MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, NY — A Jewish Columbia University professor who has published studies on the Holocaust walked into her office Wednesday with a group of students to find the space had been vandalized with images of swastikas, according to reports and university officials.
Two swastikas and the word “yid” — an anti-Semitic slur — were painted in red on the walls of Professor Elizabeth Midlarsky’s office in Horace Mann Hall on Broadway and West 121st Street. Midlarsky told Gothamist, which first reported the vandalism, that she was “in a state of shock.”
The psychology and education professor’s studies on the Holocaust have focused on non-Jewish people who helped Jews find safety. In 2005, Midlarsky published a study titled “Personality correlates of heroic rescue during the Holocaust,” according to her Columbia Univeristy faculty page.
“It’s amazing, because I’ve always been looking at the good guys,” Midlarsky told Gothamist. “Not the violence. And I’m experiencing something that’s more on the violent end of things.”
Some of Midlarsky’s students were with her when the vandalism was discovered, according to reports. Ben Riley, 30, told the Daily News that “it’s really just sad that things like this still happen today,” and Katrina Webster, 28 told the newspaper that she hopes the vandal isn’t affiliated with Columbia University.
Teacher’s College President Thomas Bailey condemned the vandalism in a statement and university officials shared information about resources students could access for support.
“We unequivocally condemn any expression of hatred, which has no place in our society. We are outraged and horrified by this act of aggression and use of this vile anti-Semitic symbol against a valued member of our community,” Bailey said in a statement.
The Teacher’s College president said that Columbia is working with the NYPD to identify the vandal.
Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images News/Getty Images
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