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Raised in Quebec City, Esther Delisle earned a Ph.D. in political science from Laval University in Sainte-Foy, Quebec and did post-doctoral studies at the department of history at McGill University. In 1993, she published an exhaustive historical work short-titled The Traitor and the Jew in which she exposed a disturbing 50-year-old legacy of anti-Semitism in the province of Quebec. In her book, Delisle documented hundreds of anti-Semitic quotations from the nationalist review L'Action nationale and the influential Montréal newspaper Le Devoir. However, her authenticated revelations of vicious anti-Semitism on the part of the nationalist priest, Lionel Groulx caused the greatest public uproar. Groulx was one of French Quebec's most revered icons for whom a station on the Montreal Metro as well as schools, streets, lakes, and a chain of mountains in Quebec had been named.
Delisle's book went so far as to suggest that xenophobia and racism might exist in the present day Quebec sovereignty movement. As a result of her work, Delisle was pilloried by most of Quebec's French-speaking intellectual elite, some of whom labeled her as a traitor and a lackey of the Jews. The French language magazine L'actualité attacked her in a cover story titled The Myth of a Fascist Quebec. Yet, the magazine grudgingly had to admit that Delisle's research was impeccable and that the revered Lionel Groulx was indeed an anti-Semite. After Jewish author Mordecai RichlerMordecai Richler ( January 27, 1931 July 3, 2001) was a Canadian author, scriptwriter, and essayist. He is widely known for his wry humour and wit in his writing, and his controversial opinions on many contemporary Canadian issues. Son of a scrapyard deal lauded her courage in exposing the decades long denial, Claude Charron , a former Parti QuébécoisParti Quebecois Current Leader Bernard Landry Founded October 11, 1968 Headquarters 1200 Papineau Avenue, bureau 150 Montreal, QuebecH2K 4R5(514) 526-0020 & 1-800-363-9531[mailto:info@pq. org info@pq. org] Colours Blue (also White & Red) Political ideolog cabinet minister who had been convicted of theft, then falsely stated on the French-language specialty TV channel, "Canal D," that Esther Delisle had been "financed and supported by the World Zionist OrganizationThe World Zionist Organization [WZO] was founded as the Zionist Organization [ZO] on September 3, 1897, at the First Zionist Congress held in Basel, Switzerland. The ZO served as an umbrella organization for the Zionist movement. Theodor Herzl, who organi." Charron's baseless accusation was never challenged by the interviewer but Claude RyanClaude Ryan ( January 26, 1925 February 9, 2004) was a Canadian politician and leader of the Parti liberal du Quebec from 1978 to 1982. Born in Montreal, Quebec, he was the director of Le Devoir a French-language newspaper available in the province of Que, a respected statesman and former editor of Le Devoir newspaper publicly stated that he had read Delisle's book, verified her sources, and accepted its validity.
In 1998, Esther Delisle published, Myths, Memories and Lies , a story of how some members of Quebec's elite supported Nazi collaborator Marshall Philippe PétainMarshal Henri Philippe Petain ( April 24, 1856 July 23, 1951), generally known as Philippe Petain or Marshal Petain was a French soldier and French Head of State during the Vichy regime. He was hailed as a French hero in World War I, but later dishonoured and his VichyVichy is a spa and resort town of around 60,000 in central France, near Clermont-Ferrand, in the departement of Allier, of which it is a sous-prefecture''. Vichy is remembered as the capital of Vichy France. Vichy shower Vichy is also a kind of shower in government in Nazi-occupied France World War IIWorld War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the world's nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. The war was fough.
A 2002 documentary film by Eric Scott titled Je Me Souviens , recounts Delisle's story using rare archival footage with speeches and commentaries by some of Quebec's leading nationalist figures of the time.
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