Europe’s Largest Jewish Cemetery Vandalized
After vandals stuck Europe’s largest Jewish cemetery in Berlin, Jewish leaders are asking area metal dealers to check for wrought-iron objects that might have been stolen from the cemetery.
Vandals recently damaged 16 gravesites and stole 47 items from the Weissensee Cemetery in the former East Berlin. According to the community, renovations on some of the tombs had been completed as recently as last April. The stolen items are worth about $16,000.
“But the immaterial damage is much greater,” the community said in a statement issued Monday.
“Theft in general is a serious offense,” Grigory Kristal, head of cultural affairs for the community, said. “But to destroy graves at the Jewish cemetery demonstrates a lack of respect and lack of understanding of the past.”
Observers suggested the motive was profit and not anti-Semitism, since specifically metal objects were removed. Such thefts reportedly are on the rise at cemeteries all over Berlin from all religious denominations. Police patrols and surveillance have been stepped up at Weissensee.
The Jewish community plans to contact metal dealers to warn them to be vigilant regarding sellers of potentially stolen goods.
The cemetery is the subject of a recent award-winning documentary, called “Im Himmel unter der Erde,” or “In Heaven Underground.”
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
