A Holocaust memorial stele in Saarland has been defaced with faeces for the 11th time since January 2026, according to local officials, police, and the organisation responsible for maintaining the site.
State police and the Saarbrücken public prosecutor’s office confirmed that an investigation has been opened into suspected incitement to hatred and malicious damage to property following the vandalism at the St. Wendel memorial.
One of the seven steles at the site has repeatedly required cleaning, often after passersby reported the incidents, according to the Adolf Bender Centre’s Research and Information Centre on Antisemitism (RIAS) Saarland.
“RIAS has observed a growing number of attacks on memorial sites across Germany. The recent incident in St. Wendel, due to the constant repetition of such acts and the public accessibility of the location where the crime was committed, demonstrates a lowering threshold for antisemitic acts. The case reveals the urge to actively repress Holocaust remembrance. The commemoration of the victims of National Socialism is being mocked,” said the RIAS Saarland project manager.
St. Wendel district administrator Udo Recktenwald condemned the vandalism, describing it not as a mere prank but as an attack on society, historical memory, and civic responsibility.
