Desecration of the Athens Holocaust Monument For the 2nd Time

On October 30, 2014, the Holocaust Monument in Athens was vandalized with graffiti signed by the extreme nationalist and anti-Semitic organization  “Unaligned Meander Nationalists” (Greek abbreviation: AME). This organization –which declares to be a hardcore radical and nationalist organization and separates itself from “moderate nationalists” of Golden Dawn- has also signed the desecration of the Holocaust Monument in the island of Rhodes in October 2012. The Athens Jewish Community and the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece issued the following Press Release:

The Holocaust Monument in Athens has been vandalized for the second time within 2014. In the night of October 30, 2014, a known extreme far-right organization, with significant activity in Greece, left its signature on the Monument.

The Athens Holocaust Monument is dedicated to the memory of the 60.000 Greek Jews, part of the 6.000.000 of European Jews, who suffered a tragic death in the Nazi concentration camps.

The Athens Jewish Community, that covered the cost of the erection of the Monument, donated it -in 2010- to the municipality of Athens, in order to make it a landmark in the capital city and a reminder to its citizens and visitors of the most heinous mass crime in contemporary history.

The Jewish Community of Athens, the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, and the Greek Jewry at large strongly condemn this act of vandalism. We call upon the municipal and state authorities to effectively protect the Holocaust Monument of the capital, in order to avoid repetition of such phenomena. We also call upon the Justice system to put into motion all necessary procedures so that the perpetrators –those whose hateful and violent actions offend the dignity and the cultural heritage of the city- be apprehend and punished.

We also expect the representatives of the State and the Civil Society to come forward and express a strong and determined condemnation of this specific act as well as of every and any act of anti-Semitism.

The JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ATHENS
The CENTRAL BOARD OF JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN GREECE