Italian State Police Identify Perpetrator of Antisemitic Vandalism Against Murals of Holocaust Survivors

Edited by: TJVNews.com

The perpetrator of the antisemitic act of vandalism against significant murals by renowned pop artist aleXsandro Palombo has been identified and reported. The works depicted three of Italy’s last great witnesses of Holocaust memory: Liliana Segre, Edith Bruck, and Sami Modiano.

The news was announced on Friday by the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office to leading national media outlets. Thanks to extensive video surveillance analysis and investigative observation, the Italian police successfully identified the perpetrator: a 35-year-old man of South American origin residing in Milan. He has been officially reported to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for aggravated damage driven by discriminatory motives and racial hatred against two works of art.

The murals, created by contemporary pop artist aleXsandro Palombo on January 27, 2025, for International Holocaust Remembrance Day, were vandalized in the following months. One mural featured Holocaust survivor, writer, and poet Edith Bruck with the Israeli flag draped over her shoulders and the phrase “Arbeit Macht Frei” above her. Another depicted Pope Francis alongside Edith Bruck, Liliana Segre, and Sami Modiano, all portrayed in Palombo’s provocative “Simpsons-style” pop aesthetic.

The Star of David symbols on the survivors’ uniforms were defaced, Pope Francis’s face was erased, and the phrase “Antisemitism is Everywhere” on the sign held by the pontiff was removed. The wall was also marked with an offensive phrase: “Israeli Nazis,” accompanied by a large swastika. In the second mural portraying Edith Bruck alone, the Israeli flag was completely destroyed and her face was erased.

“These acts are not mere defacements: they are an attack on memory, history, and democratic values. To strike at the faces and symbols of Holocaust survivors is to attempt to erase testimony, deny horror, and fuel hatred. It is the duty of everyone, institutions, citizens, the cultural world, to firmly reject every form of antisemitism and intolerance,” declared aleXsandro Palombo.

Last January, on the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Rome’s Holocaust Museum added several of Palombo’s most significant works on the Shoah to its permanent collection. These are now exhibited in Rome’s ancient Jewish Ghetto, in front of the monumental Portico of Octavia. The acquired pieces include “Anti-Semitism, History Repeating – Liliana Segre and Sami Modiano” and “The Star of David – Edith Bruck,” the latter among the murals vandalized in Milan.

During the inauguration at the Holocaust Museum, Auschwitz survivor Edith Bruck stated: “The mural lives, it must live, precisely because it was vandalized. And with it, everything connected to memory and to what I personally experienced will live on. After being defaced, it has truly come to life: it lives because it has returned to Rome, where I live; it lives because it was erased in Milan.”

Just a few days ago, another of Palombo’s works was the target of vandalism: “Track 21, The Simpsons Deported to Auschwitz”, a mural at the Shoah Memorial in Milan, was defaced with the graffiti “Free Pal” and the Star of David painted over with red paint, symbolizing blood.

The artwork depicted the Simpson family as Jewish deportees in Nazi concentration camps, a pop mural with strong symbolic and universal value, internationally recognized as a warning against forgetting the horrors of Nazism and against indifference. Despite the repeated acts of vandalism, artist aleXsandro Palombo, who has long been engaged in the fight against antisemitism and in promoting remembrance, said that he will continue his work “without backing down,” emphasizing how art can be a powerful tool to keep memory alive and combat hatred.

aleXsandro Palombo is a contemporary pop artist and activist. Known for being private and reserved, he is recognized worldwide for his provocative, thoughtful works that explore pop culture, society, inequality, inclusion and diversity, ethics, and human rights.