Antisemitic graffiti scrawled on Kitchener, Ont. synagogue

Police are investigating after antisemitic graffiti – including white supremacist codes and a reference to Adolf Hitler – was found written on the back door of a Kitchener, Ont. synagogue.

Simon Adler, a board member at Beth Jacob Synagogue, said it’s believed the vandalism occurred sometime between Sunday and Tuesday.

“The overall message here is that they want me to be afraid,” Adler said.

He said the synagogue plans to paint over it soon.

“It’s a threat by a complete coward and in any event, a great deal of wrong thinking in his or her head,” he said.

Ultimately, Adler said the graffiti is “the tip of the iceberg.”

“It’s evidence that there’s a bigger problem,” he said.

SIMILAR INCIDENT IN GUELPH

Earlier this week, Guelph police released photos of a man alleged to have placed antisemitic stickers – including some bearing the image of Adolf Hitler – on the front doors of a synagogue in that city.

Guelph police are asking anyone who has information or recognizes the man in these photos to contact them. (Submitted/Guelph Police Service)

“He then appeared to take a selfie, a photo of himself with the stickers visible in the background and fled the area on foot,” Guelph police spokesperson Scott Tracey said.

Jewish human rights organization B’nai Brith Canada says there’s been an alarming increase in antisemitic crimes across Canada, with antisemitic incidents up 7.2 per cent in 2021 compared to 2020.

“The Kitchener-Waterloo-Guelph area is not problematic for antisemitic incidents, but on the other hand, we have recorded not two, but seven incidents since August. They are all incidents of vandalism,” said Marvin Rotrand, national director of the League of Human Rights with B’nai Brith Canada.

As for Adler and his place of worship, he says he won’t give in to the hatred.

“This is an annoyance, it’s upsetting, it’s aggravating, it shouldn’t happen, but put in context of what we [the Jewish people] have survived in the past, this is easy,” Adler said.