Report: Hundreds of Jewish graves vandalized in Ukraine [View All]

[Behind the Aegis]

Hundreds of Jewish graves were defiled in the Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odessa, Interfax news agency reported Tuesday.

An unknown person or persons using spray paint and blunt objects damaged 302 final resting sites in the city's Jewish cemetery, said Dmitry Fuchedzhi, an Odessa police spokesman.

Two red swastikas were drawn on a memorial to Jews killed during German occupation of the region during 1941-44, along with the words "Congratulations on the Holocaust."

Anti-Semitism in Ukraine is uncommon but not unknown, most frequently in the form of vandalism on Jewish religious buildings, or less often as physical attacks against Jews.


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