Op de dag van de 74ste herdenking van de Kristallnacht (9 november 2012) werden in de Duitse stad Greifswald Stolpersteine door vandalen uitgebroken.
German police believe that Neo-Nazis vandalized plaques in the city of Greifswald that memorialized victims of the Nazis. The incident occurred on the 74th anniversary of Kristallnacht – a series of coordinated attacks against German Jews in 1938.
All of the 11 plaques in various locations around the city were uprooted, Die Welt daily reports.
The plaques were part of the Stolpersteine (‘stumbling blocks’) project by German artist Gunter Demnig, memorializing victims of the Nazi regime throughout Europe. Each plaque bore the name of a victim and was placed in front of their former home. The plaques were slightly elevated above the sidewalk so that passerby would stumble upon them.
On the evening of November 9, 1938, Nazi supporters and paramilitary forces throughout Germany and Austria attacked Jews and vandalized their properties. The night became known infamously as Kristallnacht – ’the night of broken glass.’
Jewish homes, hospitals, and schools were ransacked, as the attackers demolished buildings with sledgehammers. Historians estimate over 1,000 synagogues were burned, and over 7,000 Jewish businesses were destroyed.
At least 91 Jews were killed and 30,000 were arrested and sent to concentration camps after Kristallnacht.
http://rt.com/news/greifswald-kristallnacht-memorial-desecrated-430/
http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?ID=291222&R=R1
AFP Foto: Bernd Wustneck