(Jewish Group) Holocaust 'book box' at German deportation memorial destroyed in apparent antisemitic

[Behind the Aegis]

Holocaust ‘book box’ at German deportation memorial destroyed in apparent antisemitic arson


Konrad Kutt and Irena Aselmeier, founders of Germany's book box initiative, stand in front of the burned-out book box near the "Gleis 17" Holocaust memorial after an apparent arson attack. (Fabian Sommer/picture alliance via Getty Images)

German police are investigating a fire that destroyed a public book box dedicated to Holocaust history near a memorial at the site from which tens of thousands of Jews were deported to concentration camps and death camps in 1941 and 1942.

According to police, the fire at the “Bucherboxx” near the Track 17 memorial at the Berlin Grunewald train station was discovered in the early morning hours of Saturday. Witnesses told German news media they saw a man placing a box inside the former telephone booth that served as the “street library,” and setting it on fire.

An antisemitic note was found on the site, Helmuth Pohren-Hartmann of the Stumbling Block memorial initiative in Berlin-Friedenau told the German news agency dpa. Police have not revealed the content of the alleged note.

The book box, from which any passerby could borrow reading material related to the Holocaust, had been dedicated in 2012. Sustainability activist Konrad Kutt came up with the idea of using decommissioned telephone booths as mini-libraries some 13 years ago, according to the Bucherboxx website. The project has won several awards.

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