BERLIN (JTA) — Police in Munich are investigating a graffiti attack on an outdoor exhibit about local Jewish history.
The exhibit is located in front of the Jewish museum and community center on Jakobsplatz, called the new Jewish center, in central Munich.
The graffiti, which was discovered Monday, includes Hitler mustaches burned on photographs of rabbis and politicians. The department for politically motivated crimes is investigating, according to local reports.
The exhibit was erected last week following a public celebration of 200 years since the founding of Munich’s Jewish community and 70 years since its reestablishment after the Holocaust.
Bavaria’s minister of culture, Ludwig Spaenle, said in a statement that “the attack on these images must be seen as an attack on the people themselves.”
In one image, mustaches were burned on a photo of former Munich Mayor Christian Ude and former German President Horst Kohler during the laying of the foundation stone for the Jewish center. A police spokesman told the Bild daily newspaper that it appeared someone had used a cigarette to burn the Hitler mustaches on the image as well as on a photo of prominent rabbis.
Charlotte Knobloch, head of the Jewish Community of Munich and of the umbrella organization for Bavaria, said she was “dismayed” and personally upset about the incident, in part because the image of her own brother-in-law, Rabbi Roman Knobloch, was defaced.
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