NEW YORK (VINnews) — A group of French Jewish youths staying at a Croatian hotel in the southern coastal town of Trilj woke up on Monday to discover a giant red swastika has been scrawled on the pavement outside their hotel.
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Local police are investigating the antisemitic incident.
“An investigation is underway to identify the perpetrator,” the Split-Dalmatia County police told local news outlet Hina.
According to media reports, about 60 children from the French Jewish community are staying at the hotel for three weeks. This could not be immediately confirmed at the hotel.
Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Chairman of the Brussels-based European Jewish Association (EJA) remarked that: “This will be an unforgettable holiday and experience for these children, for all the wrong reasons… A reminder that we can never become complacent or let our guard down when it comes to antisemitism.
“Whilst I am certain that the views of the individual and group responsible for painting a giant swastika are not representative of the vast majority of Croatians, the act and nature of this attack — because that is what it is — is still a deep cut to Jews everywhere,” Margolin added.
“As adults, we are sadly used to hate, yet we continue to do all that we can to shield our children from it. That a group of French Jewish Children on holiday in Croatia have had such a vicious and visible introduction to this hate is tragic. This attack is a reminder that we can never afford to be complacent and let our guard down.”
“This attack is a reminder that we can never afford to be complacent and let our guard down.”
This is not the first anti-semitic incident in recent years in Croatia. A few years ago a swastika was marked on a Croatian soccer pitch leading up to Croatia’s Euro 2016 qualifier game against Italy.