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Anti-semitism in West Berlin Leaves Mark at Three Locations

January 11, 1989
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Anti-Semitic vandalism was rampant in West Berlin over the weekend, leaving the Jewish community outraged and Mayor Eberhardt Diepgen vowing that no effort will be spared to find and punish the perpetrators.

In one incident, pig carcasses were hung on the Putlitzbruecke memorial to Jews who were transported in trains from Berlin to Auschwitz and other death camps.

The same desecration was found at the Ploetzensee memorial, where hundreds of anti-Nazis were killed, and at the Tiergarten, where a plaque stands in memory of the Jewish-born Communist, Rosa Luxemburg, who was murdered on that spot in 1919.

In addition, the walls were daubed with anti-Semitic slogans such as “Juden Raus” and “Ju-densau.”

Local news wire services received anonymous telephone calls claiming responsibility from an unknown group calling itself the “April 20 Movement.” April 20 is Hitler’s birthday.

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