Polish monument to Roma Holocaust victims hacked up
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
22.04.2016 17:10
Police are investigating the vandalism of a monument to Roma victims of the Holocaust, after the devastated memorial was found in Borzęcin Dolny, southern Poland.
Police examine the vandalised monument in Borzęcin Dolny. Photo: Radio Kraków/Piotr Kania
The wooden monument had been knocked from its concrete base and then set upon with what appears to have been an axe.
A plaque that had been attached to the monument, recalling the mass shooting of local Roma by the Nazi German occupiers during World War II, was likewise hacked off.
The plaque had included a verse by celebrated Roma poet Papusza, subject of an award-winning recent film.
The monument had been unveiled in July 2011 during the 12th International Roma Caravan Memorial (Międzynarodowy Tabor Pamięci Romów), in a ceremony attended by the Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Consul of the United States, among other dignitaries.
Estimates of the number of European Roma victims of the Holocaust range from 220,000 to 500,000. Between 8000 and 35,000 Polish Roma perished. (nh/pk)
Source: Radio Kraków