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Toronto (July 26, 2024) – An Estonian children’s summer camp in a southern Ontario village is under fire for its monument that glorifies leaders of the Nazi Waffen-SS in Estonia during the Holocaust.

Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) has uncovered evidence that a monument at Seedrioru, an Estonian children’s summer camp in Elora, Ontario, honours four Estonian leaders of the Waffen-SS, the military wing of the Nazi Party, and other military units involved in Nazi atrocities in the Second World War.

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Erected in the 1970s and shaped like a sword with pride of place at Seedrioru, the camp’s monument lists the names of Colonel Alfons Rebane, Harald Riipalu, Paul Maitla and Harald Nugiseks, with the emblem of the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, also known as the 1st Estonian, engraved at the bottom. All four were awarded the Nazi Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, the highest award given to military personnel during the Nazi period. Harald Riipalu was also the commander of the 36th Police Battalion in Estonia that participated in the August 7, 1942 massacre of almost all of the remaining Jews in the town of Nowogrodek in Belarus.

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Photos which long appeared on the camp website but were just removed this week show individuals, including children, laying wreaths beside the monument to commemorate the Waffen-SS leaders.

FSWC has also discovered that at least 15 individuals listed on the camp’s website as honorary members of the Canadian Estonian community who played “an integral part of the formation and sustainment of Seedrioru” have the same names as people with direct ties to the Waffen-SS. These include former Seedrioru chairman August Jurs, author of the book Estonian Freedom Fighters in World War Two, who served in the Wehrmacht, the armed forces of Nazi Germany’s Third Reich, and in the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS.

“We are shocked and deeply disturbed to learn that for five decades, a summer camp right here in Ontario has been celebrating Nazi war criminals who were involved in the genocide against Estonia’s Jews as part of the Holocaust,” said Jaime Kirzner-Roberts, FSWC Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy. “It’s sickening that for several generations, this camp has been indoctrinating children into worshipping Nazi Waffen-SS leaders, men who not only committed war crimes but also were among the enemies of Canada that our veterans fought so courageously, often sacrificing their lives, to defeat during the Second World War.”

“Our revelations about the deep Nazi roots of the Seedrioru camp just further underline the sad facts we already know – that after the Holocaust too many of those who fought for fascism were admitted into Canada never to be brought to justice for their horrific actions as Nazis,” Kirzner-Roberts added. “Our country fought bravely to defeat Hitler but sadly it also later provided sanctuary for those who served Hitler. This is a stain on our country that can’t be removed by simply wiping names off a monument. It’s long past time for Canada to take responsibility for this dark chapter of our history that leaves us today with a Nazi statue at a children’s camp.”

Last week, FSWC reached out to camp leadership, expressing a desire for dialogue and reconciliation between the Jewish community and members of the Estonian community who run the camp. Soon after FSWC’s attempt to engage with Seedrioru officials, the camp removed references to the Nazi collaborators and photos of the monument from its website. Camp leadership never responded to FSWC’s outreach.