Suspected Holocaust memorial vandal held
Mayor Walsh, survivors decry act
A homeless man with mental health problems is accused of shattering one of the glass panels at the city’s downtown Holocaust memorial in the first such act of vandalism at the shrine since it was erected more than two decades ago.
“He has been diagnosed with a host of mental health issues and has struggled considerably,” defense attorney Rebecca Kozak said of James E. Isaac. “When he was 8 years old, his father was tragically murdered. This had a significant impact on Mr. Isaac.”
Isaac, 21, was arraigned yesterday in Boston Municipal Court on charges of malicious destruction of property causing more than $250 in damage and willful damage to a church, synagogue or memorial.
Judge Sally Kelly held Isaac on $750 cash bail tied to the alleged vandalism of the New England Holocaust Memorial, but she also revoked his bail on an open assault and battery case out of Chelsea, which will keep him in jail for at least 60 days.
If he posts bail, Isaac was also ordered to stay 200 yards away from the memorial.
Prosecutor Anthony Rizzo said a taxi driver helped identity Isaac as the suspect who shattered the glass at about 2 a.m. yesterday. According to police records, a verbal argument occurred shortly before Isaac was spotted throwing a rock at a glass panel.
Kozak added that Isaac was participating in a mental health program through Roxbury District Court and has “made very real attempts to manage his health.”
A woman, who was identified as Isaac’s girlfriend, declined comment after yesterday’s hearing.
The memorial is designed around the six luminous glass towers, which symbolize the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust, the names of the six main death camps, and the six years during which Adolf Hitler’s “Final Solution” took place from 1939-1945. Millions of numbers are etched on the glass, representing the tattoos stamped on many of the victims’ arms.
City officials and prominent members of the Jewish community gathered in front of the memorial to offer remarks.
“In 22-plus years, this is the first time that we’ve had to replace, in my understanding, a pane of glass here at this sacred place,” Mayor Martin J. Walsh said. He added that as a city, “Boston stands with the Jewish community.”
Walsh said that at the time of the memorial’s construction, extra glass panels were put into storage in the event that part of the structure sustained damage. He and other officials promised the damage will be repaired, though a timeline for replacement has not yet been disclosed.
Izzy Arbeiter, 92, a Holocaust survivor from Newton, said at the scene, “I lost my entire family in the Holocaust, in Auschwitz and Treblinka. I was in Auschwitz myself, so, it was a terrible thing. We consider this part of our lives, of our families.”