Vandals Dig Up Graves of Nazi Victims in Crimea; Anti-Semitic Attacks Are Rising Rapidly in Russia

A Russian Jewish organization called on authorities in Crimea -- the peninsula on the Black Sea that Russia seized from Ukraine a year ago -- to take action after vandals desecrated mass graves of Nazi victims outside the city of Simferopol, The Moscow Times website reports today (April 17, 2015).

"To desecrate the grave of those slain by Nazis is sacrilegious and heinous to the utmost degree," said Alexander Boroda, head of the Federation of Russian Jewish Communities.

Vandals dug four holes -- each about 1.8 meters deep -- at the site of the graves. Human bones and remains of clothing excavated from the graves were found scattered on the ground nearby, according to a Jewish News Agency report.

The desecrated graves were those of Jews, Roma, and Soviet prisoners of war who were shot by Nazis in mass executions in late 1941. Boroda said violent anti-Semitic attacks have recently become more common in Russia, as now "there are monsters who follow along the beaten Nazi path and try to mock the dead."