Fury in Italy as Anne Frank and ‘Warsaw Ghetto boy’ murals designed to denounce anti-Semitism are vandalised within 24 hours on streets of Milan

There is anger in Italy after two murals of Anne Frank and the ‘warsaw ghetto boy’, designed to denounce anti-Semitism, were painted on the streets of Milan with pro-Palestinian messages within 24 hours destroyed.

Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini joined widespread condemnation of the vandalism of the murals, saying Italians must “stand together against hatred.”

A mural showing Holocaust victim Anne Frank crying while holding the Israeli flag in Milan’s central Piazza Castello was painted over with the words “GAZA FREE.”

The original mural depicted a Palestinian girl in a traditional keffiyeh next to Anne Frank burning the flag of terror group Hamas, but it was not destroyed.

The Anne Frank mural, designed to combat anti-Semitism in Milan before it was defaced

Vandals defaced a mural depicting a ‘warsaw ghetto boy’ held captive by Hamas by completely removing the image of the Jewish child

The mural in Milan depicting the famous ‘warsaw ghetto boy’ wearing the yellow Star of David badge that the Nazis forced the Jews to wear before it was defaced

The second mural, which appeared near the Porta Nuova Project in Milan, was also defaced.

That image depicted the famous “Warsaw Ghetto Boy” wearing the yellow Star of David badge that the Nazis forced the Jews to wear.

His hands are raised as he is held hostage by Hamas terrorists who point assault rifles at him, referring to the real photo of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising where a boy points a submachine gun at him by Nazi SS soldier Josef Blösche .

After vandals defaced the mural, the child was completely blackened, but the Hamas terrorist and the young Gazan soldier at his side remained intact.

Artist aleXsandro Palombo’s series of street artworks entitled ‘Innocence, Hate and Hope’ appeared in Milan, a month after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.

He painted several murals in Milan, which he said “provided a warning of the wave of anti-Semitism sweeping Jews around the world.”

These include the central Piazza Castello, where demonstrations by the Jewish community have been held in recent weeks, and in the area of ​​the new Porta Nuova project acquired by the sovereign wealth fund of the Emirate of Qatar.

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said it was a “shame” that the murals had been defaced.

‘Such actions have no place in our society. We must stand together against hate,” he said The Jerusalem Post.

Artist Palombo told it The Jewish Chronicle: ‘The gesture of these anti-Semitic racists is to erase the memory to impose their terrorist thoughts, but these cowardly actions do not intimidate me and I will continue to defend the freedom of expression of our democracy and with my art I will respond until the terror they want to drag us into.

“However, this vandalization only reinforces the meaning of the works and forces us to respond even more forcefully, as it highlights all the anger and social danger of this hateful anti-Semitic machine at work.”

The boys’ mural in the Warsaw Ghetto is a reference to this photo from the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, where a boy has a submachine gun pointed at him by Nazi SS soldier Josef Blösche

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini (pictured) joined widespread condemnation of the anti-Semitic vandalism of the murals, saying Italians must ‘stand together against hatred’

He added: “These acts of vandalism are demonstrations of terrorist thinking that undermine the freedom of us all. If politicians and institutions do not respond strongly to anti-Semitic violence, we will all lose: legitimizing these gestures also means legitimizing terrorist thinking in our society. And that’s what Hamas propaganda wants.

“The anti-Semitic rage unleashed by Hamas is overwhelming Jews in all parts of the world. This horror resurfacing from the past should give us all pause as it undermines the freedom, security and future of us all.”

Israeli art historian researcher Batya Brutin, who received the Yad Vashem Award for her lifetime achievements in Holocaust education, said: “Palombo’s current street art murals are an important message of warning to the world.”

Ms Brutin added that the vandals’ motives “remain unclear” and that “the importance of combating anti-Semitism and hatred wherever it exists” must be kept in mind.

“While the vandals’ motivations remain unclear, we must remember the importance of combating anti-Semitism and hatred wherever they exist.”

This is the latest incident in a recent wave of anti-Semitic vandalism in Italy. On November 2, a Star of David appeared on a building in Rome and four gold cobblestones, ‘stumbling stones’ that commemorate murdered Jews, were destroyed.