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Monday, July 23, 2012

57 Jewish tombs vandalised in Hungary

Several broken gravestones lay on the grass on July 22, 2012 in the local Jewish cemetery of Kaposvar, about 200 km south-west from Budapest as fifty-seven graves were desecrated by vandals. AFP PHOTO/str

Hungary - Vandals have desecrated 57 tombs containing the remains of around 250 people at a Jewish cemetery in Hungary, Jewish groups said Monday.

“This is clearly motivated by racism,” Laszlo Rona, who heads the association of Jewish communities in Kaposvar in southwest Hungary where the incident took place over the weekend, told the MTI national news agency.

The headstones, some of which date back to the late 19th century, were knocked over and some 3.5 million forints’ (12,000 euros, $15,000) worth of damage was caused. Footprints in the muddy ground indicated two people were involved.

Attila Gelencser, speaker of the regional assembly and Kaposvar’s mayor Karoly Szita, both from Hungary’s ruling right-wing Fidesz party, slammed the vandalism, as did local organisations and opposition politicians.

 Source: Hurriyet Daily News

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