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Far-right Bulgarians who defaced the French Holocaust memorial were arrested

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Three Bulgarian citizens have been arrested as suspects in connection with the vandalism of a Paris Holocaust memorial with red-painted hands in May, the Bulgarian National Security Service (DANS) and the Interior Ministry said on Friday.

Two of the citizens were arrested by the DANS on Thursday, and a third was arrested in another EU country. The three are accused of having links to right-wing extremist groups. The investigation is still ongoing, as the agency has tried to fully clarify the crimes, perpetrators and possible accomplices.

In an arrest warrant issued on July 19, the perpetrators were wanted for membership in a criminal organization and damage to property for ethnic reasons, the DANS statement said.

PRO-HAMAS protesters with red paint on their hands wearing masks of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold up signs reading “Stop Arming Israel” near Big Ben in London earlier this year. (Source: HOLLIE ADAMS/REUTERS)

The Wall of the Righteous, which commemorates 3,900 French citizens who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust, was defaced by masked individuals on the night of May 13. The Holocaust Memorial Foundation and the activist group Nous Vivrons documented that red hands had been painted on the wall and on buildings throughout the neighborhood.

Macron stands up against anti-Semitism

The incident sparked nationwide outrage, with French President Emmanuel Macron accusing the vandals of undermining the memory of French heroes and victims of the Holocaust.

“The Republic will remain as intransigent as ever in the face of abhorrent anti-Semitism,” Macron said.

The red hands symbol is associated with pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas activists who used the symbol to blame Israelis and their institutions for the shedding of Palestinian blood.



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