Official Quits Over Swastika Incident

The top-ranking political dignitary in Quebec resigned after provoking a furor with his admission that he wore a swastika while a student in Montreal during World War II. Jean-Louis Roux, a well-known actor who was appointed Quebec’s lieutenant governor in September, also admitted in a magazine interview that he participated in a 1942 military draft protest that degenerated into vandalism against Jewish shops. Roux’s comments outraged Jewish groups and provided ammunition for Quebec’s separatist leaders, who had bitterly opposed his appointment by Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien. Roux, like Chretien, is a staunch federalist who wants Quebec to remain in Canada. Roux, 73, said that his actions were youthful bravado and not an indication of support for the Nazis.