Poland condemns vandalism after Warsaw Ghetto Uprising memorial sprayed with red paint

WARSAW — The Polish foreign ministry on Friday condemned “an act of vandalism” after a monument to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was sprayed with paint, an incident that drew protest from the Israeli ambassador.

“Such acts are an attack on history and the values that unite us as a society,” the foreign ministry said on social media platform X.

Israel’s ambassador to Warsaw, Yacov Livne, posted a picture on social media showing a patch of red paint on the memorial, which was erected to commemorate the Jewish fighters who revolted against Nazi Germany in 1943.

An AFP photographer present at the scene on Friday saw cleaners removing the rectangle of paint about 50 centimeters (20 inches) long. Police were also at the site.

The 11-meter (36-foot) memorial is located at the site of several of the uprising’s armed clashes and is outside the popular Polin Museum established to commemorate the history of Polish Jews.

Livne urged Polish authorities to “find the culprits” behind the incident “and bring them to justice.”

Yesterday evening the Warsaw Ghetto monument was vandalized. I call on Polish authorities to condemn this, find the culprits & bring them to justice. This isn't the first act of Antisemitic vandalism here. Only determined action will put an end to it.
????: Adriana Hochmańska/IG pic.twitter.com/4ePzvjIQEa

— Amb. Yacov Livne ???????? (@YacovLivne) November 15, 2024

“This isn’t the first act of anti-Semitic vandalism here. Only determined action will put an end to it,” he said on X.

Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II. Six million Poles died, including three million Jews.

Up to around 450,000 Jews were crowded into the Warsaw ghetto, an area of around three square kilometers (one square mile).

When Nazi forces began deporting Jews to death camps, some of those in Warsaw put up armed resistance on April 19, 1943.