{{Short description|Polish-Canadian Jewish activist (1928–2023)}} {{Redirect|The Indictment|the film|The Indictment (film)}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Sabina Citron | honorific_suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Sabina Citron 1983.png | image_size = | alt = Grainy headshot of Citron, who wears glasses and is dressed formally, against a background of orange curtains | caption = Citron in 1983 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1928|8|4}} | birth_place = Łódź, Poland | death_date = {{death date and age|2023|9|27|1928|8|4}} | death_place = Jerusalem, Israel | nationality = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = | known_for = Holocaust survivor; founder and spokesperson of the Canadian Holocaust Remembrance Association; author }}
'''Sabina Citron''' (August 4, 1928 – September 27, 2023) was a Polish-Canadian Holocaust survivor. She was a founder and spokesperson of the Canadian Holocaust Remembrance Association, charged a Nazi propagandist under the Canadian ''Criminal Code'' with spreading false news in relation to the Holocaust, and prevailed in a civil lawsuit for libel against Hungarian war criminal Imre Finta. She authored ''The Indictment''.
==Early life== Sabina Citron was born in Łódź, Poland on August 4, 1928.<ref name="gefenpublishing1">{{cite web|url=http://www.gefenpublishing.com/authorcategory.asp?id=72|title=Sabina Citron|publisher=Gefen Publishing House|accessdate=January 20, 2012}}</ref> She performed forced labour in an ammunition factory during World War II.<ref name="gefenpublishing1"/>
Later during the Holocaust, she was incarcerated in Auschwitz concentration camp, where her oldest brother died.<ref name="gefenpublishing1"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=P14_AAAAIBAJ&pg=993,230803&dq=sabina-citron&hl=en |title= Zundel Remains Defiant|work=The Windsor Star |date=March 1, 1985 |author=Les Whittington |accessdate=January 20, 2012}}</ref> Although the rest of Citron's close relatives managed to survive, almost all of her extended family were killed.<ref name="gefenpublishing1"/> She moved to Israel in 1948, later immigrated to Toronto, Canada. She later returned to Israel,<ref name="gefenpublishing1"/> living in Jerusalem until her death in 2023.
==Later life== Citron became a founder and spokesperson of the Canadian Holocaust Remembrance Association.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/498346691.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+18%2C+1997&author=Donna+Hooper&pub=Waterloo+Region+Record&desc=Zundel+controls+Web+site%2C+estranged+wife+testifies&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201111228/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/498346691.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+18,+1997&author=Donna+Hooper&pub=Waterloo+Region+Record&desc=Zundel+controls+Web+site,+estranged+wife+testifies&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 1, 2013 |title=Zundel controls Web site, estranged wife testifies |work=The Record |date= October 18, 1997 |author= Donna Hooper|accessdate=January 20, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4R5RAAAAIBAJ&pg=5593,6695502&dq=sabina-citron&hl=en |title= Canada to Deport Holocaust Hoax Publisher|work=St. Petersburg Times |date= April 30, 1985 |author= Michael Babad|accessdate=January 20, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hHVkAAAAIBAJ&pg=908,2061999&dq=sabina-citron&hl=en |title=Indict War Criminals: Petition |work=The Calgary Herald |date= July 24, 1981 |accessdate=January 20, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5K4yAAAAIBAJ&pg=1298,362389&dq=sabina-citron&hl=en |title= Jewish Activists Dissatisfied with Govt. Probe of War Criminals|work=Ottawa Citizen |author=Les Whittington| date=March 22, 1983 |accessdate=January 20, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BPBfAAAAIBAJ&pg=3320,2859774&dq=sabina-citron&hl=en |title= Nazi Hunter Offers Names|work=The Windsor Star |date=April 26, 1985 |accessdate=January 20, 2012}}</ref>
In 1983 Citron began a private prosecution under the Canadian Criminal Code against Nazi propagandist Ernst Zündel, a Holocaust denier and pamphleteer, charging him with spreading false news.<ref>''Criminal Code'', RSC 1970, c. C-34, s. 171 (carried forward as [https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-181-20030101.html s. 181 of the ''Criminal Code'', RSC 1985, c. C-46]; repealed, SC 2019, c. 25, s. 62).</ref>
The charges were based on two pamphlets he had published. Citron alleged that the publications were "likely to cause mischief to the public interest in social and racial tolerance".<ref name="RvZ">[https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc/1987/1987canlii121/1987canlii121.html?autocompleteStr=zundel&autocompletePos=2 ''R v Zundel'', 1987 CanLII 121 (ON CA).]</ref><ref name="gefenpublishing1"/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jy7_ewEACAAJ&q=%22sabina+citron%22 |title=Sabina Citron and Toronto Mayor's committee on community and race relations: (Complainants/les plaignantes) and/et Canadian Human Rights Commission and Ernst Zündel |publisher=Canadian Human Rights Tribunal/Tribunal des droits de la personne |year=1998 |accessdate=January 20, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bw3ZmlIywp8C&q=%22sabina+citron%22&pg=PA172 |title=The scope of tolerance: studies on the costs of free expression and freedom of the press|author=Raphael Cohen-Almagor |publisher= Psychology Press|year=2006|isbn=9780415357586|accessdate=January 20, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3kLgn7dIEwIC&q=%22sabina+citron%22&pg=PA249 |title=Antisemitism in Canada: history and interpretation |publisher= Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press|year=1992 |author=Alan T. Davies |isbn=9780889202160 |accessdate=January 20, 2012}}</ref> The case was taken over by the Crown Attorney's office, and Zündel was convicted and sentenced to 15 months in jail.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_HdkAAAAIBAJ&pg=2063,2081524&dq=sabina-citron&hl=en |title=Zundel Sentenced to 15 Months|work=The Calgary Herald |date= March 25, 1985|author=Les Whittington |accessdate=January 20, 2012}}</ref>
However, on appeal to the Ontario Court of Appeal, the conviction was set aside and a re-trial ordered, due to procedural errors made by the trial judge.<ref name="RvZ"/> Zündel was again convicted at the re-trial and appealed, first to the Ontario Court of Appeal, which dismissed the appeal, and then to the Supreme Court of Canada, which allowed the appeal, overturning the decisions of the courts below.<ref>[http://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/904/index.do?r=AAAAAQATQ2FuYWRhIEV2aWRlbmNlIEFjdAAAAAAB ''R v Zundel'', [1992<nowiki>]</nowiki> 2 SCR 731.]</ref> In its decision, the Supreme Court held that the charge of spreading false news was unconstitutional, because it infringed the guarantee of freedom of expression in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Citron also prevailed in a civil lawsuit for libel against Imre Finta, after he accused her of being a liar for saying that he had committed war crimes.<ref name="gefenpublishing1"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/unblj43&div=17&id=&page= |title= The Case of Imre Finta, The Viscount Bennett Memorial Lecture |publisher=43 University of New Brunswick Law Journal 281 |year=1994 |author= David Matas|accessdate=January 20, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1812&dat=19930325&id=A-FOAAAAIBAJ&pg=2300,1445096|title=Prosecution of War Criminals Moving at 'Snails Pace'|work=The Jewish Post & News|date=March 25, 1993|accessdate=January 20, 2012}}</ref>
Citron was the author of ''The Indictment: The Arab-Israeli Conflict in Historical Perspective'' (Gefen Publishing House Ltd, 2006).<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RDG4K8m4r6UC&q=%22sabina+citron%22|title=The Indictment|publisher=Gefen Publishing House Ltd|year=2006|isbn=965-229-373-3|author=Sabina Citron|accessdate=January 20, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ajcarchives.org/AJC_DATA/Files/AJYB711.CV.pdf |title= American Jewish Year Book 2007; The Americas; Canada|publisher= American Jewish Committee|accessdate=January 20, 2012}}</ref> The book primarily focuses on the Arab–Israeli conflict rather than Citron's experiences during the Holocaust.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-12-11 |title=Sabina Citron Z”L Survivor, Activist, Author, Mother, and Friend. |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/spotlight/sabina-citron-zl-survivor-activist-author-mother-and-friend/ |access-date=2025-10-17 |work=The Times of Israel |language=en-US |issn=0040-7909 |quote=In her book “The Indictment , 2006 Gefen Publishing”, Citron focuses more on the future of her beloved country of Israel in her analysis of the Arab-Israeli conflict than her own story of survival.}}</ref>
==Death== Sabina Citron died at her apartment in Jerusalem on September 27, 2023, at the age of 95.<ref>{{cite news |title=Sabina Citron Z”L Survivor, Activist, Author, Mother, and Friend. |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/spotlight/sabina-citron-zl-survivor-activist-author-mother-and-friend/ |access-date=14 December 2023 |publisher=The Times of Israel |date=11 December 2023}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Hate in Canada}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Citron, Sabina}} Category:1928 births Category:2023 deaths Category:Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Category:Activists from Jerusalem Category:People from Łódź Category:Polish emigrants to Canada Category:Polish emigrants to Israel Category:Canadian non-fiction writers Category:Writers from Toronto Category:Jewish Canadian non-fiction writers Category:Holocaust denial in Canada Category:Canadian women non-fiction writers Category:Jewish women writers