Soon you may have to check with the pushy censors at B’nai Brith before you can buy a board game. The latest victim of this thought control group’s efforts is a fast selling board game which pits liberals against National Socialists in 1933 Germany as they vie for power. It’s a game! Yet, in joyless, politically correct Canada, B’nai Brith has leaned on three Montreal merchants and got them to stop selling it. Why not let gaming customers decide what they’d like to buy? — Paul Fromm

Secret Hitler board game pulled from Montreal stores after complaint from B’nai Brith

The stores began selling the game over the holidays after receiving requests from customers and ‘many copies were sold,’ a manager said

Katherine Wilton, Montreal Gazette

January 13, 2020
5:09 PM EST Filed under

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A controversial board game called Secret Hitler was removed from the shelves of three Montreal stores on Sunday after a complaint from B’nai Brith Canada.

A member of the Jewish human rights group, which combats racism and anti-Semitism, contacted the Tour de Jeux outlet at the Fairview Shopping Centre in Pointe-Claire after reading posts on Facebook and receiving complaints from members of Montreal’s Jewish community.

The game was developed in 2017 and is set in Germany in 1933 when Adolf Hitler came to power as chancellor.

Players are secretly divided into two teams, liberals and fascists. The fascists sow distrust and try to install their leader. The liberals must find and stop the Secret Hitler before it’s too late.

“Anything that depicts anything regarding Hitler is a very sensitive issue, especially with growing anti-Semitism throughout Canada, the U.S. and around the world,” said Harvey Levine, B’nai Brith’s regional director in Quebec.

“When we receive complaints from the community, we have to respond. This is a sensitive issue with the Jewish population and with families of those involved in the Holocaust.”

After talking to Levine, the store manager on the West Island contacted the owner, who decided the game would no longer be sold at its three Montreal locations.

“(Levine) expressed his and the community’s shock concerning the fact that the game exists and that we would carry it,” said the store manager, who didn’t want his name published. “I’m glad that he spoke to us directly.”

The stores began selling the board game over the holidays after receiving requests from customers, the manager said.

“Between our three stores, many copies were sold,” he said.

The board game has been distributed worldwide through Amazon and there have been complaints from other Jewish groups in the U.S. and Australia, Levine said.

B’nai Brith officials are assessing the situation before deciding whether to issue a formal statement, he added.

Sales of board games have increased over the past five years. Games such as Settlers of Catan, which emphasize strategy and co-operation, are increasingly popular.