SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

(Photo courtesy of Robert Fernandez)

New anti-semitic graffiti has been spotted by a Sheepshead Bites reader, this time on Neck Road train station’s Manhattan-bound platform. The marking, which read “Jewz suck ballz”, is on the floor near the first lamppost at the north end of the platform.

Although it’s difficult to take seriously this semi-illiterate hooliganism, it’s a sad discovery in the wake of the 25th Annual Holocaust Gathering this past weekend, and it follows the pro-Nazi runes reported last month.

As there are no Nazi references in the latest scrawling – and the Nazi’s probably would’ve insisted on better grammar – it’s unlikely that this incident is related to May’s graffiti, in which elaborate pro-Nazi (not anti-semitic, as one official noted) runes were found on walls along Shore Parkway, Emmons Avenue and around the Holocaust Memorial Park.

Just a few days ago, we wrote about the planned addition of markers to honor non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust at New York’s first public, outdoor Holocaust memorial, park, and musuem.

Now, the NY Post is reporting that Assemblyman Dov Hikind with others of like mind staged a protest of the planned memorial to honor “homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the disabled, political prisoners and Roma and Sinti Gypsies, who were also persecuted and killed by the Nazis.”

Apparently, Dov Hikind speaks for quite a few Jewish people when he says that only Jews are allowed at the symbolic cemetery. One Sheepshead Bay resident we spoke with, a survivor of the Holocaust whose entire family was killed, said,

I don’t want to talk about sex, but gypsies are okay to be in the memorial. But, homosexuals I don’t know…this memorial should not reflect anything about the homosexuals. If they want to honor them, that should be in another memorial. Those days in the forties, people didn’t talk about that. It was hidden, so the gypsies were there in the camps, but the homosexuals — well, we didn’t have any idea about that.”

Another Sheepshead Bay resident, whose grandmother managed to escape the suffering by emigrating to the United States, had always felt that any Holocaust memorial should honor those lost in the massacre by celebrating life, not in a display of headstones. He said that when she visited the site as it turned from a green patch to a semi-cemetery, she remarked that it might have been better identified with a plaque and set up as a place for children to play and laugh, instead.

Readers, we would like to hear from you about what you think should happen with the city-owned Holocaust memorial park. We want to know what to expect when Mayor Bloomberg heads over to Shore Parkway & Emmons Avenue this coming Sunday afternoon for the 25th Annual Gathering and Exhibit put together by The Holocaust Memorial Committee.

Will we have Jewish protesters speaking out while the homosexual and Gypsy representatives lay the new headstones? Or will everyone keep their opinions on the blogs and in the newspapers, thus allowing the memorial to remain solemn?

UPDATE from Tuesday, June 9, 2009:
The New York Jewish Week reports that:

Assemblyman Steve Cymbrowitz, who represents Sheepshead Bay, released a statement in support of the new markers, saying “the park’s purpose is most definitely to educate as well as commemorate. Excluding Holocaust victims who were not Jewish would be sending a message that is 180 degrees opposite of what we need to communicate.

Hizzoner Mayor Bloomberg is making his way down to Sheepshead Bay for the 25th Annual Gathering & Exhibit at the Holocaust Memorial Park on June 14th at noon.

The Holocaust Memorial Park is New York’s only outdoor tribute to those that perished in the Holocaust under the Nazi regime. The Holocaust Memorial Committee, an organization charged with overseeing the memorial, welcomes the community to join them and the mayor in a gathering of somber remembrance.
Continue Reading »

Courier-Life Publications is reporting an addition to Holocaust Memorial Park, at Emmons Avenue and Shore Avenue, that will honor non-Jewish victims including homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the disabled, political prisoners and Roma and Sinti gypsies persecuted and killed by the Nazis.

Although no plans or dates have been revealed, Courier-Life says that the memorial committee is expected to add five smaller markers around the park. Each marker will recognize one of the “forgotten” groups and will include a historical synopsis of their sufferings.

The new memorials come after years of lobbying spearheaded by the International Association of Lesbian and Gay Children of Holocaust Survivors. According to Courier-Life, the organization’s “plans to honor other victims was initially met with opposition by some Orthodox religious leaders who thought that the park should be solely dedicated to the Jews who lost their lives in the ghettos and concentration camps.”

From NYPost.com:

Nazi runic graffiti is once again marring walls in Brooklyn with hate, cops said.

This time, the mysterious Hitler-linked message “Triumph of Will” was found scrawled in black spray paint just a block away from the Holocaust Memorial Park in Sheepshead Bay, police said.

In the same area, the number “88″ — a code among neo-Nazis for the phrase “Heil Hitler” — was found painted on 13 trees, along with German iron crosses and “SS” symbols.

I kept trying to tell Will it wasn’t such a great idea…