Anne Frank Memorial In Idaho Gets Plastered With Swastika Stickers: Report

Idaho police registered another anti-Semitic incident in the United States, after Anne Frank's memorial was vandalized with swastika stickers and words, “we are everywhere” on Tuesday.

A life-sized statue of Frank holding her diary that had a large black swastika sticker emblazoned on the bronze cover of Frank's famous diary was posted. This isn't the first time that the memorial was vandalized. The statue met with a similar fate in 2017. The U.N. Declaration of Human Rights, which has been carved into stone near the entrance to the memorial, was reportedly tagged with spray paint for four consecutive days.

“What makes this event actually so sad was the blatancy where they were placed, how they were placed, and the message they were proclaiming,” said Dan Prinzing, the executive director of the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, as per a recent report. The Wassmuth Center for Human Rights shared images of the memorials on Facebook, which triggered scores of netizens across the globe. "And this one, with forethought: The stickers had to be designed, distributed, circulated. How do we begin to confront that voice?" he added.

The page captioned the post as: “These stickers were plastered throughout the Memorial yesterday. I fear for what is happening to our community. Unsurprisingly, visitors expressed their aghast. “It is time for the good people of Idaho to take a stand against these bullies. This is not freedom of speech. It is outright intimidation and cannot be tolerated any longer,” commented one user whereas a volley of others hoped for the perpetrators to be nabbed at the earliest.

As per their Facebook page; The Center, which is a non-profit, was founded in 1996 to construct a memorial to human rights. “In August 2002, the NGO’s vision transpired into reality when the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial opened its doors to the public. Today, thousands of school children and adults drop by the Memorial each year.

The Anne Frank memorial isn’t the only one to be plastered with hateful stickers. In fact, another photo showed “The Spiral of Justice” memorial featuring the same swastika sticker.

Prinzing implored residents to stand up to hate in the wake of the vandalism. Their response, as per a recent report, however, is likely to show up differently owing to the coronavirus outbreak. Prinzing maintained that he has fielded a number of calls from people who'd like to hold an anti-hate vigil.