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.
We can't do this work alone.
The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
As a Times of Israel reporter, I’m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit’s. But my colleagues and I can't do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.
— Stav Levaton, military reporter
Yes, I'll join
Yes, I'll join
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
