Gravestones of Jewish dead–most of them former slave workers who were worked to death under the Nazi regime at the nearby Hermann Goering steel plant–were desecrated, overturned and defaced with neo-Nazi slogans in the cemetery at Salzgitter-Lebenstedt, in Lower Saxony, during the Easter week-end.
About 80 of the headstones were overturned, and many of them were marked with Swastikas and with the slogan: “Germany Awake Israel Perish!” Police investigating the outrages blamed “radical-rightist” political groups. The Lower Saxony area has been of late a hotbed of neo-Nazism.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
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.
