Police looking for suspects who desecrated Jewish cemetery
Greek Police on Monday were searching for the vandals who sprayed anti-Semitic slogans during the night on the outer walls of the Jewish cemetery in the district of Nikea, in southwestern Athens.
The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece (KIS) condemned the vandalism by suspected neo-Nazis in a statement, saying the slogans were the same “used by the Nazis themselves 80 years ago to displace millions of Jews from their homes.”
KIS also welcomed the prompt reaction by Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis who sent out crews to clean walls.
“We express our confidence that the Greek state will take all necessary measures to arrest the perpetrators and bring them to justice,” it added in its statement.
Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said he was “saddened and appalled” by the vandalism. “Nazism and its followers have no place in our society and in any society,” he said in a statement on his official Twitter account.
Government spokesman Stelios Petsas said “Nazism, anti-Semitism and their followers have no place in Greece” and “there will be no tolerance towards them.”
He added that the state is working to arrest the perpetrators and lead them to justice.
