Warsaw Ghetto plaque vandalized

The Nazi symbol was sprayed on a stone tablet that marks the boundaries of the largest Jewish ghetto established by occupying Nazi German forces in Europe during World War II.

“At first we thought it was impossible to remove the paint and that we would have to take the plaque to a conservation studio,” says Warsaw city hall spokesperson Magdalena Łań. While the city authorities managed to wipe the tablet clean with a special paint remover, the plexiglas plaque will have to be replaced as the spray damaged its original inscription, Łań added.

Under Polish law, propagating totalitarian regimes and symbols carries a sentence of up to two years in prison.

First unveiled in 2008, the plaque marks one of several border posts of the former ghetto.

Some 400,000 Jews died in the Warsaw Ghetto, established by the Nazi regime in occupied Poland in 1940 in order to segregate the Jewish population and later deport them to death camps. (aba/pk)

Source: Gazeta Wyborcza, Wawalove