Jewish Couple’s Headstone Vandalized at Indiana Cemetery
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — An anti-Semitic message was spray-painted across the headstone of a Jewish couple buried in the cemetery of a small Indiana town — one of the only headstones bearing a Jewish name.
The words F***|ing Jew were spray-painted in white across the back of the double headstone, on top of the large Jewish star, in the Scottsburg Cemetery.
Jarin Gladstein, a grandson of the couple, told the local media that he was “livid, upset, sick,” over the desecration.
Two other headstones in the cemetery were later discovered vandalized.
On Monday, Gladstein posted a photo of his grandparents’ headstone on Facebook and in less than 24 hours had received 3,100 likes and other emotions. The photo has been shared nearly 15,000 times.
“I couldn’t believe the amount of shares and just the messages,” Gladstein told local news station WHAS11. “I have no idea who they are and the kindness – people’s kind words. It makes you feel good.”
Gladstein said members of his family scrubbed away the paint, though remnants remain and the image is seared into his memory.
“I’ll always know it happened,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how clean it is. It happened. I’ve seen it. Once I’ve seen it, it’s burned in my head.”
Gladstein has offered a reward that leads to the capture of the vandals.
Speaking of his grandparents, he said, “Everybody knew they were great people, and to know that somebody that has honestly no idea who they are to do this is just sick.”
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
