The Lichtenfels police still have no clues as to the identity of the persons who desecrated 600 graves in the old Jewish cemetery at Burgenstadt in Franconia. The damage to the graves was found over the weekend. Tracks have been impossible to find because of thick snow that had fallen in the area. Gravestones weighing up to half a ton had been turned over. Damage has been estimated at DM 50,000 to DM 70,000.
Police believe the act of desecration was in revenge for the shooting down last week of a Libyan airliner over Sinai. Jewish communities in Berlin, Karlsruhe, Munich and elsewhere report no anti-Semitic incidents in recent days. Security precautions on Israeli and Jewish property and persons in Germany were automatically tightened by police after the Sinai incident.
A special police commission has been set up to investigate the desecration. The commission today met with Bavarian Jewish leaders and Bavarian Interior Minister Bruno Merk. Police described the act as deliberate anti-Semitism. The chairman of the Bavarian community, Dr. Simon Snopowski, said he hopes to get reparation for damage from state sources.
Three years ago, the Munich Jewish community had the cemetery restored for DM 30,000 to remove damage caused by the Nazi regime. The first Jewish graves there date back to the 16th century. Jewish families from all over upper Franconia have family graves in Burgenstadt.
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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.
