Yellow star (illustrative)
Yellow star (illustrative)Reuters

Local officials in the northern Greek port of Kavala have reportedly demanded that the Star of David be removed from a Holocaust memorial before it is unveiled.

It is not clear what prompted the city's decision, though it has sparked outrage both in Greece and around the world.

Greek Minister for Culture, Education and Religious Affairs stated, "As an Orthodox Christian, I feel deeply insulted by this issue, because it would be as if someone asked us to erase or modify for ‘aesthetic reasons’ the symbol of the cross on the tombs of our grandfathers executed by the Germans.

From America, Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman released a statement on the issue.

"Kavala’s Jews were killed because they were Jews, and the value of a monument is to make that fact demonstrably clear," he said. "The mayor and the city council have insulted the memory of victims, the Greek Jewish community, and Jews around the world, and we join with the Greek Jewish community in voicing our outrage."

The memorial commemorates the murder of 1,484 Jews who lived in the city before the Nazis came. It was scheduled to be introduced tomorrow (Sunday), but municipal authorities have already canceled the ceremony.