A Holocaust memorial in Greece has been defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti for the fourth time this year.
A black swastika was painted on Thessaloniki's Holocaust memorial early Saturday morning. It is believed that the vandals are the same people who were photographed giving the Nazi salute at a rally on Friday in protest against a deal Greece signed with Macedonia.
World Jewish Congress head Robert Singer issued a statement condemning "the shameful and repeated desecration" of the monument.
"It is alarming and disgraceful that a monument honoring the memory of Jews who perished in the Holocaust should become a routine target for those espousing vile expressions of hatred and antisemitism," he said.
"[The WJC is] extremely concerned by the steady rise of anti-Semitic vandalism facing the Jewish community in Greece and elsewhere in Europe. This desecration, as well as the vandalization of cemeteries in Poland and in France in the past week alone, should ring alarm bells for anyone who believes that these incidents are isolated and passing."
He said the WJC was urging "the authorities in Europe to make good on their Dec. 6 declaration to fight anti-Semitism and develop a common security approach to protect Jewish communities, and to take every possible measure to curb this wave of incitement."
Thessaloniki maintained a vibrant Jewish community for centuries until World War II, when most of the city's 60,000 Jews perished in the Holocaust. Some 1,200 Jews now live in the city.
