PITTSBURGH, PA — Authorities are investigating antisemitic graffiti found outside a home in Pittsburgh’s Central Northside neighborhood, according to police and a report citing the FBI.
In a statement to Patch, a spokesperson for Pittsburgh Public Safety confirmed plainclothes detectives were investigating and reviewing video of the incident. The FBI has also been notified, the spokesperson said.
According to a KDKA report, the phrase “For blood and soil” was found spray-painted on a sidewalk in front of the home.
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“Blood and soil” was an early Nazi slogan used in Germany to evoke the idea of a pure “Aryan” race and the territory it wanted to conquer, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The concept was foundational to Nazi ideology and its appeal.
“It’s bone-chilling,” the woman who lives in the home told KDKA. “It’s absolutely something that hits you viscerally.”
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Police said the Pittsburgh Department of Public Works cleaned up the graffiti Monday.
The incident comes just days after a new report from the Anti-Defamation League showed that antisemitic incidents including harassment, vandalism and assault more than tripled in Pennsylvania over the last year amid tensions over the war between Israel and Hamas.
In all, Pennsylvania reported 394 antisemitic incidents in 2023, up from 114 in 2022 and 69 in 2021.
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