Daughter of Holocaust survivor finds swastika daubed on her garden gate in sickening anti-Semitic act on the sixth anniversary of his death

A jewish mother-of-four whose father fled Nazi Germany on the Kindertransport was ‘devastated’ to find a swastika on her garden gate on the sixth anniversary of his death.

Aviva Kaufmann, 52, from north-west London, was horrified when her husband made the discovery as he went to retrieve his bike yesterday.

Mrs Kaufmann, a maths teacher whose German-born grandparents, David and Ketty Goldschmidt, were murdered in Auschwitz, told the Mail: ‘I am just so sad about it.

‘When my father – Alfred Goldschmidt – fled Germany he had such a love for this country. We [our entire family] have grown up with such a love for this country.

‘In England, I was able to get a good education and all those things Nazi Germany deprived my father of. But now I wonder will England be like that for my children?’

She said: ‘When my father – Alfred Goldschmidt (pictured) – fled Germany he had such a love for this country. We [our entire family] have grown up with such a love for this country’

The swastika Aviva Kaufmann found on her garden gate on the sixth anniversary of her father’s death

She added: ‘When my father and his siblings fled on the Kindertransport, my grandmother said to my uncle ‘you won’t see any more of those dirty flags’ [in England]. 

‘He never thought he would see a swastika again. But to have that daubed on my property on the sixth anniversary of his death is just horrible.’

Mrs Kaufmann texted her neighbours to see if their houses had also been vandalised. ‘My neighbours all sent me the loveliest messages… Two non-Jewish neighbours even came round to clean it off.’ 

She said that until now she had always felt safe in England. ‘I’ve never had my eye on the door and I have always felt safe in this country.

‘I proudly wear a Star of David necklace and a ‘bring them home’ dog tag for the hostages.

‘But I have said to my kids that I am not sure it’s always going to be like that.’

Mrs Kaufmann reported the swastika to the police and to CST, a Jewish charity that combats anti-Semitism. A CST spokesman said: ‘Anti-Jewish hatred has become far too common and this is yet another example.’

The Metropolitan Police were contacted for comment.