Polish Monument to Massacre of Jews Vandalized

A horrifying story with a cruel twist: Vandals have graffitied a monument in Poland that marked the spot where as many as 400 Jews were burned alive in a barn during World War II. But in addition to defacing it with a spray-painted green swastika, they wrote the unthinkable: "They were flammable." Police in the town of Jedwabne discovered the crime yesterday and are searching for the perpetrators, reports the AP, which notes that the graffiti also included "SS" and "I don't apologize for Jedwabne."

The July 10, 1941, tragedy in Jedwabne, in which about 40 Poles rounded up Jews, locked them in a barn, and set it on fire, is one of the better known cases of locals teaming up with the Nazis to kill Jews. Some Poles today remain in denial that such horrors were committed by their own people. (More Jedwabne stories.)