Truemors
Opinion
Barry Artiste, Now Public Contributor
In 1936,the first post WW I German Warship to come into service as the Nazi Regimes flagship Emden paid a visit to Montreal in time for Germany's 11th Olympiad.
The Light Warship Emden's port of call was Montreal, Quebec Canada in which Montreal laid out the Red Carpet, complete with Pomp and Circumstance bestowed on the Emden and her crew.
Celebrations though were not shared by Montreal's Jewish Community, whose foresight and word from German relatives back in Germany, saw what would be in a few short years, the beginning of World War II.
The world leaders today, including Canada are according the same courtesies to China during her Olympics, knowing the full potential of a global economic and political adversary. But are lulled into a false sense of security in the diplomatic belief the Red Dragon is sleeping. Sleeping perhaps, but with one eye open.
JOHN KALBFLEISCH, The GazettePublished: 7 hours ago"Out of a grey morning mist, the Reich cruiser Emden - first German warship to dock here in 22 years - came into the port of Montreal yesterday."
- Gazette, Wednesday, May 13, 1936
It was a stirring sight, though the emotions stirred up by the arrival of the German cruiser Emden were by no means the same for everyone.The ship, with its eight 152-mm guns, was the first German warship built after the First World War, and for Montreal's Germans it was a proud day.
The community was small, numbering perhaps 5,000 people, but many were German nationals rather than Canadian-born and their ties to the Fatherland were especially strong. As The Gazette noted, the Emden tied up "to the ringing cheers of German-Canadian patriots who lined the pier."
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