(JTA) — Reports in Poland and beyond about the desecration of a Jewish cemetery near Wroclaw are incorrect, Polish officials and Jewish community representatives said.
Marek Magierowski, the Polish ambassador to Israel, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on Wednesday that the deputy mayor of Swidnica told him that reports about the destruction of 15 headstones in that suburb of Wroclaw were made up.
The municipality has not replied to JTA’s requests for information.
On Tuesday, JTA reported about the incident based on reports by the news sites Publiszer and Wmeritum. The reports said 15 headstones had been smashed and others had graffiti painted on them.
However, on Wednesday, the incoming chairman of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland told JTA that she thought the reports were false.
The reports about that incident came at a sensitive time in the relations of Poland, Israel and Jewish organizations.
Earlier this week, Poland pulled out of a diplomatic conference over remarks by Israel’s acting foreign minister, Israel Katz, who said Poles get anti-Semitism with their mother’s milk. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called the statement racist. Poland’s pulling out of the conference led to its cancellation.
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