A Jewish cemetery in Manchester was defaced with swastikas recently, but the leadership of the 40,000-member Jewish community in that midlands industrial city decided not to publicize the desecration.
The Nazi symbol was scrawled on 34 headstones at Crumpsall cemetery, an old Jewish burial ground still in use. Local Jewish leaders said it was the work of “yobs” — British slang for young hooligans — not organized neo-Nazis.
A spokeswoman for the Manchester Jewish Representative Council said that to have made it public would cause great pain to the community, especially among the elderly.
A funeral held just a day before the attack was one reason why it was decided not to publicize the incident. Another was fear that publicity would encourage copycat desecrations.
“It was one man with a spray can, some lout,” the spokeswoman said, adding that “the stones have been cleaned up and sandblasted, and it should be forgotten.”
Vandals covered more than 100 headstones with anti-Semitic obscenities. Damage was estimated at over $130,000.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews reported a 50 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents in 1990. The attack on the Crumpsall cemetery culminated a wave of anti-Semitic vandalism against cemeteries in Britain, which began in April with the desecration of the Edmonton cemetery in North London.
The Manchester Jewish community, which has organized patrols of the cemetery perimeter, says the police are doing their best to prevent breakins.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
