Suspected neo-Nazis vandalize Holocaust memorial in Hungary

Budapest's 'Living Memorial' was reportedly desecrated a few weeks after an article threatening to destroy the site was published on a neo-Nazi website.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
The controversial Holocaust memorial in Budapest, Hungary. (photo credit: REUTERS)
The controversial Holocaust memorial in Budapest, Hungary.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Suspected neo-Nazis over the weekend allegedly vandalized a vigil dedicated to Hungarian victims of the Holocaust, local media reported Sunday.
According to the Hungarian Free Press, the grassroots 'Living Memorial' in Budapest's central Liberty Square was desecrated Friday night by unknown perpetrators, weeks after an article threatening to destroy the monument was published on a neo-Nazi website.
The assailants apparently tore down photographs and shattered and stole items placed at the site that serves as testimony to the nearly 600,000 Hungarian Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
In 2014, activist group established the memorial site that commemorates the victims with photographs of victims, votive candles and rocks that are traditionally placed on Jewish graves. Hungary boasted a large Jewish population until more than half of the community perished in the Holocaust.
The far-right Hungarian portal Kuruc.info, which is believed to have links to Hungary's radical national Jobbik party, reportedly published the post threatening to damage the memorial some three weeks ago.
“I promise that one night, in the beginning of September, I will walk by the Living Memorial and I will pack up four or five kilograms of  the display, which legally is considered to be garbage, into a strong bag," the Hungarian Free Press quoted the incriminating post as reading.
"And putting that into my car, I will take it to where it belongs. Naturally, I won’t dump it into the Danube, because that is already very polluted,” continued the message allegedly written under the alias Alitea Guzmán.
A report of the incident has reportedly been filed with local police, and activists have noted that the square is well-equipped with security cameras.


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