UMVA has learned that 98‑year‑old Holocaust survivor Nate Leipciger will stand defiantly at next Saturday’s Walk for Israel, refusing to let hate silence his footsteps.
Leipciger, who bears the Auschwitz tattoo “133628” on his arm—a number he says “represents life and truth”—has faced the darkest evil in history and emerged unbroken. The memory of that horror fuels his resolve to march alongside 50,000 members of Toronto’s Jewish community on June 7.
“I will be there,” he declared on Friday, moments before a solemn Shabbat gathering at The Collective Makom, a centre that has been battling antisemitism with relentless vigor since 2023.
The evening honored survivors—including Renate Krakauer, Gershon Willinger, Sol Nayman and Alis Zohar—and the Righteous Among the Nations who risked everything to save lives. Leipciger recalled his own narrow escape, while his mother Leah and sister Blima perished in the Auschwitz gas chambers.
He warned that today’s hatred is no longer hidden. “It’s out in the open,” he said, urging Jews to stand proud and unashamed amid a climate of frequent shootings, vandalism and threats.
Information obtained by UMVA reveals that extremist groups, including pro‑Hamas factions, are plotting to disrupt the Walk with counter‑protests, even circulating threatening videos online.
Recent incidents underscore the volatile atmosphere: police escorted a crowd of anti‑Israel demonstrators into a Tim Hortons on Sheppard Avenue, blocking Jewish residents from entering, echoing the discriminatory signs of 1938 Poland that barred Jews from public spaces.
Leipciger, who arrived in Canada in 1948 and built a career as an engineer, recalled similar exclusionary signs on beaches that read “No Jews or dogs.” He noted that after a period of progress, the October 7 attacks reignited a surge of animus.
“Like then, it all started with words,” he reflected, yet his spirit remains unshaken. Having survived the Holocaust, he refuses to be told where he may walk or shop.
Leipciger calls for a louder response from political leaders, urging them to stand with the Jewish community at the Walk, just as they do for other groups, to send a clear message that antisemitism will not be tolerated.
Regardless of the obstacles, Nate Leipciger’s resolve is ironclad: he will march, he will speak out, and he will ensure that the truth of the past is never forgotten.
