A Jewish cemetery in Humenné, Slovakia, was vandalized with swastikas, The Slovak Spectator reported in late February.
The Nazi symbols were discovered spray-painted on headstones when Juraj Levický, a member of the Jewish community in Prešov and a caretaker of the Humenné cemetery, visited the site with a British journalist, The Spectator reported.
According to the report, the cemetery serves as a historical monument, as the local Jewish community was either exterminated or driven out during the Nazi regime that controlled Slovakia in World War II.
Levický reported the incident to the police, who have since launched an investigation. Damages to the headstones are estimated at more than €2,000.
“This kind of hate-driven vandalism should never happen,” Levický said, adding that authorities are now considering additional security measures for the site, The Spectator quoted.
The Jewish cemetery in Humenné, Slovakia, stands as a testament to a lost community, wiped out during the Shoah. Defacing it with Nazi symbols is not just an insult. It's an attack on memory, on history, on dignity. Antisemitism must be confronted head-on. https://t.co/TivUMVmg2q
— ADL (@ADL) February 28, 2025
The Anti-Defamation League responded to the vandalism on X/Twitter, "The Jewish cemetery in Humenné, Slovakia, stands as a testament to a lost community, wiped out during the Shoah. Defacing it with Nazi symbols is not just an insult. It's an attack on memory, on history, on dignity. Antisemitism must be confronted head-on."
Past vandalism
In past years, the Humenné cemetery, along with other Jewish burial sites in Slovakia, have been vandalized. The Spectator reported that in 2003, headstones were defaced with Nazi and antisemitic slogans.
In December 2019, two separate incidents occurred at Jewish cemeteries in Slovakia, where headstones were knocked down, cracked, and set on fire. However, no hate symbols were found, The Jerusalem Post previously reported.
