A Holocaust memorial in Hanover, Germany was vandalized during the night leaving flower wreaths laid out to honor victims of the second World War destroyed.
The incident, which took place on January 29, just days after International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, is the second instance of vandalism at the Ahlem Memorial within two years, according to the Ahlem Memorial's press release.
Newsweek reached out to the Hanover's police department for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Incidents of antisemitism have been increasing in recent years, and they rose by 360 percent in the U.S. following the outbreak of the war in Gaza in 2023, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The incidents included physical assault, vandalism, verbal or written harassment, and more.
Germany also saw a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents in 2023, as they increased by 83 percent, according to the Federal Association of Research and Information Centers on Antisemitism's (RIAS) report.
The ADL estimates that 2.2 billion people, 46 percent of the world's adult population, harbor antisemitic attitudes, which is double the number of people surveyed 10 years ago.
What To Know
The vandalism consisted of the destruction of nine memorial wreaths, which were laid down on January 28 during a ceremony for to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day. Some of the wreaths were thrown into a garden or stolen. After the incident, the only remnants of the wreaths were petals lining the path, that leads to the "wall of names."
Hanover's authorities have begun investigating the incident, and surveillance cameras reportedly recorded the perpetrator.
The wreaths laid at the ceremony to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day were placed on behalf of the city of Hanover, the Jewish community, political deputies, and victim associations in memory of the victims of the Holocaust in the presence of 150 visitors.
The ceremony was one of many globally, as this year marked 80 years since the liberation of Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The previous instance of vandalism at the Holocaust memorial site took place in 2023, in which, after the Holocaust Remembrance Day, the memorial was defaced with National Socialist and anti-Semitic slogans, and wreaths were again destroyed.
The Ahlem memorial is located on the site of a collection point from which the Nazis deported Jewish people from Hanover to ghettos and extermination camps in Eastern Europe.
Prior to functioning as a deportation site, the area was known for being home to the Ahlem Israeli Horticultural School in 1933 and the school later helped Jews to emigrate to 18 countries to escape the Nazi regime, including Palestine, according to the website Hanover Living.
What People Are Saying
In a statement, Steffen Krach, the regional president of Hanover, said: "It is shameful that there are still people in this country who question or even approve of the Nazis' unjust regime and extermination policy and mock the victims of the Holocaust and the memory of them in such a disgusting way! I condemn in the strongest terms any form of misanthropy, extremism and anti-Semitism."
"We currently see daily how the limits of what is said and feasible are shifting further and further. We will continue to oppose this incident and any other form of hatred and incitement with all means of the rule of law. And I appeal to everyone: stand up for our democracy, do not allow it to be put further at risk."
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote: "Responsibility for Germany arises from this place. This responsibility remains. We remember the at least six million Jews who were murdered. We remember all those who were declared enemies, persecuted and murdered by the National Socialist ideology. #WeRemember."
What Happens Next
The Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) agency has paused observances of Holocaust Days of Remembrance and other cultural and historical events after President Donald Trump banned inputting diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal workplace, so Holocaust Remembrance events may not continue to take place in the U.S.
Germany is attempting to find new ways to combat antisemitism, as it passed an antisemitism resolution that would make public grants for culture and science projects dependent on the organizations' adherence to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, as reported by the German news outlet DW.
Ralf Michaels, a legal expert in Hamburg, said that the resolution passed by Germany's lower house of parliament in November 2024 is "a great disappointment."
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