Vandals in Poland Destroy 6 Jewish Tombstones; Famous People Buried in Cemetery Near Krakow

Vandals destroyed six tombstones in a Jewish cemetery in Mislowice, a city in southern Poland, the JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency) website reports today (March 6, 2014).

The identity of the vandals -- who knocked down the 19th-century gravestones on March 3 -- remains unknown.

Last year, a group of local residents organized a cleanup of the cemetery in Myslowice -- about 35 miles from the city of Krakow -- grubbing trees and bushes and cleaning the gravestones. During their work, they exposed the gravestones of some of the city's prominent historical figures, including author Jacob Lustig and Loebel Danziger, co-founder of the Myslowice coal mine.

"We will inform the police about the damage," Ireneusz Skwirowski -- one of the residents involved in cleaning the cemetery -- said.