Thessaloniki, Greece – The Jewish cemetery of Thessaloniki, in northern Greece, was desecrated by a group of anti-Semites who used rags and gasoline to set fire to a tomb, the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece (KIS) announced.
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Swastikas and anti-Semitic graffiti reading “Fire to the Jews” and “Juden raus” appeared on a number of tombstones, the alleys and the surrounding wall of the cemetery.
Following a phone call to the police, made by a resident in the area, three young men were arrested as suspects.
The Central Board expressed the Greek Jewry’s outrage on the “hideous attack” in letters to the Greek Minister of protection of the citizen and the Minster of Justice.
David Saltiel, President of KIS and of the Jewish community in hessaloniki, linked this attack to the acquittal of Kostas Plevris, “a neo-Nazi writer who incites to acts of violence against the Greek Jews.”
“This attack is one more consequence directly related to the court decision to acquit a him as well as to the recent Supreme Court decision to dismiss the cassation in favor of the law filed by the Prosecutor against the acquittal verdict.”.
“Our Board was not heard when it had warned of the deriving dangers,” Saltiel said.
Jewish cemeteries and synagogues have been the target of recent attacks in Greece. In January, arsonists attacked a synagogue on the Aegean island of Crete, alarming Greece’s 8,000-strong Jewish community.
“The government strongly condemns this act of vandalism and police launched an immediate investigation,” government spokesman George Petalotis said.
Thessaloniki was home to about 50,000 Jews before World War II, making it Greece’s biggest Jewish community. Most of them were killed after the Nazis deported them to concentration camps in eastern Europe. Around 4,500 Jews live in Greece.
Very sad particularly taking in consideration the history of greek jews during WWII. I think it was the only substantial sefardic group that was comletely eliminated in the war.