A view of the Umschlagplatz memorial before the vandalism. (r Adrian Grycuk/Wikimedia Commons)

(JTA) — A memorial to Jews deported from the Warsaw Ghetto was defaced with graffiti appearing to equate the Holocaust with the war in Gaza.

The graffiti makes Warsaw’s Umschlagplatz memorial the latest of a string of Holocaust monuments to be vandalized with anti-Israel messages.

The marble structure commemorates the spot where hundreds of thousands of Jews were assembled before being deported to concentration camps in 1942 and 1943. The red graffiti says “Warsaw 1943 = Gaza 2025,” and was written beneath a quote from the biblical book of Job in Hebrew, Yiddish and Polish reading, “Earth, do not cover my blood; let there be no resting place for my outcry.”

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The graffiti echoes the claim made by pro-Palestinian activists that Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza constitutes a genocide, an accusation Israel vigorously denies. On Tuesday, Yacov Livne, Israel’s ambassador in Poland, decried the graffiti.

“Shameful vandalism at Warsaw’s memorial for 300,000 (!) Jews deported to Treblinka,” he wrote on Tuesday. “Poland has a special responsibility to protect Jewish & Holocaust sites; hold vandals accountable.”

Shameful vandalism at Warsaw's memorial for 300,000 (!) Jews deported to Treblinka. Poland has a special responsibility to protect Jewish & Holocaust sites; hold vandals accountable. pic.twitter.com/4No1PI7ZXd

— Amb. Yacov Livne 🇮🇱 (@YacovLivne) January 7, 2025

Since Hamas launched the war with its attack on Oct. 7, 2023, Holocaust memorials or museums in Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and elsewhere have been defaced with graffiti protesting Israel’s conduct in Gaza.

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