In Weimar, Germany, a Holocaust memorial known as the Stolpersteine has been vandalized. The phrase "Jews are criminals" was graffitied across the brass plate.
This is not the first time this antisemitic message has appeared on historic memorials. Last year, the same phrase was repeated in acts of vandalism.
Authorities believe the incidents may be connected, although no conclusive evidence has been found yet.
There has been a rise in antisemitic incidents globally since the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel, which resulted in nearly 1,200 people killed, mostly civilians, and 251 kidnapped, sparking Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has reported a surge in antisemitic crimes in 2023, jumping from 33 incidents the previous year to 492 — the vast majority committed after October 7.
RIAS, the Antisemitism Research and Information Center based in Berlin, reported even higher numbers, with 994 antisemitic incidents recorded in the first month of the Israel-Hamas war alone.
These incidents included physical attacks, threats, graffiti, and overheard antisemitic slurs.
