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Pair of Nazi headstones removed from San Antonio veterans cemetery Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas. (Source: National Cemetery Administration of the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs) By Associated Press | December 28, 2020 at 2:39 AM CST - Updated December 28 at 10:53 AM
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Two German WWII graves bearing Nazi swastikas have been removed from Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery and replaced with new headstones.
According to the San Antonio Express-News, the pair of headstones had become a long controversy over whether they were historical artifacts worth preserving or emblems of hate that should be destroyed.
Veterans Affairs wanted to “continue to preserve” the two headstones at Fort Sam and a third in Fort Douglas Post Cemetery in Utah that also bears Nazi symbols.
By: CBS News
Two German WWII graves bearing Nazi swastikas have been removed from Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery and replaced with new headstones. The pair of headstones had become a long controversy over whether they were historical artifacts worth preserving or emblems of hate that should be destroyed, CBS affiliate KENS-TV reported.
The cemetery director, Aubrey David, led several workers to the graves of German prisoners of war Alfred P. Kafka and Georg Forst at around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday. Clearly, it took a long time for this to happen, and it s obviously the right thing to have been done, said Michael L. Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which advocates against unwanted religious proselytizing in the armed services.
2 gravestones with swastikas removed from veterans cemetery in Texas
A flag waves in a sea of headstones at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Thursday, May 21, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no public services will be held and the tradition of placing flags at each headstone has been canceled. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
by: Harmeet Kaur and Amanda Jackson, CNN
Posted:
Dec 26, 2020 / 08:22 PM EST
(CNN) Two headstones inscribed with Nazi swastikas that mark the graves of German prisoners of war have been removed from a veteran’s cemetery in Texas.
The headstones at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio feature an iron cross with a swastika at its center, along with an inscription in German that reads: “He died far from his home for the Leader (Führer), people and fatherland.” The headstones mark the graves of Pvt. Georg Forst and Pvt. Alfred P. Kafka, two POWs who died in Texas in 1943.
By: CBS News
Two German WWII graves bearing Nazi swastikas have been removed from Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery and replaced with new headstones. The pair of headstones had become a long controversy over whether they were historical artifacts worth preserving or emblems of hate that should be destroyed, CBS affiliate KENS-TV reported.
The cemetery director, Aubrey David, led several workers to the graves of German prisoners of war Alfred P. Kafka and Georg Forst at around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday. Clearly, it took a long time for this to happen, and it s obviously the right thing to have been done, said Michael L. Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which advocates against unwanted religious proselytizing in the armed services.