A Jewish cemetery in the small Ukrainian town of Svaliava has been found desecrated, the latest in string of anti-Semitic vandalism incidents that have affected local Jews over the past several years.
According to Israel National News, 20 headstones, including that of a local rabbi, were toppled, leading Chabad emissary Menachem Mendel Wilhelm to call for Jewish organizations to apply pressure to keep the government from ignoring the incident.
While violent anti-Semitic incidents are rare in Ukraine, vandalism against Holocaust memorials and Jewish cemeteries rose following the 2014 EuroMaidan revolution, according to the Vaad of Ukraine, a local organization.
Just under a month ago, visitors to a Holocaust memorial site in the western Ukrainian city of P’yatydni were shocked to discover anti-Semitic graffiti on a nearby bus stop, including swastikas and the word “Judenreich” or “Jewish empire.”
The graffiti, which also made reference to the World Zionist Organization, featured the names of several Ukrainian political parties surrounding a Star of David.
In late June, officials in the city of Lviv, a bastion of ultra-right wing nationalism, posted video footage of a man vandalizing a local Holocaust memorial online in an effort to enlist the public in identifying him.
Holocaust memorials are frequent targets for vandals.
Between 2015-2016, Jewish communal activists recorded nine incidents of vandalism at the Babi Yar ravine in Kyiv, the site of a major massacre during the Holocaust.
At the 75th commemoration of the Babi Yar massacre, WJC President Ronald S. Lauder said: We remember the dead. But, we are Jewish, and so we will always look forward and hope for better times.” He highlighted the Jewish revival Ukraine underwent in recent years, which he called a miracle, and said: “We are here in Kiev for one more important reason: We are here to celebrate the rebirth of a strong Jewish community here in Ukraine. This rebirth is nothing short of a miracle."
