Swastika defiles Anne Frank theatre billboard
The cast and crew of a Melbourne theatre company showing The Diary of Anne Frank are devasted by a swastika being painted on a billboard advertising the production, according to a report in The Daily Mail.
Anne Frank Credit: Collectie Anne Frank Stichting Amsterdam.
Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has taken to Twitter to decry this action.
“Vandalised sites in Melbourne, the latest being on a promotion for a theatre production of The Diary of Anne Frank. These criminals have no shame and no sense of history” he writes.
Melbourne’s Peridot Theatre Company President Alison Knight said that the cast and crew were left ‘upset, angry and disgusted’ by the vandalism.
Holocaust survivor Abe Goldberg and Josh Frydenberg
The cast have attended the Holocaust Museum in preparation for the production to heighten their knowledge and awareness of the Holocaust.
“We are honoured to tell Anne’s story. We say NO to hate” said Knight.
Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission Dr Dvir Abramovich plans to visit the theatre company to meet with the cast and crew. He said that antisemitic sentiment and vandalism was becoming a worrying trend in Melbourne.
‘This shameful and cowardly desecration of Holocaust remembrance is clearly driven by hate-mongers and bigots who wish to destroy Anne Franks’ enduring legacy and her words of courage and hope that have inspired so many around the world,’ he said.
‘This is also an attack on the memory of the 1.5 million Jewish children murdered by the Nazis and will shock the conscience of every Australian” he said.
Australians died during WWII fighting for freedom against the Nazi scourge represented by the swastika. This dishonor disrespects their memory.