VANDALS DEFACE HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL IN ARMENIA
By Michael Freund
Jerusalem Post
Dec 23 2007
Unknown vandals defaced a memorial to the Jewish victims of the
Holocaust in central Yerevan last week, scrawling a swastika on the
simple stone structure and splattering it with black paint.
Rabbi Gershon Burshtein, a Chabad emissary who serves as Chief Rabbi of
the country’s tiny Jewish community, expressed shock upon discovering
the vandalism while escorting visitors to the site on Wednesday.
After calling the police and local government officials to inform
them of the incident, he said, "I just visited the memorial the other
day and everything was fine. This is terrible, as there are excellent
relations between Jews and Armenians."
A senior adviser to Armenian President Robert Kocharian denounced the
defacement as "a provocation", and promised Rabbi Burshtein that it
would be taken care of forthwith.
The monument has been defaced and toppled several times in the past
few years. It is located in the city’s Aragast Park, a few blocks
north of the centrally-located Republic Square, which is home to a
number of government buildings.
The text inscribed in Hebrew on the stone reads, "To be or to forget:
in memory of the victims of the Holocaust".
Armenia’s Jewish population is estimated at between 300 and 500 people,
most of whom live in the capital of Yerevan.