In the week following the 50th anniversary commemoration of Kristallnacht, an apparent backlash has resulted in an upsurge of anti-Semitic vandalism in West Germany.
The Jewish cemetery of Bad Buchau in Schwaben was desecrated and anti-Semitic graffiti appeared in Wiesbaden, capital of the federal state of Hesse. Similar incidents were reported throughout the country.
Anti-Jewish feeling was also heightened by the forced resignation last week of Bundestag President Philipp Jenninger.
Addressing a special session of Parliament on Nov. 10 dedicated to the memory of Kristallnacht, Jenninger delivered a speech widely interpreted as a justification of the Nazi regime.
Police in Bad Buchau said 17 gravestones were overturned and others were uprooted.
Swastikas and Nazi slogans were smeared on the stones, in a Jewish cemetery that dates back to the 16th century.
The town, in southern Germany, was the home of Albert Einstein’s parents. A tablet on a house in Hofgarten Street reminds visitors that the eminent physicist was forced to flee his native Germany to avoid persecution.
In Wiesbaden, swastikas and Nazi slogans were smeared on a Jewish memorial near the former synagogue. The vandals evaded police who had been assigned to protect the site.
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.
