Greece Condemns Desecration of Holocaust Memorial for Jewish-Greek Children

Photo: Holocaust memorial in Athens

The recent desecration of a holocaust memorial plaque was condemned this Thursday by the Greek government.

The memorial, located next to a children's park in Athens, was dedicated to Jewish Greek children who were murdered in the Holocaust., and desecrated with swastikas and SS symbols.

"We express our outrage at this offensive and bigoted act of desecrating a monument that is dedicated to the memory of innocent victims of the horror of Nazism and fascism; to the memory of Greek children of Jewish descent," said Greek Foreign Ministry spokesperson Konstantinos Koutras.

"The Greek government and the whole of Greek society express their solidarity with our Jewish fellow citizens," continued Koutras, "and stand together with them in the common struggle for more tolerance, for eradication of intolerance and racism, and for the marginalization of isolated elements who cultivate hatred and divisiveness within Greek society."

The incident comes in the wake of an increase in vandalism over the past year of Jewish cemeteries and Holocaust memorials across Greece.

A separate memorial was recently erected in Kavala, a port city in northern Greece, after weeks of controversy. After being protested by city officials, due to the use of the Star of David in the monument, several organizations later confirmed that the monument would be built in its original form, including the use of the Star of David.

A 2014 survey conducted by the Jewish human rights group the Anti-Defamation League found that Greek citizens held the highest percentage of anti-Semitic views in Europe, with 69% of Greeks holding anti-Semitic views. This percentage is nearly double the second-highest nation, France, where 37% of citizens hold anti-Semitic views.