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 Tuesday, and a fire and swastikas at a Jewish cemetery in Vienna Wednesday.
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. They are installed close to the deportees’ former homes.
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.
Another two Jewish stumbling stones defaced in Rome – English – ANSA.it