Anti-Semitic Graffiti Found Spray-Painted On Spring Valley Sidewalk
SPRING VALLEY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Authorities are investigating after anti-Semitic graffiti was found spray-painted on a sidewalk in a predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Rockland County.
A swastika and the words "Hail Hitler" were found scrawled inside a Star of David on Sunday along Morris Road in Spring Valley.
Many Holocaust survivors live in the area and Rabbi Yisroel Kahan said this opens old wounds.
"This is something that's hateful and it's a shame and it will not be tolerated," Kahan said. "It's a combination of ignorance, hate, spitefulness."
The rabbi suspects ignorant teenagers are responsible because the vandals wrote "Hail Hitler" instead of the German spelling of the Nazi salute, "Heil Hitler."
"We're assuming it was teenagers cause the spelling was incorrect, but the message of hate is still there," Kahan said."We need to educate our children and our kids to understand to be tolerant of all races and all religions...senseless graffiti like that can hurt so much and it boils down to a lack of education."
Some residents also reported seeing two teenagers on skateboards over the weekend near the graffiti, WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported.
It's not the first time recently that Nazi symbols have been found in Rockland County.
At the end of July, racist and anti-Semitic graffiti were spray-painted on a private property in Pearl River. A week later, Van Houten Farms in Pearl River was defaced with anti-Semitic and vulgar graffiti. Police continue to investigate those incidents.
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