Anti-semitic graffiti found at Auschwitz death camp

Nine windowless wooden barracks that each housed hundreds of prisoners at a time at an Auschwitz death camp were marked with anti-semitic phrases and Holocaust-denying slogans on Tuesday, the Auschwitz-birkenau Memorial and Museum said.

The spray-painted vandalism was on buildings at Auschwitz Ii-birkenau, the Nazi-run extermination site in occupied Poland. About one million people were killed there, more than 90 per cent of whom were Jews, according to the museum. About six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust.

Police have not yet made an arrest, though they are reviewing security tapes and analyzing the graffiti.

“Such (an) incident — an offence against the Memorial Site — is, above all, an outrageous attack on the symbol of one of the greatest tragedies in human history and an extremely painful blow to the memory of all the victims of the German Nazi Auschwitz-birkenau camp,” the museum said in a statement.

The vandalism at Birkenau is the latest example of rising anti-semitism in Europe. A survey conducted by Europe’s Agency for Fundamental Rights found that 81 per cent of young Jewish Europeans said anti-semitism is an issue in their respective countries. Fortyfour per cent said they were the target of anti-semitic harassment in the 12 months leading up to the survey.

Anti-semitism has been prolific during the pandemic. Anti-vaccine and mask protesters have worn yellow Stars of David, which they say represent victimization from public health mandates. Several Holocaust museums and memorials in the U.S. have been defaced over the last two years in St. Petersburg, Fla.; Charleston, S.C.; Tulsa; Portland, Ore.; and Albuquerque, N.M.

A report published by the European Commission on the rise of anti-semitism during the pandemic in France and Germany found a surge of online activity. Hateful content on Facebook, Twitter and Telegram increased sevenfold in the French language and 13-fold in German, the report said.

The European Union on Tuesday announced a new strategy to combat anti-semitism in Europe. The plan aims to increase awareness and education about Jewish life and the Holocaust and offer funding to communities to help them better monitor, flag and remove online hate.

The vandalism at Auschwitz Ii-birkenau occurred some time Tuesday morning, the museum said. Nine barracks in what was once housing for male prisoners were marked with phrases in both German and English. The museum said there were “two references to the Old Testament, often used by anti-semites, and denial slogans.”

The graffiti will remain on the barracks until police “have compiled all the necessary documentation.” The museum hopes investigators will be able to solve the case quickly.