The act has been described as ‘outrageous.’
The organisation that runs the Auschwitz-Birkenau II death camp has said that anti-Semitic graffiti has appeared at the site.
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and Memorial, which preserves the site of the Holocaust camp in Poland, released a statement on Tuesday afternoon (October 5) condemning the graffiti as “an outrageous attack on the symbol of one of the greatest tragedies in human history.”
More than 1.1 million people were killed in gas chambers or died from starvation, illness and cold at the extermination camp, which was set up by the Nazis during the second World War.
The vast majority of those who died at the camp were Jews, along with thousands of others who belonged to minority groups such as the Roma people and ethnic Poles.
In the statement, the Memorial said that the graffiti included statements in English and German, along with two references to sayings in the Old Testament which are frequently used by anti-Semites.
The statement reads: “An offence against the Memorial Site – is above all, an outrageous attack on the symbol of one of the greatest tragedies in human history and an extremely painful blow to the memory of all the victims of the German Nazi Auschwitz-Birkenau camp.”
Statement concerning the vandalism that took place on October 5 at the Auschwitz II-Birkenau site. pic.twitter.com/bsNepIRCcL
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) October 5, 2021
Police are now analysing and reviewing video footage of the incident and are putting together documentation.
The Auschwitz Museum said it would remove the graffiti once the police had finished gathering information and evidence.
The organisation is appealing for any witnesses or potential information about the crime to contact security@auschwitz.org.
In 2010, a Swedish man was jailed for two years and eight months after being found guilty of planning to steal the infamous “Arbeit macht frei” sign that hangs over the entrance to the camp.
And earlier this year, the wall of a Jewish cemetery near the camp was defaced with swastikas and other Nazi symbols.
The exterior wall of the Oświęcim Jewish cemetery – a remnant and memorial of the destroyed community – has been vandalized with Nazi symbols. Seeing them just 3 km from the Memorial, at the town that suffered so much during the German occupation, is painful…. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/FSrGznYDy0
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) January 10, 2021
Related links:
- Razor blades hidden under neo-Nazi stickers at bus stop near primary school
- Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer condemn anti-Semitic chanting in viral video
- Dua Lipa criticises ad claiming her views on Israeli-Palestinian conflict are antisemitic
