by Dan Goldberg

VANDALS defaced Newcastle"s only synagogue just two days before Pesach last week, smashing several stained-glass windows and spray-painting graffiti " ” including swastikas and the words "Jews must die"  " ” on the walls of the building.

A crossed-out Star of David, the words "six million more"  and "88"  (neo-Nazi code for "Heil Hitler" ) were also spray-painted on the walls of the Newcastle Hebrew Congregation early last Thursday morning " ” just hours after the 116th anniversary of Hitler"s birthday.

Posters belonging to White Pride, a white supremacist organisation, with the words "Jews are ruining your life" , were found at the Central Coast building, which is about 160 kilometres north of Sydney.

Shul president David Gubbay told the AJN: "You hear about these attacks on shuls in Melbourne and Sydney and hope that it won"t happen in Newcastle, but I"ve been afraid it would happen.

"It"s regrettable; we hope it"s a one-off, and not a portent of things to come; we"re a quiet, peaceful, small community; we don"t endeavour to impose our religious beliefs on other people." 

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