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August 16, 2023 11:32 am

Attacks on Berlin Holocaust Memorials May Be Work of Serial Far-Right Offender, Report Says

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avatar by Ben Cohen

A floral tribute at the vandalized Holocaust memorial in Berlin. Photo: Reuters/Fabian Sommer

A spate of antisemitic and homophobic acts of vandalism in Berlin may be the work of a serial right-wing offender, according to an investigation by the German daily news outlet Die Tageszeitung.

The newspaper’s investigation was prompted by a third act of vandalism reported early on Monday morning at a lesbian community center in Berlin’s Neukölln district. Witnesses reported seeing a damaged shop window, and police discovered the charred remains of leaflets and brochures when they arrived at the center.

The latest attack comes on the heels of two acts of arson over the weekend, with one targeting the memorial to the more than 10,000 Jews deported from Gleis 17 (“Platform 17”) at Berlin’s Grunewald station to Nazi concentration camps, and the other the memorial to LGBT victims of the Nazis in Berlin’s Tiergarten park. Both attacks are being investigated by state security as hate crimes.

However, according to Die Tageszeitung, the attacks may be the work of one person who is possibly responsible for several similar outrages. In a report on Tuesday, the newspaper observed that at the scene of all the offenses, police officers discovered “notes or graffiti with a similar pattern of antisemitic annihilation fantasies.”

All the notes bore the same signature, the paper reported: the name “Kassandros,” with “Berolinensis” sometimes added as well.

The first note carrying the “Kassandros” signature was discovered in January at an anti-fascist museum. The note was addressed to the “occupiers” — understood as a reference to non-Germans — and warned of a third world war within the next four years. At least six other acts of vandalism were reported in the same month, targeting election posters for candidates from centrist parties and a daycare center that emphasized its multi-ethnic and multi-national character, the paper said.

A pamphlet discovered near the scene of Saturday’s attack against the Jewish memorial offered similarly dark predictions of a world war. Separately, the attack on the LGBT memorial was accompanied by a note citing a passage from the Old Testament that frowns on homosexuality. According to Die Tageszeitung, the same quotation was found in January on posters published by the Lesbian and Gay Association (LSVD) and also signed “Kassandros.”

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, a leading anti-racist non-governmental organization, urged authorities to take the vandalism seriously.

“These are ideologically related, politically motivated crimes,” the foundation said. “It doesn’t matter how ‘obscure’ the letters are — in the end, words become deeds.”

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