OJMCHE Condemns Vandalism of Vera Katz Statue

The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education deplores the vandalism of the Vera Katz statue on the Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade overnight yesterday, September 21st. The image of a yellow swastika emblazoned on this statue brings to our minds the targets of Nazi Germany during the Holocaust, a history that Vera Katz herself shares, a Jewish child refugee who escaped the terror of the Nazis and other fascist regimes across Europe to land in the United States, narrowly avoiding the fate of six million Jews and five million non-Jews who were ultimately murdered by the Nazis a short 70 years ago. Vera Katz is one of many survivors who later made their home in Oregon, and who continue to shape our entire community in profound ways. The swastika has not lost its power: looking across Portland and the United States in recent years, we see this image again and again, an emblem of hate and aggression toward all those considered “Other.” It is an act of violence in itself, and we deeply condemn its use and the intimidation it seeks to engender as we work daily to create a world in which our differences are respected and our common humanity is recognized.