Jewish cemetery in Athens defaced ahead of verdict in neo-Nazi attack

A Jewish cemetery has been desecrated near Athens just days before the keenly-awaited verdict in a murder trial involving neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn, prompting strong condemnation from Greece’s government.

“Juden Raus,” a phrase once used by the Nazis that means “Jews Out” in German, was painted in black on the outside fence of the cemetery in the town of Nikaia, along with a symbol similar to the swastika used by Golden Dawn, the Israelite Council of Greece said.

In a statement, government spokesman Stelios Petsas denounces “this act of vandalism.”

“Nazism and anti-Semitism and their followers have no place in Greece and will not be tolerated,” he said.

Anti semitic incident in Greece: Jewish Cemetery in Nikaia, Athens, vandalized with Nazi graffiti. pic.twitter.com/GOJCBcWcke

— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) October 5, 2020

An Athens court is due to hand down a verdict in a landmark murder trial on Wednesday involving Golden Dawn leader Nikos Michaloliakos and other party members over the murder of anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas in 2013.

A Holocaust denier and protege of Greece’s former dictator Georgios Papadopoulos, Michaloliakos has consistently maintained his innocence.

— AFP