Nazi Children Seized

June 9, 2008 permalink

Manitoba has seized two children from a neo-Nazi father, a man unlikely to find friends outside his party. Trouble is, how does his belief harm his children? Never mind that when the kids grow up, they could be a danger to Slavs and Jews, the child protection laws are supposed to protect children. Manitoba is using the lawless family courts to suppress objectionable behavior unrelated to children, just as child protectors have been terrorizing nudists and vegetarians and are zeroing in on smokers.

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Alleged neo-Nazi's kids taken

Winnipeg Free Press, By: Mike McIntyre, Updated: June 9, 2008 at 12:00 AM CDT

Child and Family Services recently seized two young kids from a Winnipeg home based on concerns their father -- an alleged neo-Nazi -- was filling their heads and marking their bodies with messages of hate, the Free Press has learned.

The government agency is seeking a permanent order of guardianship based on ongoing concerns about the safety of the seven-year-old girl and two-year-old boy.

A Court of Queen's Bench case is ongoing, with the next hearing set for today. The Free Press is not publishing the names of the parents to protect the identity of the children.

"The children may be at risk due to the parents' behaviour and associates. The parents might endanger the emotional well-being of the children," CFS wrote in court documents obtained by the Free Press.

Winnipeg police confirmed their involvement in the case, which came to a head in late March when school officials raised concerns about the little girl. A source familiar with the case said she showed up one morning in class with disturbing scrawlings on her body, including a swastika and the common white-supremacist tag of "14/88."

The number 14 refers to a familiar slogan containing 14 words -- "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children." The 88 represents the letters HH (the eighth in the alphabet) to mean "Heil Hitler."

Const. Pat Chabidon confirmed the father was recently interviewed based on allegations he was involved in "hate crimes involving children." Police had questioned him regarding similar concerns in 2005, he said.

No criminal charges have been laid at this time, but police turned the file over to CFS, Chabidon said.

Sources say a search warrant was recently executed at the family's home in south Winnipeg. Several items, including a computer, were seized.

The mother of the children is also named in the CFS application as being unfit to parent, based on her relationship with her husband. He is the young boy's father and the girl's stepfather.

"There are also concerns about parental drug and alcohol use in the home," CFS wrote.

The parents are believed to be fighting the application for guardianship on several grounds, including a belief their right to freedom of speech shouldn't be interfered with and a denial they are polluting the children's minds.

The couple couldn't be reached for comment, and their lawyer didn't return telephone messages.

They have not yet filed any affidavits outlining their position. A judge recently ordered a psychological report on the father as part of the ongoing case. The results have not been finalized.

?-- with files from James Turner

Source: Winnipeg Free Press

Addendum: Manitoba CFS can be proud of themselves. They have conducted a successful shotgun divorce. After receiving court documents, the children's mother threw her husband out of her home.

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The Canadian Press

Mother of swastika-bearing girl says she is good parent, wants children back

June 10, 2008

WINNIPEG — She freely admits that her seven-year-old daughter was sent to school sporting a swastika - the emblem of Nazi Germany that has since been adopted as a symbol of racially motivated hate groups.

She says she is not a neo-Nazi, just proud of her northern European heritage.

Now she is fighting to get her children back from Manitoba Child and Family Services, and she's finding herself at the centre of a case that has raised questions about whether children are affected by parental views that may be extreme.

In an interview Tuesday with The Canadian Press, the woman, who under provincial law cannot be identified, said her politics are misunderstood.

"This isn't, you know, a bunch of ... skinheads running around the streets in neo-Nazi gear," she said. "It's not about that. It's about being proud of who you are and what you are, and I don't have a problem with anybody feeling pride in who they are."

Officials at her daughter's school called social services officials in March after the young girl showed up with what police call "hate-related drawings" on her body, including a swastika.

Child welfare workers removed the girl and a two-year-old boy from the woman's Winnipeg home. The government is now asking the courts for permanent guardianship of the children.

An affidavit from a child welfare worker cites the "behaviour and associations" of the woman and her husband as one reason for the removal, as well as drug and alcohol use.

The mother remembers the day her child left for school with a swastika on her body. She wouldn't discuss details but hinted she had not drawn the symbol.

"I worked a lot. I'm not going to say I was ignorant to it, 'cause I wasn't," she said. "That's all I'm going to ... comment."

The woman says she threw her husband - the stepfather of the girl and biological father of the boy - out of the family home three days after seeing court documents outlining the case against the family.

She says she has always worked long hours at her job in the restaurant industry to provide for her children and has never let her politics affect how her kids are raised.

She is vague about her political beliefs.

"I would never consider myself a neo-Nazi," she said. "I consider myself a proud Scottish chick."

She says she does not belong to any group, yet has a personal belief in white pride and talks collectively about a feeling that "people are very ignorant to our politics because of media bias".

She also defends the use of the swastika, pointing out that it is based on an ancient symbol for prosperity. She rejects a suggestion that someone seeing it drawn on a child would be unlikely to interpret it as anything other than a Nazi image.

So how far can parents go in teaching their children what they think is right?

Harvey Frankel, a professor of social work at the University of Manitoba, said earlier this week that the government could face an uphill battle trying to convince a judge to remove children strictly because of their parents' political beliefs.

Manitoba guidelines allow child welfare workers to intervene in any situation where there is concern for the safety or well-being of a child. That could cover instances where the controversial beliefs cause the children problems at school or elsewhere.

Source: The Canadian Press, hosted by Google

Addendum: A follow-up story shows that for holding beliefs that are politically incorrect, but not abusive to children, a mother and father have been separated, and Manitoba intends to separate two children permanently from both parents.

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Mother of girl with swastika wants children back

A flag reading 'White Pride Worldwide' hangs in the home of two children who were removed by Manitoba Child and Family Services.

CTV.ca News Staff

Updated: Fri. Jul. 4 2008 10:48 PM ET

Manitoba Child and Family services was in court Monday to argue for permanent guardianship of a girl and boy, after the girl was sent to school sporting a swastika -- a symbol typically associated with racially-motivated hate groups.

The children's mother denies she has done anything wrong.

"I think I'm a pretty good mother. I've raised my children to have pride in themselves. That's all I've ever done." she told CTV News, as she sat beneath a banner with the slogan "White Pride Worldwide."

Child services was called to a city elementary school in March after the girl, 7, arrived at school with a Swastika, the words "Hail Victory" and "Aryan Pride" written on her arms and one leg in permanent maker.

The number "14/88," a reference to Hitler, was also written on the little girl. The 14 refers to the number of words in the slogan: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children." The 88 stands for HH and means "Heil Hitler."

Police and officials from the department went to the family's Winnipeg home and seized the girl's two-year-old brother, and in the process discovered what they said was evidence of the parents' neo-Nazi beliefs.

The mother of the children has maintained she is not a neo-Nazi, but is simply proud of her northern European background and describes herself as a "white nationalist."

She said her daughter drew the swastika on her own arm after taking part in a "white pride" racist march in Calgary. When the girl's teacher washed the symbol off, the mother and daughter drew it on again with a marker.

The mother said drawing the swastika was stupid, but insisted the act harmed no one and her beliefs are a family matter.

"It's OK to be proud to be a native, it's OK to preach black power," she said, before adding, "But when you're white and you're proud, it's wrong."

The case against the mother and another man -- reportedly the father of the boy and stepfather of the girl, but now separated from the mother -- has attracted international attention.

Child services says it's concerned the parent's conduct might endanger the emotional well-being of the children. It's also said the children may be at risk of harm because of the parent's associations.

Experts have said it's the first time in years in Canada that children have been removed from their home due to the parents' beliefs.

Prof. Arthur Schafer, director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba, said many Canadian parents are intolerant, homophobic or sexist. But despite their disgusting views, it's not enough for the state to intervene.

"I don't think teaching your children loathsome, intolerable, bigoted views counts as psychological abuse," he said. "Or if it did, we'd have to seize hundreds of thousands of Canadian children."

With a report by CTV's Murray Oliver in Winnipeg

Source: CTV