Swastika on Holocaust memorial

JTA: A Holocaust memorial in Odessa was smeared with black paint, large swastikas and an anti-Semitic slogan. The incident took place on the night of April 19-20. Local law enforcement agencies are investigating the case. Acts of anti-Semitic vandalism have been occurring in southern Ukraine almost every month for the past year, local Jews said. Rabbi Avraham Wolf, chief rabbi of Odessa and southern Ukraine, blamed authorities for not doing enough to stop the activity of anti-Semitic and xenophobic groups. According to Wolf, the Jewish community “is outraged and alarmed” by the most recent incident and was demanding a serious investigation. “Such incidents have become possible only because of the lack of serious response from the authorities” to previous acts of vandalism, Wolf said.