Reviewed Book: Delisle, Ester. The Traitor and the Jew: Anti-Semitism and the Delirium of Extremist Right-Wing Nationalism in French Canada from 1929-1939. Montreal: Robert Davis, 1993

Cole-Arnal, Oscar

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The Traitor and the Jew: Anti-Semitism and the Delirium of Extremist Right-Wing Nationalism in French Canada from 1929-1939

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 22Issue 1 Canadian Lutherans and Social Justice:Sampling of a HeritageArticle 155-1-1996The Traitor and the Jew: Anti-Semitism and theDelirium of Extremist Right-Wing Nationalism inFrench Canada from 1929-1939Oscar Cole-ArnalFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationCole-Arnal, Oscar (1996) "The Traitor and the Jew: Anti-Semitism and the Delirium of Extremist Right-Wing Nationalism in FrenchCanada from 1929-1939," Consensus: Vol. 22 : Iss. 1 , Article 15.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol22/iss1/15Book Reviews 121The Traitor and the Jew: Anti-Semitism and thedelirium of extremist right-wing nationalism in FrenchCanada from 1929-1939Ester DelisleMontreal-Toronto: Robert Davies Publishing, 1993215 pp.The Traitor and the Jew and the story behind the book have elicitedmuch controversy in the land. The book itself is a revision of author Delisle’sdoctoral dissertation at the Universite Laval, a dissertation which was thesubject of strong polarization within the departmental faculty there. Somefelt her work was deserving of a doctorate; others did not. The debate be-came public through a number of prominent figures, not least of which wasPierre Elliott Trudeau. Quickly the academic controversy became political,since the subject matter of her dissertation and the above book touch thevery heart of Quebec nationalism and its past. Tragically opinion on thebook has divided, for the most part, along such political lines with neo-separatists disparaging the work and pro-federalists lauding it. In spite ofthe publicity, and to some extent because of it, there is an imperative toevaluate the book on its own merits. Although such a task is difficult, Iwill make the attempt in the following paragraphs.Initially I had high hopes for the book. In my own research in Quebecover the last seven years I was saddened to witness much uncritical patri-otism surrounding Quebec’s nationalists in the early half of this century.Of course, this was not universal, yet I was uncomfortable with the factthat many Quebec progressives were engaging in selective memory whenit came to such figures as Lionel Groulx. Father Groulx was being laudedfor his patriotism, and his reactionary corporatism, laced with xenophobiaand anti-Semitism, was either ignored or softened considerably. This struckme as strikingly similar to our own Lutheran tendency to ignore Luther’santi-Semitism and his brutal treatment of the peasant rebels (1525). Myhope was that Delisle’s book would challenge such avoidance of the darkside of early Quebecois nationalism.Dr. Delisle accomplished this very well with respect to Abbe Groulx, butit seemed as if she were far away from indicting the wide range of clerico-nationalists in the 1930s and 1940s, which very thing she had promisedto deliver. However, as the book progressed, her evidence for the lattergot stronger and stronger. Indeed, she was able to demonstrate that anti-Semitism and xenophobia were part-and-parcel of Jeune-Ganada and theneo-nationalists of L’Action nationale and Le Devoir. What was mostappalling was how extensive the data was, to the point of advertising blurbsand small news items. Even the admired progressive Andre Laurendeau wasnot untainted, though it is worth noting that he has since apologized forhis earlier forays in bigotry.The Traitor and the Jew has its own outrageous and debatable char-acteristics. For example, one might challenge Delisle’s views regarding the122 Consensusnihilism of the figures she portrays, and it is not certain that these clerico-nationalists are the full-blown “Nazis” that she seems to suggest. Morelikely they are replicas of the Petainiste collaborators of continental France.It is to be regretted that the flames of public controversy have envelopedthe book. Mordecai Richler, with his own gratuitous snipes at Quebecoispatriotism, has made honest debate on the book increasingly difficult by hisendorsement of Delisle’s work. Nonetheless, The Traitor and the Jew hasbrought to the light of day much of the ugly side of the right-wing nation-alism that dominated part of Quebec’s past. Dr. John Heilman of McGillUniversity is currently in the process of unearthing data that shows thatsectors of Quebec’s clerical and political elites played a major role in helpingpro-Petain miliciens escape justice after World War II. As painful as thispast is, it must be owned by all of us, anglophones and francophones. Suchopenness will do its part to free progressive Quebecois nationalists fromany identification with a past which is the very antithesis of the patriotismthey have embraced since the Quiet Revolution. The Traitor and the Jewcan be of great service to that challenge.Oscar L. Cole ArnalWaterloo Lutheran SeminaryWaterloo, OntarioThe Judean Desert Monasteries in the Byzantine Pe-riodYizhak HirschfeldLondon: Yale University Press, 1992302 pp.At first glance this particular volume would appear to be on the arcaneend of books anyone might want to spend their time reading. However,once enveloped by Hirschfeld’s own thorough and compelling research, theneed to consume the entire contents is significantly increased. The historyof Judean Monasteries provides a foundation on which one can begin tobuild an understanding of ancient Christianity in Palestine. The connectionbetween the monks themselves, the hermits around them and the wealthyEuropeans who were their benefactors are all discussed.Nine years of research is covered by the author, from early excava-tions beginning in 1981 and concluding during 1990. Therefore the in-formation presented in this book is both current and relevant. Prior to1981 there were fifty monasteries known to exist in both ruins and stillin operation. Hirschfeld and his team discovered twelve more during theirwork. Hirschfeld does not limit himself to only archaeological discussions.Throughout the book there are many references to and a thorough anal-ysis of the sociological aspects of the desert monk’s daily life; these are

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The Traitor and the Jew: Anti-Semitism and the Delirium of Extremist Right-Wing Nationalism in French Canada from 1929-1939

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