The “Scroll of Fire,” a well-known Holocaust memorial in central Israel, was found to have been vandalized by a group of students who were visiting the site. In addition, two metal plates that contained names of Holocaust victims were missing.
The memorial, in the hills outside Beit Shemesh, celebrates the rising of the Jewish people from the ashes of the Holocaust to independence in the Land of Israel. It is frequently visited by schoolchildren, and is the site of an important memorial ceremony on Holocaust Heroes and Martyrs Memorial Day.
The memorial, dedicated in 1972, is made of bronze and is eight meters high. It is in the shape of two scrolls, symbolic of the Jewish people's role as “People of the Book.” Among the incidents commemorated on the monument are the fates of Czech teacher and his students, who were murdered by the Nazis, and other scenes of Jewish history, especially during the Holocaust period.
Moria Ezra Rosenzweig, principal of the Sha'ar Hagay Field School, located in the area – and sponsor of the visit in which the desecration was discovered – said that “we see this monument as an important part of the heritage of Israel and the Jewish people. The theft and desecration is a direct attack on the values of the State of Israel.”