WARWICK, N.Y. -- It was Sunday morning when Rabbi Rebecca Shinder received the call from police that the Beth Shalom Cemetery in The Town of Warwick had been vandalized with anti-Semitic markings like swastikas and the words “Heil Hitler.”
“A pure statement of hatred,” said Shinder. “It represents the centuries of persecution that we’ve had to endure.”
The vandalism comes just days before Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in the Jewish calendar.
“I think it’s a little too close to call it a coincidence. I really do, I really do, and it takes your breath away,” said Shinder.
Shinder said members of the community are working with police to try and find whoever is responsible.
“The Warwick police has an open investigation. We’ve been in touch with the state police as well,” said Shinder. “We actually have a neighbor who just stopped by who says he has cameras on his building that he’ll be looking at.”
But until the vandals are found, Shinder said she doesn’t want her congregation to be intimidated. She said there will still be prayer Tuesday evening and all day Wednesday during Yom Kippur at the temple. There will also be a special ceremony for the community at the cemetery on Sunday.
"We will come here and stand in front of these symbols of hatred, and pray and sing and celebrate as a community," said Shinder.
Shinder said the graffiti will remain up for the time being because of the police investigation. But she said there's another message she and the congregation want to send: “That these are not just words and symbols on a wall, but really are symbols of hatred and fear and represent millions of people being killed,” she said.