BERLIN, Germany — Two men were arrested in Germany on Monday for allegedly knocking over 40 tombstones in a Jewish cemetery and spraying some of them with blue paint, police said.
Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed to tackle hatred after an attack on an German synagogue in October killed two people on the celebration of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.
Monday’s two suspects, aged 21 and 33, were “known to the police” and were arrested near the cemetery in western Geilenkirchen, the Aachen police said in a statement.
A witness alerted police after seeing two people in hoods and wearing dark outfits knock over tombstones and spray some with blue paint overnight.
The German government had promised at the end of November to introduce a law making it possible to increase penalties when a crime involved an anti-Semitic motive.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
Germany has seen a rise in anti-Semitic acts. Last year, they increased by almost 20 percent compared to 2017, according to police statistics, with the neo-Nazi movement blamed for most of them.
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
