Poland Investigates Anti-Semitic Graffiti In Auschwitz

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

(Worthy News) – Polish in Poland are investigating antisemitic vandalism at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the notorious former Nazi death camp which is now a memorial site.

Nine barracks were spray-painted with anti-Semitic phrases and slogans denying the Holocaust, according to the Auschwitz memorial and museum.

The spray-painted anti-Jewish slogans in English and German graffiti were found at Auschwitz II-Birkenau, the largest of the 40 camps that made up the Nazi complex.

There were “two references to the Old Testament, often used by antisemites, and denial slogans,” an official statement said.

It remained unclear Tuesday who was responsible for the vandalism. The museum said the security system at the 170-hectare site was “constantly being expanded.”

However, it cautioned that the security was funded from the museum’s budget, which was hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

Fully enclosing the site would not be possible for some time, the statement added.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and Memorial preserve the Nazi extermination camp set up on occupied Polish soil by Germany during World War.

It called the perpetrators’ actions “an outrageous attack on the symbol of one of the greatest tragedies in human history. And an extremely painful blow to the memory of all the victims of the German Nazi Auschwitz-Birkenau camp.”

The Nazis and their collaborators killed at least 1.3 million people, including over a million Jews, at the former concentration camp. Most victims were sent to the gas chambers at Birkenau.

While vandalism at the site is rare, in 2010, a Swedish man was jailed for two years and eight months for plotting the theft of the infamous “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign, meaning “Work Sets You Free,” that hangs over the entrance to the camp.

Earlier this year, the wall of a Jewish cemetery near the camp was reportedly defaced with swastikas and other Nazi symbols.

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