Anti-semitic Acts Continue in Bamberg; Jewish Center Building Smeared

The outbreak of anti-Semitic incidents continued here in spite of stepped-up protective measures carried out by the city authorities. Last night a nec-Nazi vandal smeared yellow paint on the nameplate of the Bamberg Jewish Center building housing the communal activities of the city’s 73 Jews.

The vandal was seen by two young German civilian volunteers guarding the building who chased the culprit but failed to apprehend him. They could only describe him as a “young man.” The volunteer guards were part of a force of civilian vigilante patrols set up by the Bamberg Council of Elders to help police protect Jewish citizens and their property against the reported threats of violence and arson by the neo-Nazis.

Security measures were increased after an incident earlier this weekend in which vandals, striking in darkness while police patrols concentrated on protecting Jewish landmarks, splashed a swastika and anti-Semitic slogans in violet paint on the statue of Dr. Johann Lakas Schoalein, a Roman Catholic Bamberg physican who died in 1854.

The Town Council today announced that the reward for apprehending the neo-Nazis had been rained. The reward being offered by Bamberg police and citizens for the apprehension of the neo-Nazis today reached 20,000 deutschemarks ($5,000), but so far no arrests have been made. Commenting on the latest anti-Semitic incidents, Mayor Theodor Mathieu said that hamberg’s citizens were enraged and that hundreds had volunteered for the special patrols.

The spate of incidents in the city started last week when the slogan “Death to Jews” was found inscribed of a memorial tabled erected to commemorate the Bamberg Synagogue burned by the Nazis on the infamous Crystal Night of November 9, 1938 when the Nazis destroyed synagogues throughout Germany. Later in the week, American Jewish tourists found the city’s Jewish cemetery desecrated.