June 11, 2012

Dear Friend,

This morning, numerous hate filled comments were sprayed in graffiti across walls in a few areas of the Yad Vashem outdoor campus.

The comments attacked Zionists as Hitler's partners and included slurs such as "If Hitler hadn't existed, the Zionists would have invented him". A large part of the comments were sprayed across the Warsaw Ghetto Square, the site where the national ceremony for Holocaust Remembrance Day takes place every year.

Unity and tolerance are two of the core values which form the foundations of Yad Vashem. This shocking act of vandalism is an attack on these values.

The police have launched an investigation and Yad Vashem, together with the municipality have begun to clean the walls and will be finished by the end of the day.

As part of our circle of friends and partners in our ongoing efforts to commemorate the horrors of the Holocaust, while spreading the message of tolerance for future generations, we would like to thank you for your words of support and encouragement which give us strength to continue our educational work.

With hope for a better future,

Shaya Ben Yehuda