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The world was not kind to Jews during the Great Depression. Over in Europe, Jews were facing Anti-Semitism, but it stretched further than that. Canadian Jews had to pay higher insurance rates - if they were even allowed to have insurance. Some were even denied care at Montreal Hospital. In 1939, Canada finally turned away European Jews who had bought passage on the M.S. St. Louis. Unfortunately, Prime Minister MacKenzie King denied refuge as he was Anti-Semitic himself. -
Back in WW1 times, Anti-Semitism was already brewing in Europe. Many Jews immigrated to Canada. During the Great Depression, there was also a lot of anti-semitism, and the government was putting caps on the amount of Jewish immigrants they were allowing into the country. And maybe Jewish weren't facing as terrible of an outcry against moving to Canada during the 1910s, but people definitely weren't happy with them being there, just like during the Great Depression.
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From WW1 times to the Great Depression, women's roles had many similarities. Women were in the workforce and were making do with less, as they were in the middle of WW1 then. They were also expected to take care of the home while men were away fighting/looking for work.
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Women were getting jobs during the Great Depression in Canada, 1929, especially because they were cheaper to hire. But many people were imposing limits to one paying job per family to discourage women from taking the jobs from men. Nonetheless, some women took over jobs in factories, while keeping their own job at home, as a housewife. During the Great Depression, women learned how to live off of very little, and to waste nothing. They bought the cheapest foods, and never had leftovers. -
Farmers had it very difficult during the Great Depression in 1929. Their income dropped 60%, and in the summer of 1929, a devastating drought overtook the Prairies of Canada. 60% of the population abandoned everything to find better work. The dust from the storms were making people sick. In 1931, grasshopper plagues started, further ruining the lands. It was very difficult to live in the "Dustbowl," the nickname for the Prairies. In 1937, the droughts ended, and people returned to the Prairies. -
Farmers during the Great Depression didn't have many similarities to the farmers of WW1, except that they were both working for lower wages. Everything else is different, the most fundamental difference being the fact that production was high during the war years, and there was nothing being grown during the Great Depression.
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During WW2, Jews were very targeted in Germany. Because of this, some Canadian Jews enlisted to fight for their loved ones overseas. 17000 Jewish men and women enlisted in Canada. During the war, some Canadian Jews were interned in camps because of Anti-Semitic beliefs, originally with the P.O.W.s, but this was protested. It wasn't safe for them there, and so, separate camps were established. In total, 2423 Canadians were interned, including Jews. -
In WW1 times, Jews were not a prominent, marginalized group, but there were some unchecked actions and language which made them feel restricted in Europe, and many travelled to Canada. But Canada started implementing laws after that to try and keep them out. In WW2, Canada wanted nothing to do with the Jewish refugees, and barely let any in. Jews were not widely accepted even in Canada neither in WW1 nor WW2.
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Women once again filled holes in the workforce to support the war effort while the men were off fighting in WW2. Canadian women worked in service, manufacturing and construction, and knitted socks and mittens for the soldiers. They had to make do with less and many donated items for clothing and aluminum drives. Women also wanted to fight in 1941 and convinced the government to form the women's forces, where they served in every branch. -
Many things are similar between women's roles in WW1 and WW2. Both times, they were forced to make do with less and run their households while their husbands and sons were away fighting. They filled gaps in the workforce and complied with rations to support the war effort. Women also worked overseas both times as Nursing Sisters, though working in the actual combat was new to WW2.
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Farmers stepped up production to support the war effort in 1939. It pulled them out of the Great Depression, and many new things were introduced to Canadian farmers. For instance, Farm Service. High school students were encouraged to join this program where they would leave school early in the year to go work on a farm for the summer. Farm Duty leaves were also introduced. This meant that farmers that were serving could take leave to go help on the farm. -
Farmers did much of the same things in WW1 that they did in WW2. They ramped up production to feed the soldiers overseas, and some of them volunteered to fight. Farmerettes took over farming during both times.
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