Greek Jews condemn desecration of Holocaust memorial

The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece – the country’s EJC affiliate – condemned the desecration last week of the Holocaust Memorial in Thessaloniki.

In the announcement, the board expressed “the profound sorrow, the intense concern and the outrage of the Greek Jews for the latest vandal attack against the Holocaust Monument of Thessaloniki that occurred in the night of June 27, 2018, for the third time during the last seven months.”

Authorities in the northern port city believe the vandals who splashed paint on the bronze sculpture depicting a menorah with human figures intertwined in its flames had been part of a rally held earlier in protest at the Greece’s recent name deal with the Republic of Northern Macedonia.

“The authorities need to bring to justice the seekers of darkness that aim at discrediting in the most deplorable way the image of the city,” the board said.

“The monument will not lose its meaning and value: To remind to visitors the barbarity that led to the death of the Jews of Thessaloniki, only because they were Jewish, and alert society that absolute evil may happen again if we do not fortify the principals of our democracy and our humanism,” it added.

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