According to the police, at least one children’s grave is damaged, it may even be two graves, but further investigation must be done into the second.
In both cases it concerns children’s graves of more than a hundred years old. After a report was made of damage on Tuesday, the criminal investigation started an investigation. The forensic investigation has conducted research on site and secured traces.
Based on the first information from that research, there is the suspicion that the damage was made between 15 and 22 June. On the basis of witness statements, the police hope to find out more about what exactly happened then.
Monument
The cemetery is the only specific Jewish cemetery in the city. Nobody is buried anymore since the Second World War. In 2014, the place was designated as a municipal monument.
The police say they take the case high. “A grave is a holy place of peace and memory, disturbing it is a gross attack on human dignity. That is why we do carefully and thorough research,” can be read in a press release. The police are looking for witnesses.
Response Halsema
Mayor Halsema calls it ‘nasty and disturbing’ that the graves are damaged “children’s graves. This historic cemetery is a holy place, until the first half last century the last resting place for many Jewish Amsterdammers. Good that the police take the matter high and conducts careful research.
Both the police and the mayor call on witnesses to report to the police.