Delegates attending the plenary assembly of the World Jewish Congress here went this morning to Malines, in the north of Belgium where they held solemn religious services at a shrine there commemorating the more than 24,000 Belgian Jews deported from the Malines barracks, during World War II, to their deaths in Nazi concentration camps.
Meanwhile, police here began investigating today anti-Semitic vandalism at the Palais de Congres where the WJC is holding its assembly. Swastikas and Nazi slogans were found daubed on the WJC banners outside the building. One of the inscriptions bore the name of an association of nationalist Flemish students, but the association vigorously denied having anything to do with the incident. Among the slogans, in the Flemish language, were the usual Nazi cries “Down with the Jews” and “death to the Jews” painted on the steps of the building housing the plenary assembly. Nearby, on the pedestal of a statue of the late King Albert I. were painted in English the words: “Free Europe from Jewish people.” Swastikas were also painted on the pedestal.
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