Neo-Nazis desecrate Dresden synagogue ahead of Kristallnacht anniversary

[Behind the Aegis]

Source: Ha'aretz

The synagogue in the eastern German city of Dresden was desecrated with swastikas, ahead of the anniversary of Kristallnacht, German police said on Sunday.

Roughly six meters of the synagogue's exterior wall was vandalized with the Nazi symbol, despite regular round-the-clock police surveillance.

Heinz-Joachim Aris of the Association of Jewish Communities in Saxony expressed shock at the deed.

A police investigation has been launched.


Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1126682.html

[Arctic Dave]

1. A kristallnacht on Kristallnacht?

[proteus_lives]

2. In that area?

Jeez. What pricks. There is some especially bad karma waiting for whoever did this.

[Judi Lynn]

3. How sad it is to see bullies trying to intimidate people using horror from a hellish past

to seem more powerful themselves.

Doesn't seem possible anyone could be this nasty.

[David__77]

4. This wouldn't have happened before the glorious annexation of the east...

...

[Andronex]

5. The same thing happened in Venezuela...

and the whole world condemned Chavez for it, full media coverage. Eventually the Rabbi's body guard and police officers were found to be responsible, no more media coverage. Strange world we live in...

[Electric Monk]

19. Got a link for that?

re: "the Rabbi's body guard and police officers were found to be responsible"


I tried googling some but was unable to find that bit of news from what I'd consider to be a credible source.


It is worth asking though, who benefits from acts such as these?

[struggle4progress]

21. Venezuela synagogue suspects held (BBC)

Page last updated at 09:33 GMT, Monday, 9 February 2009

Eleven people - including seven police officers - have been arrested over the ransacking of a synagogue in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

Armed men broke into the building last week and daubed slogans including "Jews get out" on the walls before destroying religious objects ...

Mr Chavez condemned the attack and promised to find those responsible.

At least one of those arrested was reported to be a security guard working at the synagogue ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7878145.stm



Officers Charged in Synagogue Attack
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 26, 2009

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan prosecutors have charged eight police officers and three other people in connection with a break-in and vandalism in January at Caracas’s largest synagogue, prosecutors said Thursday.

The prosecutors said in a statement that they had asked a court to approve the charges, including robbery, “acts of contempt against a religion” and concealing firearms.

The suspects include a police officer who worked as a bodyguard for a rabbi. Another suspect is one of two security guards on duty during the attack. The guard is suspected of helping intruders by deactivating an alarm and an electric fence surrounding the building ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/world/americas/27synagogue.html?_r=1

[Electric Monk]

24. Oh ok, thanks for those links. nt

[rasputin1952]

6. One of the terrible legacies that the nazi's left, was an ideology...

that can be swept in easily by the ignorant, the compliant.

Of all of the symbols of hate, the swastika rates highest of all...especially when used as a symbol of some kind of perverted hope.

[Vehl]

18. The Nazi's Hijacked the Swastika and used it as a symbol for their evil ideology..

The result is the current negative association most people have with the Swastika.

It really irks me to see that the Nazi's took a holy symbol respected by Billions of people in South+East Asia for millenia(i guess the native Americans too) and turned it into one that became synonymous with pure unadulterated evil.

Therefore imho we should not paint the swastika with a broad brush. Even to this day The Swastika is venerated in many cultures(which have nothing to do with Hitler and his cohorts). After all we do not associate the KKK with the Christian Cross.
We should hate the Swastika used in the Context of Nazism while the Swastika ..say for example..my mom paints to celebrate Diwali should be looked at in a diff manner.

:)

[rasputin1952]

25. In most other cultures, the swastica is reversed, opposewd to

the one we are familiar with. It has been around for thousands of years in one form or another, most likely since there was a civilization, as a religious symbol usually meaning something along the line of "circle of life".

No matter how we look at it from the past, only the relatively recent past will be recalled, as it indeed has become the very symbol of hate, denigration and cruelty. I did a small sociological study once on nazi culture trying to figure out how such a well developed nation such as Germany, coming off a horrendous war, could wait merely 1 generation before getting embroiled in the next. Essentially it comes down to using nazism as both a tool of religion and a monetary benefactor. It became both a church and a financial institution above being a political one. Just trying to figure out how Hitler came to power was daunting, it should never have happened, and yet it did.

[oldironside]

7. The haaretz article only gives the barest of facts...

... so here is a link to the Sächsiche Zeitung (the main Dresden newspaper).

http://www.sz-online.de/nachrichten/artikel.asp?id=2309409

For those who don't speak German, the main extra points are:

1. The graffiti was sprayed on a wall between the synagogue and a community centre.
2. The graffiti covered approximately nine metres of the wall (not six, as haaretz says).
3. It was immediately removed by a specialist cleaning firm.
4. It consisted of a number of swastikas and an anti-semitic slogan, part of which was in English.
5. The two perpetrators were filmed on CCTV, but only through the glass of a bus shelter, so identification may be difficult.
6. The interior minister, Marcus Ulbig of the CDU, said: "I condemn this act from the bottom of my heart. Whoever does such a thing shows his contempt for humanity. We will not tolerate this."
7. The leader of the association of Jewish communities in Saxony, Heinz-Joachim Aris, said he was appalled by the crime.
8. The police confirmed that the buildings are given regular police patrols, and that they discovered the graffiti at 8.45am, but with no sign of the vandals.
9. The crime was also condemned by the mayoress of Dresden, Helma Oroz, who said that Dresden is standing by the Jewish community.

As a Brit living in Germany I can tell you that Germany takes its Nazi past very seriously and the vast majority of Germans will be as angry over this as any other well adjusted person would be.

[corpseratemedia]

8. there would have been an old dresden left if not for nazi ideology

extrapolate, nazi racists

your ideology has zero foresight


edtied to add: my father, a Jew, and a ww2 3x pow, who was awarded a purple heart, thought the firebombing of dresden was a war crime. I'm making reference to the pursuance of nazi ideology, which lead ultimately to the complete destruction of Germany.

[The Wizard]

9. Are they any different

than our teabag bigots?
Ignorance is a blight on humanity.

[Tripmann]

10. Disgusting

I hope whoever did this gets whats coming to them.

[Odin2005]

11. Yuck!

[Algorem]

12. Why does it say that "neo-nazis" did it?They don't know who did it,do they?

[oldironside]

14. In the German article I cite above...

... it says that the police are investigating neo-Nazis, but also keeping an open mind. It's worth pointing out that the biggest centre right party, the CDU (and the nearest thing to your republicans), would never accept anyone as a member who had even the slightest sympathy for this.

The NPD is a front for German neo-Nazis but there are very strict laws as to what you can do or say regarding the Nazi time (For example, it is illegal to give a Nazi salute in public) so they are hamstrung as to what they can do to promote their ideology. They are also going through a financial crisis because their main backer died last week.

His family are (seriously) considering burying him at sea to avoid his grave becoming a shrine. Okay, but it will make it difficult for lefties like me to dance on it.

[Andronex]

17. "despite regular round-the-clock police surveillance"

"despite regular round-the-clock police surveillance" and the penalties are quite stiff for this type of thing in Germany, who had access? and why do such a thing? does seem counterproductive.

I would bet anything that unlike in Venezuela these Nazis will never be caught.

[pattmarty]

13. Germany's version of "teabaggers".

[Vehl]

15. A despicable act. but the police should have forseen this

They should have realized that something like this might happen...especially on Kristallnacht.
Especially given the recent rise of neo nazism

:(

[mamaleah]

16. What? No obligatory post tying this to the evil state of Israel somehow?

Oh wait, the local contingent of undercover anti-semites are having too much fun talking about deporting Liebermann this morning.

This act in Dresden is just a reminder that we should always be vigilant and at the ready and never ever believe for a moment that we are truly safe.

[Algorem]

20. Uncle Leo?!

[Behind the Aegis]

26. Uncle David?!

[barbtries]

22. round the clock surveillance?

i don't think so.

one step forward, two steps back. are we making progress in the movement to eradicate senseless hatred?

[Gregorian]

23. Empty lives looking for purpose.

Why not cooking? Why not spend time perfecting pizza dough? Enough of this stupidity. Fascism is really not enjoyable.

What a bunch of loser/downers.