Swastikas in London Jewish Neighborhood Prompt Upped Police Presence
Posters bearing Nazi symbol placed in Stamford Hill playground four days in a row.
Police are stepping up their presence in a haredi Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of London after swastika posters were placed in a playground there four days in a row.
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London’s Jewish Chronicle reported Friday that local police have increased patrols in Stamford Hill and are investigating the matter.
The local branch of Shomrim, the Jewish volunteer security group, first reported the posters to police Monday, and they have appeared every day since then. The playground is next to a Jewish senior home, many of whose residents are Holocaust survivors.
Stamford Hill Shomrim’s Shulem Stern told the Chronicle the posters have sparked “a sense of anxiety and fear amongst local parents.”
“The daubing of Nazi symbols in a place where Jewish children study and play is an act of racism intended to spread fear and alarm,” Marie van der Zyl, vice president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, told the Chronicle.
The northeast London neighborhood is home the largest haredi Orthodox community in Europe, according to the Chronicle.