France: Strasbourg Jewish cemetery vandalized

A Jewish cemetery in the eastern French city of Strasbourg was vandalized, according to a story on the World Jewish Congress website.

The attack occurred on the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Over 30 gravestones at the Cronenbourg cemetery were either spray-painted with swastikas and the Nazi slogan “Juden raus!” [Jews out], or toppled, according to the French Jewish community organization CRIF.

Laurent Schmoll, president of the 1,000-member Jewish community in Strasbourg, told reporters that he believed the cemetery was defiled in connection with International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which was being observed on Wednesday. “These are absolutely inscriptions from the Nazi period… I think there has to be a link.”

French President Nicolas Sarkozy issued a statement in which he "firmly condemns this unbearable act, the expression of odious racism." The mayor of Strasbourg said that the perpetrators were "evil cowards. It is no coincidence that the attack came on the international day when the Holocaust is commemorated."