Greek Holocaust Memorial Vandalized Twice In Two Weeks
Image by getty images
(JTA) — A Holocaust memorial was vandalized in the Greek city of Thessaloniki.
The monument, located on the campus of Thessaloniki’s Aristotle University, was smeared in blue paint and a cross was painted on it.
Tuesday’s attack is the second time that the monument has been vandalized in two weeks.
The monument, a series of gravestones in a bed of grass next to a broken menorah, commemorates the city’s historic Jewish cemetery, on which the university is built, and is dedicated in memory of the Jewish students who were killed in Nazi death camps. The monument was unveiled in 2014.
The university had the paint cleaned off the monument. It condemned the vandalism in a statement, calling it an “unacceptable action.” The university said that education is “the solution to religious fanaticism and bigotry.” The Jewish community of Thessaloniki also condemned the vandalism, calling it an “insult” to the monument. The statement noted “the necessary and successful efforts made by our Community, in cooperation with the authorities and institutions in our city and homeland to combat racism, anti-Semitism, intolerance and fanaticism while restoring and promoting the history of Thessaloniki and its aspects on the centuries-old Jewish presence.”
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at fisher@forward.com, or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
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