A popular bagel shop in Sydney’s eastern suburbs has been left reeling after a swastika was etched into the frontage of its latest venue – weeks before its grand opening.
Jewish-owned Lox in a Box, which has cafes in Bondi, Coogee and Marrickville, will open its fourth store on April 9 on Paddington’s Oxford St.
Owner Candy Berger said her team “were so excited to finally share our Paddo space” with their customers.
“We were going to take you on a tour, we wanted to show you the handpainted windows, the space, and all the details,” Ms Berger wrote in an Instagram post overnight, addressed to the business’s 37,000-strong followers.
“It’s something we’ve been working so hard towards for weeks. A build that’s held so much for us. Our literal blood, sweet and heart. And now tears.
“Yesterday, we proudly took the paper down. And today, we wanted to cover it all up again.
“This morning, we arrived to find a swastika etched into the glass.”
A NSW Police spokesperson told news.com.au initial inquiries had established the “malicious damage” to the cafe occurred last Saturday, March 21. Officers from the Surry Hills Police Area Command have launched an investigation.
Acknowledging the at times “heavy” challenges of expanding her business, Ms Berger said the incident had left her “lost for words” and “deeply hurt”.
“I won’t pretend this didn’t shake me … I’ve held onto gratitude, because I love what I do, I love who I do it with and I love what we are doing this for. But today, my strength gave way,” she said.
“I stood there in shock, thinking about what that symbol represents. What it has meant to my people. What it has cost us, generation after generation. I am the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, and today felt like a punch that landed deeper than most.”
Ms Berger noted the “calculated” timing of the incident – weeks from Passover, one of the most important festivals in the Jewish year.
“(Passover is) a time where we remember that the Jewish people have been marked before. Hunted before. Silenced before. Told to disappear before. And yet, we are still here,” she wrote.
“In every generation, there are those who rise against us. And in every generation, we rise too.
“We will not let this break us. We will not let it close our doors or dim the light of something we’ve worked so hard to build. That is what hate wants and we refuse to give it that.
“Our people have survived too much to be shaken by the actions of a coward.”
News.com.au has contacted Ms Berger for further comment.
The police spokesperson said that authorities “takes hate crimes seriously and encourages anyone who is the victim of a hate crime to report the matter to police through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or through Triple Zero (000) in an emergency”.
“It is important that the community and police continue to work together to make NSW a safer place for everyone.”
The defacement of Lox in a Box’s Paddington cafe is not the first time the business has been targeted by anti-Semitic behaviour.
In the aftermath of the Bondi terror attack on December 17, Ms Berger reported Lox in a Box had been received an influx of “negative reviews” online.
“This is what I woke to in my inbox … It’s so disheartening, where’s our collective humanity?” she said at the time, sharing screenshots of the barrage of one-star Google ratings.
“Anti-Semitism is not a joke. Posting negative antisemitic reviews can really harm a small business like ours.”
The impact of that harm was realised following the Bondi massacre, when celebrity chef Ed Halmagyi announced he had decided to close his beloved Avner’s Bakery in Surry Hills.
“After two years of almost ceaseless antisemitic harassment, vandalism and intimidation directed at our little bakery, we have to be realistic about the threats going forwards,” a sign affixed to Avner’s shopfront read.
“Those concerns are now clearly more pressing and more serious. Even in the wake of this terrorist incident, threats have continued.
“As an open and very public business that operates at all hours, we are unable to ensure the safety of our staff, our customers, our families.
“And so we have made the only decision available, one that truly breaks our hearts. Avner’s is closed.”
Anyone with CCTV, dashcam footage or information concerning the Lox in a Box incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
