Outrage over Nazi scrawl
Police are investigating hate crimes after swastikas appeared as graffiti in Newark.
One was scrawled on the front door of an internationally-renowned French fashion photographer, Michel Haddi, of Millgate, who has a Jewish girlfriend.
In a second offence reported to police, a swastika was daubed across the bonnet of Ruth Vella’s car on nearby Mill Lane, with Newark’s NG24 postcode.
The victims do not know each other.
Mr Haddi, whose work has featured on the covers of Vogue, Tatler, GQ, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone and The Washington Post, believes he was deliberately targeted.
He said he had never experienced anything like it anywhere in the world and it was an embarrassment for Newark.
Mr Haddi, who has, among others, photographed Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, David Bowie, Francis Ford Coppola, and Johnny Depp, said: “This is a slap in the face for England.”
“This isn’t Germany in 1937. Hundreds of thousands of Englishmen died in the second world war to get rid of the Nazis.
“I was targeted, it’s obvious to me. I speak with an accent. I am tall, I am dark.
“I continue to sleep well at night as I have a big mouth and that is my strength but my girlfriend is Jewish and very upset.
“Eight million Jews died in the gas chambers.
“What if it had been the door of an old Jewish person who had survived the camps?
“I very much like Newark but you have a problem here with yobs.
“Yes, there are many foreigners here, but most of them are engaged in something productive.”
Ruth Vella said she was disgusted when she saw the damage to her car.
“The swastika is an ugly evil emblem and I couldn’t drive around with it on the bonnet,” she said.
The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal organiser for Newark, Mr Geoff Meakin, described those responsible as mindless morons.
He said legion members had fought the Nazis and many would be angered to see the swastika in their home town.
“I wonder how many of those brave boys would have stormed the Normandy beaches so readily had they known that 65 years on we would be under the cosh of yob culture and the re-emergence of the far right and that the swastika would be appearing on our walls,” he said.
“The timing could not be more inappropriate.”
The Mayor of Newark, Mr Tony Roberts, said: “You do feel or rather hope that it is a lack of understanding of what this symbol represents rather than being supportive of Nazism.
“How many thousands and millions of people died because of it and to defeat it?
“I hope it’s kids rather anything more sinister. If it’s kids who don’t understand the pain and misery that this symbol signifies they should Google it.”
Inspector Steve Cartwright, of Newark Police, described the incidents as unusual for Newark.
He said both were being treated as hate crimes.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Newark Police on 0300 300 99 99.
