On Kristallnacht anniversary, 80 graves desecrated at 200-year-old cemetery

British Jewish leaders reacted with horror on Monday to news that 80 gravestones had been desecrated in a 200-year old Jewish cemetery over the weekend.

Board of Deputies’ senior vice-president Sheila Gewolb said “the desecration of up to 80 graves, on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, is another example of the worrying and dangerous growth of antisemitism throughout Europe”.

She added: “We condemn these horrific acts and stand with the Danish Jewish community in this difficult time. We thank the Danish Prime Minster Mette Frederiksen for his words of support.”

The gravestones at the Østre Kirkegard cemetery were daubed with graffiti and some were overturned. Police began investigating after receiving a complaint on Saturday.

Leader of the country’s 6,000-strong Jewish community said other antisemitic incidents also took place this weekend, including a Star of David painted onto the letter box of a family in the western town of Silkeborg.

“The attacks at the weekend… are both an attack against Danish Jews and against all of us,” said Frederiksen on Facebook. “Our Jewish citizens must be respected and not live in fear.”

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