On Sunday, a mailbox on which a work representing Simone Veil was painted was defaced, opposite the Shoah Memorial. (4th arrondissement of Paris). The author of the work himself, C215, posted two photos on social networks showing scratches on the painted face of the former magistrate deported to the Auschwitz camp when she was 16 years old. The word “Gaza” also appears drawn in black marker.
“In front of the Shoah Memorial, the mailbox bearing the image of Simone Veil has been vigorously scratched on two of its sides, and we can read, above the young Simone, in orthogonal and cryptic writing: GAZA, tweeted C215. Fortunately the author couldn't have damaged the work to the point that it became illegible, which gives me a vacation. Anti-Semitism is the hatred of otherness placed within the reach of cowards and little people. »
Already in 2019, anti-Semitic damage had been noted on two other mailboxes in the 13th arrondissement where the face of Simone Veil also appeared. Swastikas had been sprayed and the Paris prosecutor's office then opened an investigation for “aggravated willful damage” and “provocation of racial hatred”.
These two portraits, also painted by the artist C215, were commissioned as part of the Pantheonization of Simone Veil, during the summer of 2018. The artist announced on Twitter that he was going to restore the portraits of the woman of 'State during the day. A task which will prove more difficult with the stripes made this Sunday.
