The Wall of Remembrance was destroyed at the Jewish cemetery in Biłgoraj (Lublin Voivodeship). On the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, an inscription referring to the war in the Gaza Strip was painted on it in red paint. The police are looking for perpetrators who may face a fine or restriction of liberty. “Terrifying anti-Semitism,” commented the Israeli ambassador to Poland.
The mayor of Biłgoraj, Wojciech Gleń, informed that on the night of November 26-27, at the Jewish cemetery at ul. An act of vandalism was committed on Konopnicka Street.
The local portal bilgorajska.pl published photos showing the inscription painted in red paint on the local Memorial Wall: “This year, Jews murdered 44,000 women and children.” Unknown perpetrators also put a swastika and a Star of David on the wall.
“The destruction of a place of historical and symbolic importance is a condemnable action that violates the principles of mutual respect, tolerance and social life,” the mayor wrote in a statement. He pointed out that Biłgoraj has always been a city where cultural diversity and long-standing traditions have been nurtured. “We cannot allow the spread of hatred or disrespect. (…) Let us remember that respect for the future and the memory of all who were part of our history is the foundation of our identity and culture,” he emphasized.
Yacov Livne, ambassador, reacted to the information from Biłgoraj Israel in Poland.
“Terrifying anti-Semitism in Biłgoraj. Today's report on the devastation of the Holocaust monument. Back in Poland. Where are the authorities?” – the ambassador wrote on the X website.
The search for the perpetrators is ongoing
Junior asp. Joanna Pilarska from the Biłgoraj police confirmed that the report regarding this matter was received on Wednesday morning. The police are inspecting the place, securing traces and possible monitoring to determine the identity of the perpetrators. They initially check whether there has been a crime of insulting the monument, which is punishable by a fine or restriction of liberty.
– The police will also investigate whether there has been any insult to the Jewish community – added the policewoman.
The destroyed Wall of Remembrance in Biłgorajbilgorajska.pl
Memorial Wall in Biłgoraj
The Wall of Remembrance commemorating the former Jewish inhabitants of Biłgoraj was unveiled in 2016. It is located in front of the surviving fragment of the Jewish cemetery at ul. Konopnicka. Its shape symbolically refers to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. Information about the Jews of Biłgoraj is provided on boards with inscriptions in Polish, English, Hebrew and Yiddish.
Jews have been settling in Biłgoraj since the Middle Ages. Just before the outbreak of World War II, the town had over 8,000 inhabitants. inhabitants, including approximately 5 thousand they were Jews. In his youth, Isaac Bashevis Singer, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, grandson of the rabbi from Biłgoraj, lived here.
Almost all Biłgoraj Jews were murdered during the German occupation. Their deportations to death camps Germany they started in the spring of 1942. The first transport went to Majdanek, and from August subsequent transports were sent only to the death camp in Bełżec, where most of Biłgoraj's Jews died. Ultimately, the Germans liquidated the ghetto in Biłgoraj in January 1943. Of the three Jewish cemeteries that once existed here, only a fragment of one has survived to this day.
Main photo source: bilgorajska.pl