiseks said he volunteered for the Waffen SS because he supported what Nazi Germany was doing in Europe.

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Claims that Estonians or the SS soldiers were involved in rounding up and executing Jews is nonsense, he said in the interview published by a far-right website which honours the Waffen SS. “What happened to most Jews was brought on by their actions,” Nugiseks said, adding that those who were killed were enemies of Estonia.

Nugiseks said he did not hold any personal animosity to Jews, but claimed they were heavily involved in supporting the Soviets. “I only saw the Germans being very kind to those they were removing, not like what is shown on TV today,” he added.

Friends of Simon Wiesenthal also noted another of the men whose names were on the Swords Monument was Alfons Rebane. Research by the Holocaust organization noted Rebane was originally a commander of a unit within the Estonian Home Guard that was involved in criminal acts, including taking part in the roundup of 200 Roma people and 950 Jews.

All four individuals whose names were on the monument later joined the 20th Waffen SS Division, also known as the 1st Estonian.

The other two men whose names were on the monument are Waffen SS veterans Harald Riipalu and Paul Maitla.

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Some Holocaust scholars have noted the Estonian SS division’s soldiers were involved in the executions of as many as 2,000 prisoners at the Klooga concentration camp in Estonia.

Rebane was also on the radar for Canadian government officials, who noted his Nazi past. “Estonia has received significant international criticism for allowing ex-SS veterans to march in parades,” a Canadian Heritage official wrote in an email from 2021. “More recently, it was criticized for erecting a plaque that commemorates Alfons Rebane, an SS officer and Nazi collaborator, who did, however, fight the Soviets.”

The documents, obtained by this newspaper using the Access to Information law, involved discussions over concerns that the names of Nazi collaborators could be on the Victims of Communism memorial in Ottawa.

Kirzner-Roberts said research by her organization showed that 15 Waffen SS members were originally involved in the creation and operation of the Seedrioru summer camp or had leadership roles at times.

“We have no knowledge of this alledged (sic) research or the alleged identities of 15 individuals,” Hess said.

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Hess also pointed out the Estonian Children’s Summer Camp did not erect the monument. “It was designed, erected and paid for by Estonian War Veterans in the early 1970s, during a period of time when Estonia was still under occupation by the Soviet Union and with no access to any historical records,” she noted.

Kirzner-Roberts said that after her organization found out about the monument she met with an intermediary from the Estonian-Canadian community to raise her concerns. She also suggested the two communities come together in reconciliation to discuss the issue of glorifying Nazis collaborators.

But Kirzner-Roberts said she was disappointed to see shortly after the meeting that the names of the Nazi collaborators had been scrubbed from the Seedrioru camp website.

Hess, however, stated “no one from the ‘Friends of Simon Wiesenthal’ organization has made any contact with me or any members of the board of the Estonian Children’s summer camp society Inc.”

In response to that claim, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal showed this newspaper a copy of the email that was sent linking Hess to their organization and pointing to concerns about the monument names.

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist covering Canadian Forces and military issues in Canada. To support his work, subscribe: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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