In Bulgaria, Holocaust memorial defaced with Islamic crescent, Palestinian flag

Vandals defaced a monument celebrating bravery and camaraderie during the Holocaust with Islamic graffiti. 

A monument erected in honor of the residents of the Bulgarian town of Vidin, who prevented the deportation of their Jewish neighbors during the Holocaust, has been defaced with anti-Semitic slogans, the Shalom Organization of Jews in Bulgaria announced Monday.

Vidin’s Mayor Ognian Tzenkov described the vandalism, which included the words “Palestine,” “Allah” and “Hamas,” as “an outrageous and unacceptable act” and pledged to clean the damage immediately.

Islamic crescents and Palestinian flag stickers were also painted on the monument.

In a letter to the mayor, Shalom President Dr. Alexander Oscar stated that “the monument will continue to be a symbol of the brotherhood and long-lived history between our two nations.”

Erected in 2003 by Jews from Israel, the obelisk was “a token of gratitude to the urban community, which did not allow the deportation of their compatriots,” the organization said on its Facebook page, according to a translation by the World Jewish Congress.

During the Holocaust, Bulgaria instituted a number of draconian laws against its Jewish community and deported more than 13,000 Jews to their deaths from the territories it had occupied. Intense domestic opposition prevented the government from deporting any of the Jews residing in its core provinces, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

By: World Israel News Staff