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Calgary Jewish facilities vandalized

November 16, 2009

TORONTO (JTA) -- A series of anti-Semitic attacks has rocked the Calgary Jewish community.

Over the weekend, anti-Jewish slogans were spray-painted on several Jewish facilities and a Holocaust monument in the western Canadian city. A Jewish family also was targeted.

Hate messages were painted on the Calgary Jewish Centre, the Holocaust war memorial and at least one synagogue, all in the city's southwest region. The graffiti also were found on fences, bus stops and mailboxes down the street.

The messages included swastikas and epithets such as "Kill Jews" and "6 million more."

"This is a hate crime," Adam Singer, community relations chair for the Calgary Jewish Centre, told a local radio station. "And the timing is quite disturbing, coming at the time of a very somber memorial within our community. Kristallnacht was almost 71 years ago exactly."

Investigators are reviewing video surveillance tapes and believe they are looking for at least two suspects. A local television station reported that the incidents are being treated as hate crimes.

Singer said he was "horrified" by the attacks.

"These are expressions and words that we had hoped had been relegated to the dust bins of history," he said.

Calgary, located in the Canadian province of Alberta, has a Jewish population of 8,000.

 

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