Another two Jewish stumbling stones,
the brass-covered cobblestones commemorating Nazi death camp
deportees, were defaced in Rome Wednesday after two on Tuesday,
local sources said.
Like the first two, the stones were blackened, either by paint
or burning.
All four are not in Rome's Jewish Ghetto, where the majority of
the stones are, but in Trastevere.
The stones are dedicated to deportees Eugenio and Giacomo
Spizzichino.
The incident comes amid a wave of anti-Semitic episodes in
Europe including Stars of David painted on Jewish buildings in
Paris.
Stumbling stones are ordinary Roman cobblestones bearing a brass
plaque with the name and final destination of the Jews deported
to Nazi death camps from the Italian capital during WWII.
The first two defaced stones commemorated the deportation of
Michele Ezio Spizzichino and Amedeo Spagnoletto.
Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri said "Rome condemns this outrage
against the stumbling stones".
Rome Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni told La Stampa daily
Wednesday that "for us Jews it is a fault to live and dare to
defend ourselves" amid Israel's war with Hamas following the
Islamist militants' surprise attack on southern Israel on
October 7.
Some 1,400 people were killed by Hamas, including many women and
children, and nearly 9,000 have been killed in Gaza, almost half
children, in Tel Aviv's retaliation according to the Hamas-run
health ministry.
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