"It's a shock," Maurice Dahan, president of the Jewish consistory for the Bas-Rhin region, told AFP, adding that most of the graves were daubed with swastikas. The government's regional authority said it was investigating the damage to 107 graves at the cemetery in Westhoffen, around 25 kilometres west of Strasbourg. And about 20 kilometres away it said that anti-Jewish inscriptions were also found in the village of Schaffhouse-sur-Zorn. President Emmanuel Macron, during a visit to inspect the damage, vowed to crack down on hate speech, including by an increased focus on educating against racism in schools. The rising number of anti-Jewish offences reported to police - up 74 percent in 2018 from the previous year - have caused alarm in the country that is home to both the biggest Jewish and the biggest Muslim communities in Europe.

Source: The Local December 03, 2019 18:00 UTC