'Shocking': Swastikas Found At Glen Cove Holocaust Museum

GLEN COVE, NY — More racist graffiti has been found at a Holocaust Museum in Glen Cove. Glen Cove police notified the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County that swastikas and other graffiti were found on the museum, museum and officials confirmed Thursday.

Deborah Lom, acting director of development at the museum, told Patch on Thursday afternoon the graffiti appeared to be random scrawls with swastikas included in the mix.

"It's shocking because we're a museum and education center," she said.

Part of what the center does is Holocaust and tolerance education programs for youths and adults. They're typically called in when schools have to deal with antisemitism or intolerance.

"And now, we're faced with this incident right here," she said. "That makes it even more shocking to us."

The center said in a statement Thursday afternoon that Glen Cove police notified it of a second incident of graffiti on its doorstep — this time including swastikas.

"We are shocked and saddened about the appearance of this representation of Nazi ideology," the center said. "Ironically we learned about this symbol of hate appearing here on the same day we hosted a major public event on antisemitism."

A message left with Glen Cove police wasn't immediately returned. A woman who answered the phone at the museum confirmed that swastikas were found.

Democratic state Sen. Jim Gaughran told Patch in a statement he was "sickened" by the news.

"This pattern of offensive and anti-semitic defacement is horrifying, hateful, and illegal," Gaughran said. "I will be convening an Anti-Hate Task Force comprised of elected officials, law enforcement, religious leaders, educators, and other stakeholders to end this pattern of hateful behavior and address these disturbing hate crimes."

Laura Curran, the county executive, said in a statement Thursday that Nassau County has a "zero-tolerance policy for bigotry."

"This brazen act of vandalism targeting the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County is not an isolated incident, and we take it very seriously," Curran said. "We must never allow hateful acts, whether they come in the form of graffiti or violence, to find comfort in our communities."

Curran condemned antisemitism and other forms of hate that she said aim to sow division and turn people against one another. She also encouraged parents to teach their children about the value of diversity and tolerance, as well as the "dark history behind symbols of hatred."

Mayor Tim Tenke also condemned the racist graffiti and said the city does not — and will not —allow hatred or intolerance.

"The recent anti-Semitic graffiti on the property of the Nassau County Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center demonstrates a lack of understanding of the message that the Center strives to teach," Tenke told Patch in a statement.

Glen Cove police are investigating, the mayor said, and plan to enforce the law to the fullest extent.

"As a society we cannot tolerate the danger that is anti-Semitism," Tenke said.

State Sen. Anna Kaplan said she was "disgusted" by the news, calling it a "despicable and cowardly act of anti-Semitic, racist vandalism."

"We must never accept anti-Semitism and hate in our community in any form, and we must always work to eradicate it when we find it in our midst," she said.

The swastikas come just 10 days after graffiti — including a racial slur — was found at the same museum. At the time, the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County said "ugly and racist" vandalism was found at its property in Welwyn Preserve, a county park. Lom said it was the first time the museum had experienced racist vandalism.

"Last week was the first time we've ever had any kind of racist graffiti, and now it's this week," she said. "The first time we've ever had any kind of antisemitic graffiti that we know of the entire time we've been here. This is our first."

The museum said the Holocaust didn't begin with concentration camps and gas chambers, rather with name-calling, bullying and, yes, graffiti.

"Small acts of hate, if left unchecked, can lead to much bigger and more dangerous things," the museum said last week.

The Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center calls itself the preeminent Holocaust resource on Long Island. It is one of the largest and most-comprehensive education program providers in the region.

The Anti-Defamation League estimates that more than 1 billion people across the globe harbor antisemitic attitudes. The organization identified nearly 1,900 antisemitic incidents in the country last year in its latest audit. That included a dramatic increase in physical attacks.

"Assault, harassment and vandalism against Jews remain at near-historic levels in the U.S.," the organization wrote on its website.

Lom agreed there's been a wave of antisemitism across the country and regionally.

"There's been a definite rise in antisemitism and hate speech," she said, noting that until now, everyone at the center had been respectful.