A Jewish monument was defaced with a red swastika in Thessaloniki, Greece.
A Jewish historical monument on the Aristotle University (AUT) campus was vandalised with antisemitic graffiti on December 29, 2022. The graffiti featured a red swastika and a red Celtic Cross, a known white supremacist symbol, reports The Jerusalem Post.
The Jewish Community of Thessaloniki released a statement: „This act is an insult to the Monument that commemorates the 50,000 Jews of Thessaloniki who were exterminated in the Nazi camps and connects the modern image of the area with its history by reminding everyone of the existence, for centuries, of the old Jewish Cemetery which was destroyed by the Nazis and their collaborators in 1942.”
The statement continued, „The immoral act of imprinting swastikas and other symbols associated with the Nazi ideology on the marbles of the monument is also the greatest disrespect and insult to the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, a place of Education, character and conscience formation.”
This is the fourth time the monument has been defaced with antisemitic content since it was established in 2014. The monument commemorates a Jewish cemetery on the grounds that had been destroyed by the Nazi regime in 1942.
The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece said the incident was „hideous” and noted that there is a rise in antisemitism both in Greece and all around the world.
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