One spray-painted slogan read “If Hitler hadn’t existed, the Zionists would have invented him.” "Thanks Hitler for the wonderful Holocaust you organized for us! Only because of you we received a state," read another, while a third slogan read, "Jews, wake up, the evil regime does not protect us, it only endangers us."
Ten graffiti slogans were spray-painted in black in large letters concentrated in the Warsaw Ghetto Square and the Deportees Memorial next to the cattle car.
Yad Vashem chairman Avner Shalev said the graffiti “crossed a red line,” and said it was the worst thing he had seen in his career.
“Throughout all of Jewish society and Israeli society [Yad Vashem is] a symbol of unity, of tolerance, of values and openness, of discourse and dialogue among all types of ideas,” said Shalev. He added that the museum had not experienced any type of vandalism in recent years, and certainly nothing on this scale.
The main courtyard of the museum, the Warsaw Ghetto courtyard, was covered with slogans that stretched more than two meters tall and five meters wide, encompassing entire walls surrounding the memorial statue in the front of the courtyard. The vandals most likely entered the museum campus from the Jerusalem forest, which surrounds the museum.
Shalev said that although the museum retains a private security force, the 45 acre campus is so large that anyone who truly wanted to vandalize the museum would find a way to slip into the campus. Footage from the museum’s security cameras was immediately transferred to the police. Shalev also said that the Hebrew graffiti appeared to be from at least two different people because the handwriting was different.
Jerusalem Police Chief Nisso Shaham called the incident "shocking" and said "We must investigate and deal quickly with these despicable acts... in which one of Israel's important symbols was attacked."
Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar said that the vandals desecrated the museum with the “intention of offending public sensibilities.”
The museum was not closed to visitors except for the vandalized area, and around 3,000 people were expected to visit on Monday. Workers from Yad Vashem milled around the courtyard. “It’s difficult to stand here,” said one worker, as she looked at the graffiti.
