Del Cerro Synagogue Is Desecrated : Hate Crime: Director of Anti-Defamation League calls vandalism ‘more vile and a lot more profane’ than any he has ever seen.

Vandals spray-painted swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans on dozens of walls and windows in the courtyard of a local synagogue early Friday, committing what police labeled a hate crime and one of the worst offenses against San Diego’s Jewish community in years.

Grieving members of the congregation of Temple Emanu-El, a reform synagogue on Capri Drive in an affluent Del Cerro neighborhood, showed up Friday to view what all agreed was, in the words of Rabbi Martin Lawson, “a horrible act of violent anti-Semitism.”

Even playground equipment bore swastikas, sprayed on crudely in red and black paint. Morris Casuto, director of the local branch of the Anti-Defamation League, called the desecration “more vile and a lot more profane” than any he had ever seen.

“F--- Jews,” read the inscription on one wall. “F--- you, lawyer big nose scum-sucking non-Aryan kike faggots stoner,” read another. The words “SS,” in reference to Adolf Hitler’s secret police, and numerous swastikas punctuated the verbiage.

Casuto said repeated references to “stoner” may indicate the work of a national “white racist” gang that goes by such a name. But he said he was unaware of any such group existing in San Diego. Teams of police and the FBI were called in to investigate.

The Anti-Defamation League and the synagogue have offered a $2,500 reward to anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators, who, in several places, wrote, “Nazi surf punks unite!”

The desecration probably occurred between 10:30 p.m. Thursday, when the temple’s janitor left the building, and 5:30 a.m., when he returned and found the walls covered, said Matt Weathersby, community relations assistant to San Diego Police Chief Bob Burgreen.

Most of the desecration was on walls, windows and doors of classrooms only recently constructed as part of a $2.5-million renovation project. The classrooms house a preschool for 2- to 5-year-olds and a religious school with kindergarten through seventh grade.

For Nancy Lee, 65, the swastikas were an ugly reminder of the worst part of her life. She had come to the synagogue Friday to observe the deaths of her brothers, who were gassed to death at Auschwitz on an Aug. 21st many years ago.

“They didn’t want to separate, so they both went into the gas chamber,” she said with tears in her eyes. “I have memories . . . . I still dream about it. And this brings back all the bad memories.”

Like Lee, David Gilbert and his wife, Liesel, are members of Temple Emanu-El and survivors of the Holocaust. Gilbert, who recently authored a book of his memoirs, titled “Nightmare in Germany,” said such a crime is evidence of a Nazi renaissance.

“They did this to my father’s house, where I was born!” he said angrily, pointing to the desecrated walls. “They said, ‘Jews out! Don’t buy from Jews!’ And it’s starting all over again.”

“The magnitude of this is what is so upsetting, and the effect it is having on all of us is so terrible,” congregation member Alice Cohn said. “We’re just sick. It’s very frightening.”

While Jewish leaders spoke of the need not to feel intimidated, congregation member Irvin Lande said many Jews, especially the elderly, cannot help but feel “a little apprehensive about everything we say and do” in the wake of such incidents.

Lande blamed such a crime “on a complete breakdown in our educational system.”

Casuto said anti-Semitic incidents have risen sharply across the nation in recent years. He said the worst spate of incidents in San Diego County occurred in 1988, when the Tifereth Israel Synagogue in nearby San Carlos incurred $5,000 worth of damage after a similar crime.

In 1989, the El Cajon offices of the San Diego Jewish Times were firebombed twice, without a suspect ever being arrested.

Jewish leaders said Friday that, while the desecration of Temple Emanu-El was worse in its intensity and scope, the damage to Tifereth Israel was probably greater because it involved ornate rock and stone, rather than walls and windows.

Christian leaders joined with Jewish colleagues in condemning the crimes, which they agreed are heinous not so much in the monetary damage they inflict but in the deep and long-lasting psychological wounds they leave.

The Rev. Dennis L. Mikulanis, a spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of San Diego, called the desecration “a shock and a tragedy” and an “unconscionable act” that violates “the sensibilities and dignity of all of society.”

The Rev. Vaughan Lyons, executive director of the San Diego County Ecumenical Conference, said of the desecration: “This is not a Jewish problem. It is an issue for the entire religious community. When one house of God is desecrated, all houses of God are desecrated.”

Rabbi Lawson mourned “the senseless hatred in our world and in San Diego” but said his congregation would “not be swayed by such horrible deeds.” He said he hoped the offenders would be “apprehended and duly punished” and called on the community to help find them.

Jewish leaders and police said they were unhappy with the punishments doled out to five San Diego minors apprehended in the incident at Tifereth Israel. The youths were ordered to perform “a few hours of community service” and pay restitution ranging up to $25 per defendant.

The 16-year-old “skinhead” ringleader from the San Fernando Valley community of Chatsworth was ordered to perform 200 hours of community service and pay $135 in restitution.

“We’re enlisting the support of the entire community in helping to identify these people,” police official Weathersby said. “This is considered a hate crime, make no mistake about it.

“The question you can’t help but ask is, if it happens here at the temple, what’s to stop it from happening at a church or a mosque or against the African-American, Asian or gay and lesbian community. It’s got to stop someplace.

“Unfortunately, it seems to be coming back where the popular people to pick on are the Jewish people,” he said. “Last month, it was gays. The month before that, it was Asian-Americans. At what point will it affect your particular group? That’s why we all have a vested interest in putting a stop to it now.”

Weathersby said the graffiti contained references police had never seen before and did not understand. He declined to comment on several references to the acronym “NAP” and the word “Wasser.” He urged anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 235-TIPS.

Casuto speculated that NAP meant “National Aryan Party” but had “no idea” what Wasser meant.

“We take this very seriously,” he said, looking at slogan after hateful slogan. “Those who presume grotesque and disgusting incidents in some way inhibit the Jewish community from fulfilling their religious obligations are simply ill-advised.

“We’re not dealing with courageous individuals here. We’re dealing with fools who believe in some way they can intimidate the Jewish community. And they’re fools who don’t know their history very well.”