#World War II tombstones with swastikas removed from Texas cemetery

Two German WWII tombstones at a Texas veterans cemetery — each bearing Nazi swastikas — have been removed and replaced with new ones that do not use the symbol.

The 1943 gravestones belonging to German prisoners of war Alfred Kafka and Georg Forst at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery featured an Iron Cross with a swastika in the middle, and the phrase, “He died far from his home for the Leader (Führer), people and fatherland.”

Cemetary workers removed the stones on Wednesday.

“Clearly, it took a long time for this to happen, and it’s obviously the right thing to have been done,” said Michael Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.

The foundation previously demanded Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie remove the tombstones, but the agency refused and argued they had a historical meaning.

A third grave that also features Nazi symbol is located in Fort Douglas Post Cemetery in Utah but it’s unclear if it’s been removed.

With Post Wires