School offered resources after latest antisemitic incident

The Manitoba Institute to Combat Antisemitism is urging teachers to take advantage of its free services in response to multiple reports of vandalism at a River Heights high school.

Families at Kelvin High School were informed last week that a swastika had been spray-painted on the building at 155 Kingsway.

School administration was alerted Monday that a Jewish teenager at the school had discovered the same hate symbol inside their locker.

“I’d like to see an assembly when something like this happens,” said Belle Jarniewski, who oversees the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada and its new offshoot, the Manitoba Institute to Combat Antisemitism.

“I think it’s really important that the whole school is taking this seriously — it’s not a joke — and to help the kids understand that this is something that is not acceptable.”

Jarniewski, who is the daughter of Holocaust survivors, has penned a letter to the principal to offer her support.

She runs free, customizeable training sessions for staff groups of all kinds to help employees better understand what modern-day antisemitism looks like and how to address it. In recent months, she’s met with Crown prosecutors, police, law firms and medical students.

The Manitoba Institute to Combat Antisemitism launched in the fall through a partnership between the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada and the Asper Foundation.

Its mandate is to promote education to tackle a surge in anti-Jew rhetoric both online and in-person following the Hamas invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Statistics Canada found 920 of the 1,342 religion-related hate crimes in 2024 were carried out against Jews. That’s roughly seven in 10 incidents.

The Winnipeg Police Service reported 25 anti-Jewish incidents in 2024. The most common hate-motivated offence was mischief, followed by uttering threats and assault.

There were 18 hate-motivated crimes against Jewish Winnipeggers in 2023, up from seven in 2022.

Matt Henderson, superintendent of the Winnipeg School Division, called last week’s spray-paint incident at Kelvin an unacceptable and “cowardly act” in a memo to families.

His office confirmed Monday that school leaders and police are investigating another incident. Citing the ongoing status of the investigation, division officials declined to share more information.

The parent of the child who discovered a swastika in a locker said the school’s response was swift, but an initial review of internal video footage didn’t yield any answers.

“We’re all exhausted because it’s hard to see your congregation and your school hit,” said the parent, a member of the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue, which was the target of vandalism on Jan. 2.

(They asked their name be withheld from print due to concerns their child was targeted because they’ve spoken out about antisemitism in recent days.)

Oliver Didtger Ederhof, 34, has been charged with 14 counts of mischief under $5,000, including vandalizing the place of worship.

Lillian Klausen, president of the Manitoba Teachers’ Society, said she was extremely disappointed and disheartened to learn about recent attacks against Jewish community members.

Klausen said she’s hopeful that investigations will yield answers for everyone involved and bring an end to a recent uptick in violence.

“We’re pleased to see the new curriculum out and we’re looking forward to the professional development opportunities for all of our teachers to take a better look at that,” said the union leader who represents roughly 17,000 teachers.

Jarniewski is facilitating two professional development events in March to help teachers make sense of the new mandatory Holocaust curriculum.

As of the current school year, Grade 6, 9 and 11 social studies teachers are expected to update their lesson plans. Memoirs by local survivors are recommended as part of the new curriculum.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca