A vandal defaced Brooklyn’s only public Holocaust memorial in Sheepshead Bay on Friday morning, according to Councilman Chaim Deutsch.
“It’s distressing that the sacred nature of the Holocaust Memorial, which brings comfort to survivors within our community, was disrespected,” said Deutsch.
Deutsch said he immediately notified the 61st Precinct and the Parks Department of the vandalism — one an unknown symbol scrawled on a bench, another reading “RIP ANT” spray painted on a planter — at the West End Avenue memorial, and the graffiti was quickly removed.
Holocaust Memorial Park — located between Emmons Avenue and Shore Boulevard — opened in 1985 and has served the Brooklyn community for 34 years as a green space, tribute, and as an outdoor museum. Its focal point is an eternal light situated at the top of a beacon that is surrounded by markers inscribed with the names, places, and events significant to the massacre that claimed the lives of around six millions Jews during World War II.
The memorial brought together hundreds — including Holocaust survivors and veterans— in September for the 16th annual “No One Has Forgotten Nothing” Holocaust remembrance event that celebrated the group’s common humanity, an attendee said.
