WARNING: This story contains references and images of anti-Semitic graffiti.
The first graffiti he removed read “SS Jews Kill Babies,” with the two S’s in “SS Jews” stylized to resemble the Schutzstaffel insignia.
“That took about 14 or 15 minutes,” Avrom Charach said. “It was the first one doing it this way and we were learning a better technique.”
After volunteering to remove more than 100 graffiti pieces across Winnipeg, Charach said he cut that time down to about four minutes, as long as the weather is warm enough for the product he uses to work.
Getting rid of a spray-painted swastika on top of a Hydro box in the city’s Charleswood neighborhood required several trips in the dead of winter. But Charach said someone has to do it.
“The best case scenario is that you do it in a way that no one can tell beforehand that something is there,” Charach said.
“It felt pretty good to get rid of that hate where it couldn’t be seen. And from what I see, I benefit because every time I get rid of a little more hate, I feel a little better.”
The Winnipeg property manager and proud member of the city’s Jewish community has made it his mission to get rid of any graffiti he and people who approach him find hateful or offensive.
Take it on yourself
Charach said it all started in May, when he saw complaints about “SS Jews killing babies” graffiti on social media.
“People were getting really nervous about this. I don’t blame them. I was a little nervous too,” he said.
“I finally told them, ‘You know what? If you don’t want to wait for someone else to take it off, in my line of work we have products that can remove graffiti.’
Then came the requests from organizations and friends asking for help, even at somewhat inopportune times.
“On my anniversary, I got a phone call from the executive director of the Jewish community. They had tagged the swastika on a synagogue,” he said, referring to an incident at the Ashkenazi synagogue on Charles Street.
“It turned out to be Friday. So I told my wife, after celebrating your anniversary, let’s take this down, so when people go to pray on Saturday, they don’t see a symbol of hate.”
The Jewish advocacy group B’nai B’rith Canada is one of the organizations that has been in regular contact with Charach.
‘No community’ should have to do this: Advocate
Advocacy director Richard Robertson said Winnipeggers’ efforts should be praised, but it’s important not to forget the root causes of the problem.
B’nai B’rith’s latest annual report found that the number of anti-Semitic incidents more than doubled in 2023, amid the Israeli invasion of Gaza following the Hamas-led attacks on October 7.
“No community should have to clean up after being repeatedly victimized,” Robertson said. “No community should ever have to eliminate an effort to make them feel unsafe in their own city.”
Many dozens of the graffiti Charach has removed reference the war between Israel and Hamas, including several “Free Palestine” tags and calls to “say no to genocide” and “end apartheid,” which the man says, They are offensive to their community. .
“The majority of my community would like a free Palestine, but not in the way that the people who are trying to kill my family in Israel talk about it,” he said.
Some of his younger relatives are in the Israeli army and several of his friends in the country had their relatives taken hostage in the war.
“For me, what I’m doing is not politically motivated,” Charach said.
“All of this other stuff is very upsetting and offensive, especially to me and maybe to other people. But for someone to label an entire neighborhood basically saying, ‘Hey, neo-Nazis are here in Winnipeg’… that’s what really bothers me.” got me.”
Facing hate
The Charleswood graffiti was one of a series of tags that began appearing in the west Winnipeg neighborhood late last year. “Skinhead” and the letters “MKY” were also scrawled on the side of the Hydro box.
The abbreviation corresponds to the name of a transnational neo-Nazi organization that supposedly originated in Ukraine, according to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network.
Charleswood resident Claire Rodger said she first learned about them in early December, when her family discovered their garage had been tagged.
“We took a walk around the neighborhood and counted eight tags in total,” he said.
“We have some new residents in our community who have come from Ukraine, and they are also Jewish… I can’t even imagine how they feel to think that they have come to a place that is accepting and safe.”
CBC News has contacted the city and Winnipeg police for comment. Police said earlier this month that an investigation was underway.
Charach said that in addition to anti-Semitic graffiti, he also removed tags targeting the Black and Indigenous community, as well as those using offensive language.
He said his upbringing as part of Winnipeg’s Jewish community taught him to spread love, not hate.
He said he hopes his work helps make the city a place people can be proud of and inspires others to do the same.
“It helps me deal with the hate. It helps me feel like I can make a small difference. It helps me sleep better at night,” Charach said.
“I feel better when I can do something to make the world a little better…Right now, you deserve a lot better than you’re getting around the world, not just in my community.”
Avrom Charach has taken it upon himself to get rid of anti-Semitic and other graffiti that he believes is spreading hate.
