- JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel's Holocaust museum Sunday demanded that Polish
authorities immediately remove dozens of wooden crosses put up by Catholics
outside the former Auschwitz death camp.
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- A statement from the Yad Vashem Holocaust
Memorial called the erection of the Christian symbol a "provocative
act" by "extreme groups."
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- Yad Vashem said the act violated an agreement
reached earlier this year by the Israeli memorial, the U.S. Holocaust Museum
in Washington and Polish government and church authorities. The agreement
said no religious, ideological or political symbols would be erected on
the site.
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- "The placing of the crosses, after
special efforts have been made to reduce tensions, may aggravate the situation
and may prevent further dialogue between the sides about the future of
the site," the statement said.
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- No response was available Sunday from
Polish officials.
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- Last week, several dozen Catholics from
Silesia placed a three-metre cross and about 50 smaller ones outside the
walls of the camp.
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- The wooden crosses surround a eight-metre
cross erected outside the camp to commemorate a 1979 papal mass. Jewish
groups have said the large cross, visible from the former death camp, disturbs
the memory of the 1.5 million Jews who died there.
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- The agreement reached earlier this year
between Polish authorities and Jewish groups did not resolve the dispute
over whether the papal cross should be left at the site.
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- Yad Vashem director Avner Shalev said
Sunday that the placement of the new crosses was "a clear provocation"
that was "very painful for any member of the Jewish people and many
others."
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- Shalev said he hoped government and church
officials in Poland would act immediately to remove the crosses.
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- "Everyone agrees and understands
that Auschwitz should be kept in the authentic way that it was left,"
he said.
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