Swastika on Austrian headstone covered after threat of fine

Marcy Oster

(JTA) — A swastika on a gravestone in an Austrian cemetery was covered after police threatened to fine the person responsible for the gravesite.

The epitaph on the headstone in the central cemetery in Graz was covered with a square of matching stone. It had read, “He died in the struggle for a Great Germany.” The tombstone  dated from 1934.

A law passed in 1947 in Austria prohibits the display of Nazi symbols. Officials have claimed the headstone is exempt since it was erected before the law was passed.

The penalty is 400 euros, or about $5,500, the German-language Kurier reported.

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