Francois Brunschwig, the president of the Geneva Jewish Community, disclosed today that he and the Chief Rabbi had received many messages of sympathy from leading members of the Geneva Christian community over the daubing yesterday of a Memorial stone for the 6,000,000 European Jewish victims of the Nazi holocaust. The Memorial is located outside the Geneva synagogue.
Unknown vandals tossed a dye-filled plastic bag at the Memorial. The bag burst and spattered the stone with red paint. Mr. Brunschwig said he did not consider the smearing as an act of anti-Semitism. He said he regarded the desecration as an act of vandalism by a young hooligan, probably the same person who defaced another monument in Geneva on eight previous occasions. Police found the plastic bag near the Memorial but said they had no clues to the identity of the vandals. A number of similar smearing have occurred since the monument was dedicated.
He also announced that the Community would soon erect a second memorial to the victims of Nazism. The second memorial will be built at the Jewish cemetery on the outskirts of Geneva.
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