Berlin, Germany: Jewish cemetery vandalized for the second time in less than three days
On April 30, the police discovered more desecrated graves at the Jewish cemetery in Berlin Weissensee. According to a police report, presumably the same perpetrators sneaked into the cemetery a second time and destroyed at least 20 graves.
Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said that the “Weissensee outrage” was an “intolerable insult to the memory of the 6 million victims of the Shoah.”
The cemetery had been vandalized several times in the last 10 years. In October 1999, unknown perpetrators destroyed more than 100 graves. The perpetrators have still not been found. In 2005, two graves and several tombstones were destroyed.
After the 1999 attack, the cemetery was secured by a video surveillance system, security guards and police officers. In reaction to the vandalism, the Berlin police want to re-evaluate the security arrangements.
Also in response, on Saturday May 3, approximately 200 people took part in a demonstration against antisemitism organized by the group “Northeast Antifascists”.
Source: Spiegel Online, 05-01-2008, indymedia.org, 05-03-2008
