Anti-Semitic Vandals Target Parliament House in Tasmania With ‘Heil Hitler’ and ‘Kristallnacht’ Graffiti

Police in the southern Australian state of Tasmania are investigating an incident in which the Parliament House in Hobart was vandalized last week with anti-Semitic graffiti.

On Friday, the words “Heil Hitler” and “Kristallnacht” were found spray-painted on the building in the center of the Tasmanian capital.

The graffiti was later removed.

Jeff Schneider — president of the Hobart Hebrew Congregation — said, “This graffiti attack on our Parliament House is not merely a random act of vandalism. The words used are both an incitement to genocide and a call to overthrow our freedoms and democracy.”

“The response from governments and law enforcement agencies should be one of zero tolerance for heinous acts such as this,” he added.

Ruth Forrest — a member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council — called the incident “an appalling thing to have happened.”

Earlier this year, Australian Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg warned of the threat posed by surging anti-Semitism in the country.

“I’m afraid there is a rise in historical revisionism — we saw Iran, for example, holding a conference denying the Holocaust ever took place, and therefore it is incumbent on all good people, Jewish and non-Jewish across the world, to place an emphasis on Holocaust remembrance but also Holocaust education and genocides more broadly whether it is in Darfur, or Rwanda or Cambodia — we need to promote tolerance and diversity and take on hate wherever we see it,” Frydenberg commented.

The Community Security Group (CSG) recorded 356 anti-Semitic incidents in Australia in 2020.