- Two headstones bearing Nazi swastikas have been removed from a cemetery in San Antonio, Texas following complaints from veterans and their families.
- The headstones, which were removed and replaced on Wednesday, marked the graves of German prisoners of war from World War II.
- “It’s jarring to think that symbols of the Third Reich and the Nazi regime would stand in an American military cemetery,” Rep. Joaquin Castro said.
Two headstones bearing Nazi swastikas have been removed from Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas following complaints from veterans and their families.
The headstones marked the graves of German prisoners of war from World War II and had been there since 1947, the San Antonio Express-News reported. The newspaper said 140 prisoners of war are buried at the cemetery.
The cemetery director and his staff quietly removed the headstones of Alfred P. Kafka and Georg Forst on Wednesday and replaced them with new ones.
The men had received the Iron Cross, an award in the German military at the time that featured the Nazi swastika, the Express-News reported. The headstones also had a German phrase that translates to: “He died far from his home for the Führer, people and fatherland.”
Read the article by Kelsey Vlamis in Business Insider Australia.