A California cemetery’s Holocaust memorial, also used for ritual hand-washing, has been vandalized
By Molly Boigon June 16, 2020
A fountain that serves as a memorial to survivors of the Holocaust was pushed over Sunday night or Monday morning in Santa Rosa, Calif., according to local news reports.
Fountain dedicated to Holocaust survivors vandalized at Santa Rosa cemeteryה >>> https://t.co/QMvdpQjdhS pic.twitter.com/Zm94eNAJnr
— Monitoring Antisemitism Worldwide (@cfcantisemitism) June 16, 2020
The fountain, which also serves as a place for ritual washing and cleansing, is near the Santa Rosa cemetery and was dedicated to the late Lillian Judd and her husband, Emil, who survived concentration camps. Lillian spoke to local children about the Holocaust for decades until her death in 2016 at age 92.
Police are working to find the perpetrators and determine if there was an anti-Semitic motive behind the dismantling of the fountain. Any charges would be felonies.
A maintenance trailer was also damaged on the opposite side of the cemetery.
The fountain stands in front of a mosaic memorial, which was not damaged.
Molly Boigon is an investigative reporter at the Forward. Contact her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @MollyBoigon
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.
