CANDLES condemns Auschwitz graffiti

Sue Loughlin, The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
·2 min read

Oct. 7—CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center has issued a statement strongly condemning antisemitic graffiti defacing barracks at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, the site of the former Nazi death camp in Poland.

A security guard found the graffiti Tuesday sprayed on nine wooden barracks in an area where there is no closed circuit television monitoring, according to Associated Press.

In a statement, CANDLES echoes United States Holocaust Memorial Museum director Sara J. Bloomfield and "stands with our partners at the Auschwitz State Museum, throughout Poland, and across the globe. We also join these partners in calling on the Polish authorities to conduct a proper and thorough investigation to find the perpetrator(s) and hold them adequately and publicly responsible for their crimes."

Troy Fears, CANDLES executive director, states, "This attack is incredibly offensive and disheartening as it desecrates an authentic site where at least 1.1 million people lost their lives. It is not only an attack on the victims of Auschwitz, but also the larger Jewish community."

The attack is upsetting but should not come as a surprise with recent increases in antisemitism and Holocaust denial over the past few years, Bloomfield said.

"The fact that the graffiti was written in English and German reveals that is was intended as a message to Europe, the U.S., and beyond. It's a message that we should all heed," Bloomfield said in a statement through the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Fears' hope is that CANDLES and its programs can provide the education to prevent future attacks like this one and ensure that "never again" can one day be a reality.

CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center works to promote hope, healing, respect, and responsibility by shining a light on the story of the Holocaust, Eva Kor, the Mengele twins and other survivors.

The vison of CANDLES "is to be a premier institution seeking progress in the creation of a world free from prejudice, hatred, and genocide," the statement says.

According to the AP report, Malgorzata Jurecka, a police spokesperson in the town of Oswiecim, said court experts will determine if the content of the graffiti is antisemitic.

If they decide it is, the perpetrators also could face hate crime charges punishable by up to three years in prison.