These performances "perpetuate deadly stereotypes right as antisemitism is surging in Canada and around the globe.'
At first, the livestreamed Christmas pageant appears typical, with shepherds and wise men celebrating the birth of Christ. The characters speak Ukrainian with stilted English translation posted on the screen. It’s a bit grainy, something a proud grandparent would forward to friends. It is, in all, rather ordinary.
Until the little kid with fake payos (sidelocks) bursts onto the stage and starts plying the shepherds and an angel with goods and liquor.
“People of today are different,” responds the angel, defying the small boy who plays “Moshko the zhyd,” a slur for Jew. “They would not choose a business with you and they will not forget about God!” The show goes downhill from there.
The YouTube video posted by St. Athanasius Ukrainian Catholic Church in 2022 is of a Ukrainian Christmas pageant called a vertep. Many traditional verteps star actors wearing fake payos– the Jewish version of blackface – and present Jews as parasites who hobnob with the Devil and scheme against the faithful. Such plays are to be found from Saskatchewan to Prince Edward Island.
In my review of publicly available photos and videos, the majority of problematic verteps in Canada have been staged by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), which is an affiliate of the Roman Catholic Church.
Antisemitic verteps are an open secret, with photos and videos posted by schools and churches on public social media accounts. Once you see the payos, the antisemitism isn’t far behind. (more...)
Ukrainian Christmas pageants in Canada that feature antisemitic depictions of Jews need a rewrite
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