Anti-Semitism is Alive in France: Jewish Cemetery Vandalized in Bayonne
Photo Credit: Maxime Cambreling / Wikimedia
Nearly a dozen gravestones were found smashed this past Sunday at a Jewish cemetery in southwest France.
The damage was discovered at the Jewish cemetery in Bayonne, created in the late 17th century and expanded periodically as needed. A plaque memorializing a girl who was deported during World War II was also smashed.
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A nearby Catholic cemetery was left untouched.
The head of the Jewish community in Bayonne and Biarritz, Deborah Loupien-Suarest, told the AFP news agency that she discovered the damage when she went to visit the graves of her grandparents.
“There is no anti-Semitic graffiti,” Loupien-Suarest said. “I don’t want to inflame a debate. I want the investigation to take place calmly.”
An investigation has indeed been opened.
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