Jewish memorial in Belarusian capital defaced

[Behind the Aegis]

Vandals defaced a memorial to Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust, burning plastic flowers and scattering gravestones, a Jewish leader said Wednesday.

The overnight incident is the third time that the memorial - called Yama or The Pit - in the center of the Belarusian capital has been vandalized.

Yakov Basin, of the Union of Belarusian Jewish Social Organizations and Societies, said plastic branches were torched at the monument honoring the estimated 800,000 Jews who were killed in Belarus by the Nazis. The vandals also took stones that are usually placed on Jewish graves and scattered them throughout the monument, Basin said.

"I have no confidence that the criminals will be found," Basin said. "Not one vandal has ever been punished by the Belarusian authorities.""

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