THEY DON’T EVEN LET THE DEAD REST: Nazi symbols drawn in the Jewish Cemetery in Zemun!

Several monuments in the Jewish Cemetery in Zemun have been desecrated, with offensive and antisemitic graffiti written on them, as well as Nazi symbols drawn.

According to Nenad Fogel, president of the Jewish Community of Zemun, speaking for the N1 portal, offensive graffiti was written on more than 15 monuments, and swastikas, symbols of Nazi Germany, were drawn on dozens of monuments.

Fogel stated that the entire case has been reported to the Zemun police.

“We assume it happened between Saturday and Sunday, and it was reported to the police on Monday,” Fogel said.

The president of the Jewish community in Zemun stated that this is another serious incident in a series of antisemitic attacks affecting Jewish cemeteries in the Serbian capital.

“About two years ago, a similar desecration was reported at the Sephardic Jewish cemetery, where neo-Nazi slogans and antisemitic hate messages were written on tombstones,” he said.

Fogel stated that this incident deeply disturbs the Jewish community in Zemun.

“We are a community with deep roots in Serbia, which has always considered itself part of society. We are Serbs of the Mosaic faith,” he stated.

Speaking about previous incidents at this cemetery, Fogel told our portal that the perpetrators of those incidents have not yet been identified.

“I have been the president of the Jewish Community of Zemun for 25 years; we have had about a dozen attacks on our cemeteries during that period,” he said.

Our interlocutor added that the head of the Zemun Ministry of Internal Affairs promised him that they would do everything to find the perpetrators, and at the same time, they filed a criminal complaint with the competent prosecutor’s office.

Fogel called on the authorities for urgent action in the fight against increasingly frequent antisemitic crimes.

“The police and authorities in Serbia must do everything they can to find those responsible, bring them to justice, and decisively fight against the emergence of antisemitism and racial hatred,” he stated.

Minister Beriša’s Reaction to the Cemetery Desecration Published on the Ministry’s Website

A statement by Demo Beriša was published on the website of the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, in which he condemned the senseless desecration of monuments by drawing swastika symbols and writing Nazi messages in the Jewish Cemetery in Zemun.

“The appearance of Nazi symbols is unacceptable in any society, especially in Serbia, which sincerely cherishes the tradition of anti-Nazism because it itself suffered great sacrifices during that historical period… Jews have always been an integral part of Serbian society and shared all challenges and difficulties with it, as well as peace and prosperity. Our people have always been known for accepting and respecting all nations and faiths, and such an act does not reflect the true image of Serbia and its attitude towards the Jewish community and its heritage, but rather individual acts of vandalism,” the minister stated.

Minister Beriša condemned all forms of antisemitism, as well as recent incidents such as the one at Niš Fortress, where Nazi symbols also appeared.

In this regard, the minister pointed out that it is our obligation as a society and a state to always react promptly to such and similar phenomena, and to prosecute perpetrators in accordance with the law, with the aim of preventing them.