(Image provided by Anne O’Byrne)
July 8, 2020 By Michael Dorgan
A number of benches inside a Woodside dog run were vandalized last week–with Nazi scribblings scratched on the seats.
Three benches inside the Doughboy Park dog run each had the German words “Nur Fur Arier” scraped into them. The words translate to “Only For Aryans.”
The term was used in Nazi Germany to notify Jews that they weren’t welcome in places such as shops and parks.
The hateful graffiti was discovered Saturday morning by local resident Anne O’Byrne when she took her 11-year-old daughter and dog to the park.
“It struck me as disgusting that somebody was trying to claim that benches in the dog run were for Aryans only,” O’Byrne said.
O’Byrne said she took some photos and informed her husband who was at home at the time. They then contacted Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer about getting rid of the graffiti.
“The council member didn’t have access to his office where they store anti-graffiti materials but he was very sympathetic with our desire to get rid of it right away,” O’Byrne said.
O’Byrne said she believes the perpetrators used a sharpie or some other type of marker to deface the bench. She returned to the park at around 4 p.m. with her husband Michael Beck to scrub off the markings.
The pair used a scrubber, soap, and some other mechanics to wipe off the writing which took around 10 minutes to complete, they said.
Michael Beck scrubbing the graffiti off (Image provided by Anne O’Byrne)
Beck said that other park users told them that the benches had been marked for a few days. He said he doesn’t know who vandalized the benches but it was likely the work of hate-filled amateurs.
“I don’t know if it was someone belonging to some online group that shares the information and learns just enough German to be dangerous because the German wasn’t exactly perfect,” Beck said.
Beck, who is a former German teacher, said that the spelling is missing an “umlaut, which is a mark or two dots used above a vowel. The umlaut should be over the second “u,” according to Beck.
Nevertheless, Beck said he was offended by the writing because his parents were German immigrants and it reminded him of a dark period in German history.
“I don’t know if there was anyone in the area who lived through the Holocaust to see that but still it’s disgusting,” he said.
Beck said that they also had to explain to their daughter what the writings meant.
“Nobody should even find out what that means,” he said.
Beck, who has lived in the neighborhood with his wife for 21 years, said the markings have no place in Woodside.
“We live in such a diverse community and that sentiment should never be written in our neighborhood,” Beck said.
A segregated park bench in Nazi Germany “For Aryans Only” pic.twitter.com/37ZFMySERo
— The Goodman Report (@TheaGood) April 8, 2017
Featured Events
24 Comments
What’s that got to do with Trump being a white supremacist?
“We control events better when we control opinion.” Reinhard Heydrich SS
A Democrat quoting a national socialist…….the mask has finally slipped.
surely the anti-fascists are fascist ?
That’s the MOST subtle thing you can understand about this…
That would make you a bigly sad hypocrite
Another one of trumpenfuhrer’s “very fine people”. If you see a (neo) nazi, punch them in the face, it’s what our grandparents did in WWII.
Our grandparents fought actual Nazis. They didn’t put that tag anyone that disagreed with their opinion.
What should we call people who wave swastika flags and spread the tenets of nazism? “Very Fine People”? They deserve no quarter.
And the ending meeting in the hallway spoke volumes as to WHY people are so anti-Semitic. The man was Jewish and he was so disrespectful to the courtroom and Judge Milian, Doug Lluellen actually got upset and demanded he treat this court and it’s judge with respect.
Please behave respectfully, everyone. You don’t want attacks, stop pulling nonsense!!!!
Are you seriously proposing that the behavior of a single person on a Fox 5 daytime courtroom reality show speaks “volumes as to why people are so anti-Semitic”? Because you saw one caricature of a rude Jewish person on TV, you think every Jewish person is rude and disrespectful of the law? Do you even realize how horribly idiotic you sound? According to your own logic, every white person is Paris Hilton. Turn off the TV, go outside, and try living in the real world for once.
Great point, someone offended you once, so it’s ok to scribble anti-semitic graffiti.
This is the MOST subtle understanding Trump lovers can muster lol
If they actually do this???
That’s right. Blame Trump. Let’s see, his daughter and her family are Jewish. Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem and the Israelis are naming streets and plazas after Trump in gratitude. You’d think the Israelis, of all people, would recognize an anti-semite.
Those people screaming “the Jews will not replace us” are the ones Trump called “very fine people.” You don’t really have to read between the lines.
Guess why Fred Trump was arrested at a KKK rally?
Mossad-Like Trumps niece Mary said Donald goes where the money is. The mans driving force. Stop being so naive.
Republicans (now) and Trump are very pro-Israel, in the sense that they see in Netanyahu an allied strongman who, through state violence and aggressive settlement, is propagating their notions of American values in the middle east. Please make no mistake, support of current Israeli policy is not tantamount to not being antisemitic. Many evangelical Christians, for example, have been convinced that they must support Israel for theological purposes that have nothing to do with their feelings about Jewish people. In 2015, 26% of Americans said a candidate’s stance on Israel matters “a lot,” compared with 64% of Evangelical Christians, whose understanding of Israel is primarily a religious rather than political and economic one. Their support of Israel is unquestioning and lacks any nuance of the actual political climate. On another level, beginning in the 1980s, was a neoconservative, anti-communist understanding of global politics, which saw/sees Israel as the primary ally in fighting back communist influence in the middle east. Then, after 9/11, Israel again is propped up as the US’s key ally in fighting terrorism in the middle east. This is all to see unflinching support for Israel does not equal not hating Jews, and speaking out against Israeli policy does not equal antisemitism. This conflation of Israel and Jews has a deep history that continues into the present, such that Jews who criticize Israel have to contend with being labeled self-hating Jews. This is all to say that there is nothing contradictory with an Israel-loving and Jew-hating conservative. (Many American Jews have a rather complex relationship with Israel that couldn’t be boiled down here). But also, why are we discussing Trump and Israel here? Here is an act of antisemitism in Queens, NY. The fact that the knee-jerk response is to introduce Israel into a discussion of antisemitism in America (where the vast majority of religiously-motivated hate crimes are indeed antisemitic in nature) may even prove my point.
Republicans (now) and Trump are very pro-Israel, in the sense that they see in Netanyahu an allied strongman who, through state violence and aggressive settlement, is propagating their notions of American values in the middle east. Please make no mistake, support of current Israeli policy is not tantamount to not being antisemitic. Many evangelical Christians, for example, have been convinced that they must support Israel for theological purposes that have nothing to do with their feelings about Jewish people. In 2015, 26% of Americans said a candidate’s stance on Israel matters “a lot,” compared with 64% of Evangelical Christians, whose understanding of Israel is primarily a religious rather than political one. Their support of Israel is often more unquestioning than that of American Jews, and lacks any nuance of the actual political climate. On another hand, beginning in the 1980s, a neoconservative, anti-communist understanding of global politics forwarded by Reagn, viewed Israel as the primary ally in fighting back communist influence in the middle east. Then, after 9/11, Israel again is propped up as the US’s key ally in fighting terrorism in the middle east. This is all to say that unflinching support for Israel does not equal not hating Jews, and conversely speaking out against Israeli policy does not equal antisemitism. This conflation of Israel and Jews has a deep history that continues into the present, such that Jews who criticize Israel have to contend with being labeled self-hating Jews. There is nothing contradictory with an Israel-loving and Jew-hating conservative. But also, why are we discussing Trump and Israel here? This is an act of antisemitism in Queens, NY. The fact that for many, the knee-jerk response is to introduce Israel into a discussion of antisemitism in America (where the majority of religiously-motivated hate crimes are indeed antisemitic in nature) may in fact prove my point (as people will show their loyalty to Israel as a badge of non-antisemitism, rather than actually condemning acts of antisemitism).
Does DeSean Jackson live in Woodside?
Apparently, but he gets away with it , because, you know why….Stephan Jackson has his back+still has his job also. But “ get those Karen’s” lol. A “ Karen “ was fired in Arizona and a statue was toppled in Baltimore,so Chicago should have a very peaceful weekend. #Dontdealwithreality
These Sanders supporters are really getting desperate.
How many downvotes can you give me with your autoclick trick? Come on, show me whatcha got.
Have lived in Woodside since the mid 90s but have never heard the aryan word used. What I have seen in very recent times are hipsters hanging around that park at night smoking weed .
Why do white supremacists feel so empowered by the president that just tweeted a video of a protestor screaming “white power,” it’s anyone’s guess.
Idiotic statement