Headstones found vandalized at second Jewish cemetery in Slovakia

WJC says 22 gravestones in Rajec apparently damaged in mid-December; not known whether incident related to earlier case where tombstones knocked down and set on fire

By Marcy Oster 26 December 2019, 7:45 pm

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Illustrative: Vandalized headstones at the ancient Jewish cemetery of Námestovo, Slovakia, in December 2019. (Courtesy of ZCN via JTA)

JTA — More than 20 headstones were vandalized at a Jewish cemetery in northern Slovakia in the second such incident in the country in a week.

The 22 gravestones vandalized at a Jewish cemetery in the country’s northern town of Rajec appear to have been damaged in mid-December, according to the World Jewish Congress. The vandalism is currently under investigation by police.

On December 16, some 60 gravestones were found knocked down and set on fire in the Jewish cemetery of Námestovo, a town in northern Slovakia near the Polish border.

It is not known yet whether the two incidents are connected.

Anti-Semitic incidents of this nature are extremely rare in Slovakia, according to the World Jewish Congress.

In Central and Eastern Europe, inactive Jewish cemeteries often attract vagrants because they are often located outside urban centers and out of sight of law enforcement. Some incidents of vandalism have been attributed to drunks and drug users and are not always deemed hate crimes.