A Czech memorial dedicated to Jewish prisoners killed by Nazi guards during a Second World War death march was defaced by Czech vandals this week.
A police spokeswoman stated that the memorial, located in Ceska Lipa, 50 miles (80 km) north of Prague, has been vandalized for the third time. However, she could not say whether the removing of fifteen of the seventeen Stars of David were acts of anti-Semitism or theft.
The memorial commemorates the death of seventeen Jewish prisoners of the Schwarzheide concentration camp in eastern Germany, who were shot by Nazi guards during a forced prisoners’ march to Ceska Lipa on May 6, 1945.
The “death march” refers to the Nazis’ forced eviction of concentration camp inmates to areas further from the warfront in an attempt to cover up the extent of the atrocities. The prisoners were forcibly marched for weeks. Many perished in the elements. Others who were unable to walk were shot dead by SS soldiers.
In other news, Czech customs officials seized a large delivery from China of Nazi paraphernalia last Friday, including 120 swords carrying swastikas, as well as thousands of counterfeit knives. The customs officials also seized 2,316 counterfeit knives, 50 crossbows, and 1,000 electroshock devices.
About 75,000 Jews from Slovakia or 83 percent of the estimated Jewish population were killed in the Holocaust.