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Vandals Desecrate Jewish Cemetery in Oakland; Wreck Fifty-five Tombstones

February 18, 1945
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Unidentified vandals spread destruction yesterday in the Home of Peace cemetery, overturning and wrecking 55 tombstones, among them that of a soldier killed fighting in the Argonne in world war 1. Other tombstones were mutilated.

The destruction was apparently the work of at least three men using crow cars and sledge hammers. Many of the larger monuments showed signs of having been pounded after being overturned. Harry J. Sapper, executive director of the Oakland Jewish Federation, declared that it was obvious that the vandals were not merely bent on destroying tombstones as such, but were motivated by hatred of Jews.

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