Greek police hunting vandals responsible for the destruction of Jewish cemetery in Athens

A Jewish cemetery was targeted with antisemitic slogans and graffiti in the district of Nikea, in southwestern Athens.

The authorities in Greece are searching for the perpetrators responsible for the incident, which took place on 5th October, during the Jewish festival of Sukkot, and saw hateful rhetoric and slogans spray-painted across the walls of the cemetery.

The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece condemned the incident by suspected neo-Nazis in the area and stated that the language used was worryingly similar to that of the Nazi regime.

Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis has been praised by communal groups for his swift arranging for the walls to be cleaned and any destruction repaired. The Jewish community expressed confidence that the Greek state will take “all necessary measures” to promptly bring the vandals to justice.

Earlier this year, a Jewish school in Athens was graffitied with antisemitic slurs, and the monument commemorating the Jews of Thessaloniki, at the University of Athens, was defaced.

Government spokesman, Stelios Petsas, announced that fascism, antisemitism and their followers have no place in the country and there will be zero tolerance towards such hatred. Investigations into the destruction of the Jewish cemetery are ongoing.

The vandalism came ahead of a verdict from a Greek court on 7th October in the case of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party’s leaders and several members charged with running a criminal gang. The group has denied these accusations.

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