Argentina’s Ambassador to the United States, Esteban Takacs, today conveyed to the World Jewish Congress the official condemnation of his government of the desecration of the Jewish cemetery at Mar del Plata, Argentina’s main seaside resort.
The main cemetery of the Jewish community of Mar del Plata, situated some 250 miles south of Buenos Aires, was vandalized on the evening of February 25. Reportedly, the incident involved the daubing of swastikas in addition to three headstones that were overturned.
Dr. Mario Gorenstein, president of the Delegation de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas (DAIA), the central agency of Argentine Jewry, has confirmed to the WJC that he personally received repudiation of the incident from the Office of the Argentine President. The text as conveyed from the Argentine Ambassador to the WJC reads as follows:
“The Public Information Department on behalf of the Argentine government expresses our strongest condemnation of the act of desecration of the Israelite cemetery that took place in the city of Mar del Plata. The Secretary-General of the Presidency, Hector Iglesias, conveyed to the President of DAIA, Dr. Mario Gorenstein, his repudiation of this barbaric act and informed him that all measures would be taken to punish whoever is responsible for such an act of vandalism.”
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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.