Unidentified persons uprooted 11 memorial plaques commemorating local victims of Nazism in the German city of Greifswald on Friday, the 74th anniversary of Kristallnacht, Die Welt newspaper reported.
The Jews of Greifswald were among those targeted throughout Germany on Kristallnacht – the Night of Broken Glass, on November 9, 1938. Synagogues and businesses were destroyed, and Jews throughout the country were murdered and arrested en masse.
The memorial plaques which were uprooted, by apparent Neo-Nazis, had been placed at the site of the homes of Kristallnacht victims.
Die Welt quoted local police official Knut Abramowski as referring to the vandalism as a “vile crime.” Abramowski offered a 2,500 euro reward to anyone with information that would help lead to the capture of those behind the crime.
“I condemn this malicious attack in the strongest terms,” the newspaper quoted Abramowski as saying.
Norbert Nieszery, the chairman of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), said, “It is particularly shameful when something like this happens precisely on the anniversary of Kristallnacht,” according to Die Welt.
The monuments were part of the Stolpersteine (“stumbling blocks”), created by artist Gunter Demnig, which commemorate victims of the Nazis in several cities in Germany and surrounding countries.