The desecration of hundreds of gravestones in Washington Cemetery shocked the Jewish community in Brooklyn.
Yakov Palant, an immigrant from Riga, was a frequent visitor at the Washington Cemetery – a Jewish cemetery where his parents have been buried since 2001 and 2002. At their graveside, he mentally communed with them and wiped bird droppings from their dear names engraved on the tombstones – Grigoriy and Mola. He never imagined that a bunch of delinquents would defile the memory of those closest to him.
Yakov Palant near the desecrated gravestone that belonged to his parents
The Jewish community of Brooklyn was shaken by reports of the mass vandalism of the largest Jewish cemetery in the area, near Bay Parkway and McDonald Avenue. The first of these offenses was committed on November 30th, when vandals destroyed nearly 200 tombstones and monuments. On Saturday, December 18th, the vandalism repeated itself when another 200 gravestones were defiled with shameless graffiti and anti-Semitic slurs before smashing, overturning and pulling out tombstones, both old and new.
Over 150,000 people are buried in the Washington Cemetery and little space remains, making difficult the purchase of a plot – even for as much as $12,000. However, the cemetery's administration, led by manager Dominic Tarantino, is in no hurry to spend the money on effective security for the tens of thousands of graves. A short, easily climbable fence, an insufficient number of surveillance cameras and a lack of 24-hour protection for the cemetery on nights and weekends create conditions favorable for vandals. Even after the tragedy of November 30th, no additional security measures were taken.
The Washington Cemetery administration refused to acknowledge the menace presented by the repeated destruction of the gravestones, thereby encouraging more violence from the anti-Semitic delinquents who are still unpunished. Furthermore, how do you explain that the cemetery does not have insurance in the event of such incidents? Is this why the families who are victims of this crime are being turned away at the gates? Why should they cover the costs, without compensation, of replacing the destroyed gravestones, which is due to the administration's lack of organization?
At a press conference with Paul Saraceno, Captain of the NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force, and Michael Miller, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, an organization that represents the Jewish Community in New York, journalists learned several details regarding the incident and the course of the investigation. Both incidents – that of November 30th and December 18th – are considered one crime and is classified as religious hate crime since the criminals destroyed hundreds of tombstones in an exclusively Jewish cemetery; police also found anti-Semitic slurs written on one of the gravestones.
Investigators carefully studied the crime scenes of both incidents and found more than a few similarities between the two acts and several objects that the vandals used (the details have not yet been divulged in the interest of the investigation). Saraceno criticized the security system utilized by the Washington Cemetery. He advised the residents of nearby and adjoining areas to keep a close watch on activity near and around the fence in order to spot teenagers climbing over the rail in order to enter the cemetery. Unfortunately, the police do not have any video evidence to help in the investigation. The Captain assured the members of the community, journalists, and politicians that the matter was a priority for his department and promised that the criminals would be caught and brought to justice.
"When I saw the broken and vandalized gravestones, I immediately thought of my own parents who I buried in a different cemetery. We will not stop until we have caught the vandals. We are checking all available evidence and already have several potential leads. Right now this cemetery is monitored by patrol cars and by police helicopter; however, we are in no condition to provide this sort of protection to all cemeteries. It is the cemetery administrations responsibility to safeguard the gravestones and graves with help from private security and video surveillance," said Saraceno.
Michael Miller thanked the police for their efforts in the investigation and called upon the journalists to report the incident in order to help the investigation.
On Wednesday, December 22, a press conference dealing with the acts of vandalism and their consequences was held by Brooklyn politicians and community activists at the front entrance of the Washington Cemetery. New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-District 45) and New York City Council Members Michael Nelson (D-District 48) and David Greenfield (D-District 44) not only denounced the act as a hate crime but announced the creation of a special reward for information that facilitates the capture of the criminals responsible for this tragedy.
Since the announcement of the reward fund in the evening news, the fund has received $10,000.
The press conference also featured Assemblymen Bill Colton (D-District 47) and Helene Weinstein (D-District 41), who expressed indignation at the crime and at the unwillingness of the cemetery to help the affected families. In fact, among the destroyed gravestones and memorials, the majority were granite and marble gravestones placed by Russian-speaking immigrants. However, the vandals even struck graves erected at the start of the last century.
Surprisingly, until recently, the New York mainstream press paid little attention to the crime, with some media outlets attempting to downplay the scale of the incident -- "50 tombstones", "probably teenagers," "in one section of the cemetery," "weekend hi-jinx". Only after garnering attention from politicians and the press conference held near Washington Cemetery did New York 1, CBS and, of course, RTN, a Russian Language TV Channel, covered the incident.
The Be Proud Foundation President Raisa Chernina played a large role in calling attention to the hate crime. Yelena Makhnin, Executive Director of Brighton Improvement District, assisted with the organization and preparations for the press-conference. Prominent community activist Nelly Braginskaya made a strong impression with her speech, expressing sadness that the families of those who lost their lives as a result of the terrorist act on 9/11 could not find space to bury their loved ones, yet building a memorial on Ground Zero has gone on for 9 years. She expressed bewilderment at the exculpatory explanations of the administration of the Washington Cemetery and called for the severe punishment of the culprits after their capture.
"I never suspected that such defilement of Jewish graves was possible in America. I cannot sleep when I see swastika graffiti on the walls of houses, when I hear anti-Semitic slurs or when I hear about Neo-Nazis in New York. We don't have the right to forget history. Never again!" declared Fira Stukelman, a former prisoner of the Bershad ghetto, adding that the reports of vandalism in a Jewish cemetery were echoed by a pain in her heart.
Rabbi Bob Kaplan and Muslim Hasiba Rashid, program manager of the Pakistani organization COPO, expressed similar sentiments to journalists. They denounced the vandals and called upon all of Brooklyn's communities to do everything in their power to create an atmosphere where expressions of religious or racial prejudice are not tolerated.
Representatives of the cemetery did not participate in the press-conference. They advised Yakov Palant to seek help from the corresponding New York State organizations such as Crime Victims Fund (1-800-247-8035). But why should the taxpayers pay for the negligence of the cemetery administration in securing the graveyard?
If you have information regarding the acts of vandalism committed at the Washington Cemetery, the confidential police line is: 1(800) 577-TIPS (1-800-577-8477). The Washington Cemetery is under the jurisdiction of the 66th police precinct, which can be reached by calling: (718) 851-5611.
